Newspaper Page Text
Friday, Ja»y *, 19M
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Lobo Gets Her “House
<. * **• * * i ' £" /*•* '•'t*.«;•’/* f«
us Lady) refuses, to sigd : >a
.ji, « • lil 1 ^
and wins her point •?
Bled, sign
i. They’re against
EDELSBERG
ADL BuDettn
Jo Bln Lobo is «•» woman
who would not tak* advantage
of the prerogative of changing
her inlaid. She had a principle,
stuck to it—and prevailed.
She first came to ADL’* atten
tion when she phoned the Wash
ington office and asked, with
hoihe urgency: -
“Do you know the Sumner
community just outside of Wash
ington? Last month we signed a
contract to buy a home there,
and the settlement is scheduled
for next week. Now we’ve been
told that we must sign a restric
tive covenant.' Wrgflttply won’t
do that. Can ADL help?”
ADL knew Sumner well. Sum-
ner and Spring Valley, Its sister
community—creations of the W.
C. and A. N. Miller Realty com-
LEGAL NOTICE
GEORGIA
FULTON COUNTY
TO THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
FULTON COUNTY
Tha petition of MORTON P. LEVINE.
ISM atlxeiu a Southern Notional
Bank Building, Atlanta, Georgia;
IAN B. TURK. ISM Cltlaen* a
them National Bank Building,
into, Georgia; and BETTYE STOV
ISM Cltlxena a Southern National
Building, Atlanta, Georgia,
“ allow ■:
The
dtlonera darire for them-
petit
•Slree, their aaaoclatea, and auecasaora
to be granted a corporate charter
under the name of
"ARCHSR PRESS. INC."
for a period of thirty-five (U) year*
with tha right of Hated at the ex
piration of said time.
2.
The object of laid Corporation la
gain to ltaelf and atock-
Tba general nature of the bualneaa
to bo conducted la to option, pur-
ehaao, las as, or othorwlaa acquire, and
to own and hold, and to option, aoll,
exchange, dlatributa, leaae, mortgage,
or otharwlae dlepoee of, and In any
aaannar to deal in, nowqpapars, maga-
daeo. hooka, periodicals, publications,
circular*. and all kinds of prlntod,
lithographed, and angraved matter
and materials; to produce, develop,
improve, manage, and publish tha
same, and to maka contracts and con
duct operations of every kind and
nature with reference to the same,
to option, purchase, lease, exchange,
or otherwise acquire, and to own,
to option, son,
leave or other-
— — _ of printing and publish
ing plants; and to maka any and all
eontroets Incidental thereto; to op
tion, purchase, leaae, exchange, ..
otharwlae acquire, and to own, sell,
exchange, mortgage, or other
i of, and to deal and
printing and publishing
.. supplies, and accessories,
all motorists and supplies which
art customarily or which may be
dealt in by Individuals, firms, or
corporations angaged In tha printing,
puhslshlng, or engraving business, or
In the mstribution of printing, pub
materials
Raking, i
supplies.
engraving
and
Tha principal office or plaoe of
burin saa of mid corporation shall be
Fulton County, Georgia, but said
corporation shall have tha right to
eMabHah branch offioes or piaoos of
The maximum number el shares
shall be five thousand (5,0001 of the
pur value of Tan (510.00). Dalian par
■Bank aU of which shall ho common
riook. The amount of capital with
waaaa the corporation
Hradred J*»£>.00) IkrtUrs* th *“ Th '**
WHEREFORE. PETITIONERS FRAY
to be Incorporated under the name
and atyla aforesaid and to be granted
the charter with all the rights, powers,
and privileges herein set forth and
all other* allowed by law.
By; MORTON P. LEVINE
LEVINE and TURK
Attorneys at Law
ISM CBS Natl Bank Bldg.
Atlanta 3 Georgia
I 1-10S4
COUNTY
I SUPERIOR COURT OF
N COUNTY, GEORGIA
or RE; AECfiER PRESS, INC.
