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Camille DeRose

Released
Gender:Female
Race:White
Era:1950s
State:Illinois
Support
Civil Rights
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Biography

Mrs. Camille DeRose was the owner of a Cicero, Illinois apartment building who rented to a Black family, the Harvey Clarks, triggering the violent July 1951 white riot. In a notorious inversion, a Cook County grand jury indicted DeRose and others for 'conspiracy' to lower property values by renting to a Negro, rather than the white mob.

Case

Charges: 'Conspiracy to injure property'.
Sentence: Faced up to a year; indictment ultimately dismissed. Charges as recorded: 'Conspiracy to injure property' — for renting an apartment to a Black family in Cicero, Illinois.
Convicted: Indicted 1951 (the indictments were later dropped amid national outrage).