Family Sues California City Over Ancestral Home Seized By Eminent Domain in 1924

Descendants of the first Black family to own property in Piedmont, California, have filed a lawsuit against the city over the 1924 seizure of their ancestors’ home.

The complaint, filed in Alameda County Superior Court on behalf of the heirs of Sidney and Irene Dearing, challenges a longstanding condemnation assertion as the reason for the sale.

Condemnation, more commonly known as eminent domain, was evoked to take the property unfairly over a century ago, according to Piedmont Historical Society.

The lawsuit alleges that the city eventually used eminent domain

to condemn the property for a public purpose and then sold the land to a different buyer a few months later. The complaint alleges the condemnation and subsequent sale were racially motivated and harmed the family’s ability to accumulate generational wealth through homeownership.

“The city never intended to build the road,” said Leah Aden, senior counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, told SFGate. “We know based upon the factual record that they put the home up for sale and sold it to a white person a mere few months after the condemnation action was settled, which to us is indication that they were not intending to build or complete a road to the home, but that the city lied to the Dearings because they did not want a Black family to live in the city of Piedmont.”

Though the claim made by the family comes after the expiration of the statute of limitations, the lawsuit argues that due to extreme circumstances the case should be heard.

The Dearings purchased the home on 67 Wildwood Avenue in 1924 in a neighborhood that barred Black Americans from ownership, but Irene Dearing convinced sellers she was French-Canadian. Shortly after they moved in, the family’s Black ancestry was discovered, which led to harassment and intimidation.

The complaint alleges that the Dearings experienced threats and intimidation linked to their ownership. The Piedmont Historical Society details the multiple attempts to remove the Dearings from their home, including a mob of 500 “protestors” backed by Piedmont Police Chief Burton Becker, a Klu Klux Klan member.

Both the lawsuit and the Piedmont Historical Society thoroughly detail the extended campaign against the Dearings.

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