Oct 14, 2025 Updated 10:02 am PT Failed to save article Please try again Francesca Thomas, a Hayward native and great-granddaughter of Leona Alves, owner of Ideal Dining, a restaurant and nightclub in Russell City, holds a photograph of her great-grandmother and a copy of her testimony near the former site of Russell City in Hayward on Aug. 6, 2025. She is involved in efforts to preserve the community’s history through the Russell City Reparative Justice Project.