•aiWan In the above stated
r t£?5*L^*Sd pre *“ Ud to °“
ip the Court that said
the purview and
ws of Georgia, aad
its of law hava
with and that tha
corporation la
other existing
the records
pany—are.the moet,notorious re-
streited neighborhoods in the
Wsthington area. They are
closed—without pretense or sub
tlety—to “any person of the
Semitic Race, blood or origin,”
including “Jews, Hebrews, Per
sians and Syrians.” The Millers
make their customers accept
this condition in writing on the
fact of the deed, although the
signature has no legal force.
They buttress their covenant
with two other requirements;
the Millers must approve new
purchasers in their communities
and they must' ■tRTTIHiBnafeci
agents for the resale of the
home. And if the Millers don’t
approve, the banks don’t lend
mortgage money, the title com
panies don’t insure title, and the
agents don’t selL
The Millers flagrantly flaunt
their discrimination in order to
create inflated values through
s y n t h e tic exclusiveness; they
have brought to heel an aston
ishing group of people. Among
those who have signed covenants
that will not permit their homes
. to be sold to or occupied by a
Jew are a late justice of the
Supreme Court, a former attor
ney general of the United States,
three senators who have run
for vice president, a minority
leader of the House of Repre
sentatives and a U.S. District
Judge.
These men did not necessarily
embrace the covenant eagerly,
or share the Millers’ anti-Semit
ic bias. Some have roundly de
nounced as un-American bigo
try the covenants they once
signed. Others must have thought
they were merely accommodat
ing themselves to one of the
necessary, if unpleasant, facts of
American life—“After aU, see
what nice people live in Spring
Valley.” k
T{ie Millers had gotten away
with it. The scalps of scores of
VIP’s were hanging in their
trophy room. Then came Mrs. Jo
Ellen Lobo—the woman who
would not change her mind.
Her husband, Orlando Lobo,
is a Portuguese citizen and an
economist with an international
agency. Mrs. Lobo is a Cali
fornian. The two had met and
married when they were stu
dents at the state university.
They have four children. They
had sold their old house, and
unless they could get title to
the Sumner house, they would
have to find some other place ’
to live.
The Lobos were “eligible” by
Miller standards to buy in Sum
ner. “We’re Christians; we don’t
belong' to any of the excluded
groups. The problem is that we
won’t sign the covenant,” she
said. “We couldn’t face our
friends if we insulted them by
putting our names to such a dis
graceful paper. The people sell
ing to us aren’t happy about the
covenant, and are willing to go
ahead without Miner's approv
al if they can. So are we.”
The fact that the seller, too,
didn't care about the covenant
was hot surprising to ADL. A
sample poll taken in Spring
Valley recently had found a
majority of its residents would
have been just as willing to live
there if there had been no
covenant against Jews. Only
11% said the covenant would
have made a difference; no one
said lie wohld fBove away if the
covenant were dropped. The
Millers Were i imposing tfceir
prejudice on • lot of people
who didn’t have any of their
own. It; ...il).
One immediate problem was
that Miller wanted the Lbbos
to come to* his -office He hsd
heard that they Were unhappy
about the covenant and wanted
another notion. “If he wants to
approve us, why shouldn’t he
come to see us?” she told ADL, 1
adding that “even if we have to
lose the house, my husband and
I are determined not to sign
such a covenant”
Mr. William Miller came. He
pointed with pride to the fact
that many dignitaries had sub
scribed to the Miller plan.
Didn’t Mrs. Lobo want to join
the ranks of the select? Mrs.
Lobo wouldn’t budge.
“I understand that some peo
ple who live in yOur communi
ties haven’t signed your coven
ant,” she said.
“Those are just some very
good friends .whose heliafs-I was
sure of,” Mr. Miller blithely said.
“They are politicians and it
would be political suicide if
they signed something like this.”
“Since you have done this for
some people for the sake of
political expediency, won’t you
extend the same courtesy to
me?” Mrs. Lobo asked. “I
couldn’t live with myself if I
signed these papers.”
Mr. Miller understood that
his “principle” was being at
tacked. “It’S against my prin
ciple to let you move in with
out my approval,” he said. “I’m
beginning to doubt, in view of
your ideas, whether you be
long . . .”
Mrs. Lobo was inclined to
agree. She suggested that he
simplify matters by writing a
„ letter disqualifying the Lobos
as purchasers and returning
their deposit to them. This didn’t
appeal to Miller any more than
signing the covenant appealed
to Mrs. Lobo. Miller left empty-
handed.
