W. E. B. Du Bois at Pilgrim House with Dr. Harold M. Kingsley, Dr. Vada Somerville and others, Los Angeles, 1950 (?)

Item Overview

Title

W. E. B. Du Bois at Pilgrim House with Dr. Harold M. Kingsley, Dr. Vada Somerville and others, Los Angeles, 1950 (?)

Alternative title

Somerville community activities (2)

Photographer

McLain's Photo Service (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Date Created

[1950s (?)]

Date

1950/1960

Collection

Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

Notes

Description

Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations.
Harold M. Kingsley was a Congregational minister and political activist. Born in Mobile, Alabama, he was the son of a wealthy white man and a poor black woman. He graduated from Talladega College (1908), and Yale Divinity School (1911). He was the pastor of Bethel Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the Union Congregational Church in Newport, Rhode Island (1911 to 1913), then with the American Missionary Association (AMA) (1913-1920). After serving as a pastor in Cleveland, Kingsley went to Good Shepherd Church in Chicago (1927-1943) where he led the church in providing social welfare services and encouraging community development. Kingsley then moved to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles where he served as director of Pilgrim House (1943-1951). He arrived when nearly all of the Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals were in internment camps, and was a vocal opponent of their incarceration and made strides to reintegrate the group into the community upon their return. Kingsley continued to be active in California race relations for the remainder of his life and actively promoted harmonious race relations between blacks, whites, Chicano, and Japanese.+-0
W. E. B. Du Bois (seated, 3rd right) in a group portrait at Pilgrim House with Dr. Harold M. Kingsley (seated, 4th left), Dr. Vada Somerville (seated, 2nd from left) and fifteen others.
William Edward Burghardt "W. E. B." Du Bois was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, writer and editor.

Caption

Photographer's stamp on back of photo: McLain's Photo Service / 24 Hour Service / 1168 East 47th Place / AD 1-9732 Los Angeles 11, Calif.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph

Keywords

Genre

Portrait photographs

Names

Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963
Kingsley, Harold M., 1887-1970
Somerville, Vada, 1885-1972
Pilgrim House (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Subject Geographic

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Resource type

still image

Subjects

African American civil rights workers
African American Educators
African American dentists