Civil Rights Coalition . .
The Nathaniel S. Colley Sr., Civil Rights Coalition (CCRC) is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization made up of a coalition of local residents and experts with experience in legal and governmental issues, civil rights, historic preservation and design, and education and library services.
The CCRC is dedicated to the development of a civil rights institute and center named after Nathaniel S. Colley to honor him and other civil rights and community leaders in Sacramento.
Coalition Goals:
1. Recognition of Nathaniel S. Colley, Sacramento's first African American private practice attorney. Mr. Colley first fought housing discrimination in Sacramento at New Helvetia's Public Housing project in 1952.
Throughout his career, Mr. Colley would litigate racial discrimination cases not only in Sacramento, but in other California cities and several western states as well.
2. Preserve and rehabilitate a portion of the New Helvetia Historic District brick buildings that are visually reflective of the place where Mr. Colley began his fight to eliminate housing discrimination and racial segregation in 1952.
3. Establish a civil rights institute and center at New Helvetia to educate the community about Sacramento's civil rights history and the community leaders whose work contributed to making Sacramento such a diverse city.
Nathaniel Colley's Most Significant Cases . .
Nathaniel Colley's most significant cases made important contributions to Civil Rights Litigation in the U.S. and continue to inform and influence modern-day social and political activism.
* New Helvetia Public Housing Desegregation (1952); Ruled that segregation in public housing by Sacramento Housing Authority was illegal.
* Banks vs. Housing Authority of San Francisco (1953); Invalidated racial and ethnic segregation in public housing.
* Ming vs. Horgan (1957); Ruled that developers using FHA and VA mortgage financing must refrain from racial discrimination in the sale of homes. Ming became the forerunner of many legal decisions that ultimately prohibited legally sanctioned racial discrimination when federal funds were used.
* Keller vs. Sacramento City Unified School District (1963); Intervened in de facto segregation pattern in city schools. Resulted in a school desegregation plan that corrected racial imbalances.
* Mulkey vs. Reitman (1967); U.S. Supreme Court challenge of Propositiom 14 reinstated the California Rumford Fair Housing Act and led to the current California Fair Employment and Housing Act governing hiring and housing policies and practices in the state.