Ben F. Gross (1921 – August 13, 2012) was an American politician, union leader, and civil right activist who was the first African-American to serve as mayor of Milpitas and the first African-American mayor to lead a predominantly white city in California.
[1] In 1948, he joined the U.S. Army and in 1949, he moved to Richmond, California where he worked at the Ford Motor Company plant.
[1] In 1954, he was named the union's housing committee chairman and after Ford moved the plant to Milpitas in 1955, he developed Sunnyhills, one of the earliest integrated communities in California.
[2] While mayor, he aggressively resisted efforts by neighboring San Jose to annex Milpitas.
[3] In 1971, he moved to Detroit where he served as the Assistant Director of the Civil Rights Department for the UAW.