If Jo Ellen Lobo could be
shaken from her convictions,
she would be shaken now. First
her own realty agent called and
warned, “If you don’t sign the
covenant I don’t know what’s
going to happen on settlement
day. You’d better bring a law
yer.”
Then she had an even more
disquieting call. The president
of the title company said, “I can
sympathize with your object
ives. But I must tell you that if
you’re not going to sign the
covenant I won’t be able to give
you clear title; I’ll have to at
tach a rider excepting the oov- been firm: “Jo
enants involved.” those covenants.
He add^d, hesitantly, “It would every principle this counts* was
simplify thing* greatly if you built on. IT1 send you tea B*tra
would sign the covenant” money ym need to
ADL -believes that such re- fcaqse frfB Md ckste-’
strictive covenants are not only
offensive, but legally unenforce
able. It has been fighting them
for a generation. Since it be
lieved, on principle, that the
Lobos were entitled to clear
title — unencumbered by dubi
ous covenants — it set out to
find a title company that would
give it to them. The search for
a company that would buck the
Miller power was frustrating
but educational.
One realtor told ADL, “Why
do they want to move to Sum
ner if they’re not prepared to
sign the covenant? I don’t like
the idea of anti-Jewish restric
tions, but if a developer wants
to run his community in a cer
tain way, that’s his prerogative.”
His attitude was shared by
many.
There were, however, two
realtors m Washington who
were interested in what the
Lobos were doing; they were
also among the most Influential
in the community—Morris Ca-
fritz and Abe Kay. Cafritz has
an interest in the Lawyers Title
Insurance Company and he in
troduced ADL to its president.
Lawyers Title quickly agreed
that the covenants in question
were unenforceable, and that it
would be prepared to write
clear title for the Lobos. All it
wanted was to be indemnified
against the legal fees involved
in case of a nuisance suit brought
by the Millers. Lawyers Title
also had a suggestion. Since the
business had been offered to an
other title company first, it felt
that precedent value would be
stronger if that company wrote
the policy on the same condi
tions as Lawyers Title was of
fering. This would give more im
pressive notice to the real estate
community in Washington that
the Miller tiger had, at last,
been brought to bay. ADL felt
that the suggestion was a wise
one and transmitted the idea to
the first title company.
The settlement was scheduled
for 4 p.m. on a Wednesday.
There were still elements of
suspense that morning. The sell
ers, on the advice of their coun
sel, were willing to sell without
Miller’s approval. The matter of
mortgage money was unsettled,
but the Lobos were no longer
concerned about it. Jo Ellen
Lobo had called her grand
mother in California and re
ported her predicament. The
grandmother—a pioneer type,
Mrs. Lobo says admiringly—had
But the first title c
was still making up its
10 a.m. its representatives came
to ADL for another conference
Couldn't ADL understand that'
the company' was in business,
that it was not a crusader? ADL
said that it ia not interested in
quixotic crusades, that what it
was proposing was realistic,
good business—and also inevit
able. The conference ended in
conclusively at noon.
At 2 p.m. counsel for the
title company called the ADL;
it would give thhe Lobos clear
title insurance if ADL would
provide counsel in the event of
a nuisance suit. The news was
quickly relayed to Mrs. Lobo by
phone. “Do you mean that I can
have the house and that I won’t
have to sign the covenant?” she
asked. ADL aooured her this
was so.
“I was prepared to sacrifice
our deposit,” she continued.
“Our lawyer friends advised us
it was hopeless to challenge the
Millers. But you did it, and you
won.” She was generous but
wrong; she had done it.
The 4 o’clock closing was quiet
but dramatic. The beaming title
company president was photo
graphed between buyer and
seller. When the last account
was struck, the last signature
signed, the seller came Up to
embrace Mrs. Lobo and wish
her well. She clearly admired
Mrs. Lobo for having fought
and broken the trap of prejud
ice.
The Lobos sent a contribution
to ADL with a note of apprecia
tion for its help. ADL sent the
Lobos a simple silver wish as
a housewarming gift. The ac
companying card read:
“To Mr. and Mrs. Orlando Lo
bo: May your new home, which
you have made a symbol of hon
or and courage, be for you al
ways a place of happineas.”
