Palo Alto's Lawrence Tract Pioneered Integrated Housing in 1950s

The 6-acre, 25-home development was an experiment in interracial living, a radical idea at the time.

Published on Feb. 23, 2026

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In 1950, the Lawrence Tract in Midtown Palo Alto became a pioneering example of an intentionally integrated housing development, overcoming resistance to create a community with Black, Japanese, Chinese, and white families. The project was spearheaded by the Palo Alto Fair Play Council, a civil rights group, and included homes costing around $9,000 on lots averaging 6,000 square feet.

Why it matters

The Lawrence Tract was an early, voluntary effort to create an integrated community at a time when racially restrictive covenants and lending practices often prevented minority groups from living in many neighborhoods. While the neighborhood's demographics shifted over time, it remains a landmark example of how grassroots activism can challenge segregation and promote more inclusive housing.

The details

The 6-acre, 25-home Lawrence Tract was designed specifically as an experiment in interracial living, an idea considered radical in 1950. The Palo Alto Fair Play Council, a civil rights group, helped secure support, land, and funding for the development, which included homes for Black, Japanese, Chinese, and white families. Each group owned roughly a third of the lots, and a committee of residents reviewed house plans to maintain community standards. To help preserve the neighborhood's diversity, agreements encouraged homeowners who sold to offer their properties to buyers of the same racial group.

  • Construction on the first homes in the Lawrence Tract began on February 23, 1950.
  • The neighborhood opened in 1950, with nine Black families, six Japanese families, one Chinese family, and seven white families.

The players

Palo Alto Fair Play Council

A civil rights group organized by Midpeninsula activists Gerda Isenberg and Josephine Duveneck, which helped secure support, land, and funding for the Lawrence Tract development.

Paul Lawrence

A Black former Stanford student and Howard University professor who played a central role in making the Lawrence Tract project a reality.

Wallace Stegner

A Pulitzer-Prize novelist and environmentalist who founded the Stanford Creative Writing Program and joined 150 families in 1940 to form the Peninsula Housing Association, an earlier attempt to establish an interracial housing cooperative in Palo Alto that was ultimately denied financing by the Federal Housing Administration.

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What they’re saying

“We had no illusions of solving the housing problem, but we wanted to do something.”

— Gerda Isenberg, Palo Alto Fair Play Council member (Peninsula Times Tribune)

“I had no more idea of how to set it up than the man in the moon. The meetings were so frustrating. My lawyers said we should give it up.”

— Gerda Isenberg, Palo Alto Fair Play Council member (Peninsula Times Tribune)

The takeaway

The Lawrence Tract's pioneering efforts to create an intentionally integrated community in 1950s Palo Alto demonstrate how grassroots activism can challenge entrenched segregation and promote more inclusive housing, even in the face of significant resistance. While the neighborhood's demographics have shifted over time, it remains a landmark example of how determined community groups can make progress towards a more just and equitable society.