Cicero Illinois Riot: 4,000-Person White Mob Drives Out Black Family

Harvey Clark, a Black bus driver, rents an apartment in Cicero, Illinois after being denied housing in Chicago. On July 11, 1951, a mob of 4,000 white residents stones the building, breaks windows, and destroys furnishings. Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson calls in the National Guard. The Clark family is driven out. Cook County states attorney charges the building owner's attorney, the NAACP's representative, and the building owner with inciting a riot and conspiracy — not the mob. Harvey Clark never moves in.