FIRST LIFE TENURE
WATERBURY, Conn., (J T A)
—A rabbi who serves two syna
gogues has been awarded the
first life contract by one of
them ever to be voted to a
Waterbury Rabbi.
He is Rabbi Seymour Gewirtz,
spiritual leader of Shearis Israel
and Beth Israel. The latter con
gregation voted him the life
tenure.
Hero Without Headlines
to see if they Were 1 really
“eligible." Mi*. 'Lobo had
A young Jew who died saving
the lives of four Moslem chil
dren was one of three fatalities
in a flash flood that devastated
the desert town of Gabes, Tuni
sia, some time ago. The other
victims were a 17-year-old girl
and a small child.
Their deaths received scant
attention in the reports of the
disaster which appeared in the
Tunis paper, “La Presse.” The
young man was referred to
merely as “a young Israelite.”
And since there were only three
lives lost, the disaster received
little publicity outside of Tuni
sia.
The young Jew’s act was re
ported, however, in an eyewit
ness account written by a local
Representative of the Joint Dis
tribution Committee, which aids
thousands of Tunisian Jews with
funds provided by the United
Jewish Appeal.
He was on the spot with an
other JDC staff member within
48 hours with a carful of food,
blankets and clothing for the 58
Jewish families in Gabes left
destitute by the flood. His re
port of the JDC relief operation
wafi forwarded in due course tp
headquarters ip Geneva.
The flood, wrote the JDC man,
was an unprecedented event in
dusty palm-crested Gabes. Noth
ing like it had happened in a
hundred yfRrs, a. 97»year inhabi
tant told him. , Lying on the
Mediterranean coast. S50 miles
south of Tunis, < Gabes sprawls
like a sleepy cat on a seaside
plain under the blazing Sahara
sun. It is an outpost on the edge
of the desert, the last stop on
the railroad from Tunis! A fair
sized town, it has a population
of over 22,000 and its shops, pub-
lip buildings and houses blend
French, Arab and modem influ
ences. Most of the Jewish fami
lies are poor and live in the
Arab quarter, with its flat-roof
ed dwellings, arcaded courts and
narrow twisting streets.
North of the town a wadi, or
watercourse, runs across »the
plain to the sea. Normally almost
dry, it is flanked by a dirt em
bankment built to check erosion
from the infrequent rains. It
was this embankment that gave
way under the combined pres
sure of a high tide from the sea
and the runoff from an excep
tionally heavy rainstorm.
The downpour began the night
of October 2 and continued
through the morning of the next
day. A little after two o’clock
in the afternoon the embank
ment broke, letting loose a tor
rent of mud and water from the
wadi. The sili-laden Water
surged through the town like a
battering-ram, uprooting t fees, „
knocking down walls, sweeping
crates, barrels, all kinds of ^
debris on its crest. -It
School had just let out and
most of the children were al
ready on their way home. Some
of the straggler! were picked up
by'ia trufk of ripldiert stationed
nearby. But foiir Moslem young
sters were caught in the school-
yard when the wall around it
broke and the courtyard was in
undated.
It was a lucky chance for
them that the young Jew was
on hand to aid them. When he
saw they were in danger, he
ran into the courtyard, shouting
a warning. He herded them over
io the building and lifted them
up to a windowsill. When the
water broke over them, he
shielded them with his body,
hanging onto the iron grille with
all his strength.
He called across the water to
the truck and the soldiers threw
a line out After several attempts
it- caught on the iron grating.
One by one the children were
pulled to safety. When his turn
came, the young Jew grasped
the rope and threw himself into
the water. But as he jumped be
was swept against a tree and
killed, f
He left behind him his wife,
two children and a sick aging
father. His wife was pregnant
again. The family is being taken
care of, of course—the Jewish
Benevolent Society of Gabes has
been looking after them. The
community gave the bast fun
eral possible under the, circum
stances and perhaps one day the
S jple of Gabes may dd some-
ng more. » l, f ' ,
i But then again, they may not.
It’s a poor- community. And he
wasn’t anyone special -» just a
young Jew who died so that four
children of another faith might
live.