Raphael Urciolo (left), a real estate broker who worked to break racial covenants, is shown with his family. Urciolo eventually helped Clara Mays find a new home after she lost two court appeals.

ID: 3955 ~ Source: Courtesy of the Urciolo family

This file appears in: Civil Rights Tour: Legal Campaigns - Clara Mays, Racial Covenants Defied

Raphael Urciolo (left), a real estate broker who worked to break racial covenants, is shown with his family. Urciolo eventually helped Clara Mays find a new home after she lost two court appeals.

This file appears in: Civil Rights Tour: Legal Campaigns - Clara Mays, Racial Covenants Defied

Civil Rights Tour: Legal Campaigns - Clara Mays, Racial Covenants Defied

In February 1944 a federal employee named Clara Mays purchased the house at 2213 First Street NW in DC's Bloomingdale neighborhood. Despite warnings she’d be taking a risk in buying the house because a racial covenant barred its sale to African…