Act of gratitude repaid 85 years later with $5m

A Chinese American family in California is donating $5 million to black college students at San Diego State University in a touching act of gratitude 85 years after they rented and later bought a home from an African American couple amid racially restrictive housing laws of the time.

The Dong family found themselves unable to rent a house in 1939 until Gus and Emma Thompson in Coronado said that they could rent one of their properties.

Now as Lloyd Dong Jr, 81, his brother Ron, 86, and Ron's wife, Janice Dong, prepare to sell those same properties, they want to help a new generation of young people.

Lloyd Dong said: "My brother and sister-in-law decided that they wanted to give some money to San Diego State, and I decided, well, I could do it as a charitable remainder trust. My brother has no kids, and I have no kids, so we just thought it would be a good program to give to people who are in need."

Ron and Janice Dong, both retired teachers, said they believe in the power of education to propel lives in the right direction.

That is why, after being reminded of their family's link to the Thompsons by a local historian in 2022, the couple, with Lloyd Jr, a retired police officer, decided to donate their money to San Diego State University's Black Resource Center.

The Dongs are also pushing for the Black Resource Center to be renamed after the Thompsons.

Tonika Green, San Diego State's associate vice-president for campus community affairs, said: "The Dong family will change lives with this gift."

Lloyd Dong added: "People need mentors. The black study program will give these students a program to look up to and also help them to be able to go through school."

The family's properties in Coronado include the Thompsons' original home, along with a livery stable, which had rooms built above it that the Dongs turned into an apartment complex in 1957.

Both properties are estimated to be worth $7 million to $8 million. Lloyd and Ron Dong will donate their cash once the home and other property are sold, they said.

The Dongs arrived in California in the late 19th century. Lloyd Dong Sr and his wife Margaret were born in the US to immigrant parents from China. They had four children.

Lloyd Dong Sr worked as a farmer in the Central Valley in 1939 before becoming a gardener in Coronado.

Facing racism

His children said their father worked six days a week, and on the seventh day he made sure that they attended school, developed their careers and invested in real estate. He wanted to move to Coronado because of work but faced racism.

More than 80 years ago Coronado was a resort with plush hotels and white sandy beaches for the rich that hugged the San Diego Peninsula.

US housing practices often enforced segregation by making it very difficult for minorities or immigrants to rent or buy a home.

The housing covenants or deeds specifically prohibited people based on race, religion and ethnicity. Real estate developers put details into contracts to keep areas populated by white people only. In 1882 the US Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, restricting immigration into the US. It was repealed in 1943.

In Coronado, the only place that black people, immigrants or minorities could stay in the late 1800s was on the upper level of Gus Thompson's livery stable, which had rooms for rent.

Thompson, originally from Kentucky, was born into slavery between 1859 and 1862, but years later he took charge of his life by investing in property and becoming a local business owner.

After he arrived in California he worked at the Hotel Coronado, which opened in 1888. From 1895 to 1901, records show, he built his own house and livery stable before the city's racial housing covenants went into effect, making his properties exempt from the restrictions.

In 1955, when the Dongs bought the Coronado home and the livery stable from Emma Thompson, they became the first Chinese American family to buy real estate in Coronado, Kevin Ashley, a local historian, told NBC News. Over the years the Dong brothers moved out of the house but stayed in California to manage the properties. As they reached their 80s the upkeep became more difficult, which led to their decision to sell.