California residents hope to honor civil rights activist

By CHRISTINE HAINES

chaines@yourmvi.com

It’s been more than 55 years since California Borough native Viola Gregg Liuzzo was killed for her work as a civil rights activist, but she is still inspiring people in her hometown.

Liuzzo was murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan in 1965 after the Selma to Montgomery march, shot to death from another vehicle as she was shuttling activists between the sites. 

She was 39 years old, a Detroit housewife and mother at the time of her death. She was born in East Pike Run Township, which later became part of California, and spent her early childhood years there.

Last year, a group of California residents began discussing having a plaque erected in the community to honor Liuzzo. After considerable research, they sent an application to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

“We aren’t sure if she had lived here long enough for them to consider it to have influenced her world view,” said Rosemary Capanna, one of the organizers and now chair of the newly formed nonprofit group known as  California Area re:Generations (CARE).

Capanna said she has little doubt that growing up in the East Pike section of California influenced Liuzzo’s world view, given some of the prejudices in the community when Liuzzo was a child growing up in an ethnic coal mining family.

“Only people of English descent could live in California proper,” Capanna said. “They probably experienced some of the things Viola was marching against in Selma.” 

Whether PHMC agrees to install a plaque or not, CARE  intends to honor Liuzzo. 

“I think she’s too important of a figure in our history to be ignored here,” Capanna said. “It’s really amazing that someone can do something so earth-shaking and be from your hometown.”

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