Photograph of H. H. West, Jr. posing on the front porch of the West's residence on North Ridgewood Place. H. H. West, Jr. is viewed from a slight worm's-eye view. He stands left-of-center, beneath the arch of the front porch and looks to the camera. H. H. West, Jr. just arrived in Los Angeles from Attu, Alaska. He is dressed in his military uniform. Behind him, a door to the building stands in partial view along the right edge. Its number plate reads, "83[...]." At left, a small, arched window is cut into the side of the porch at left.
Group portrait of 25 members of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, with Dr. Vada Somerville (seated, 4th from left), and possibly Florence Cole-Talbert (seated 4th from right).
America Waldo Bogle was the daughter of a slave mother and probably one of the Waldo brothers (Missouri businessmen and slave owners who moved to the Oregon Territory). She married Jamaican immigrant Richard Bogle in 1863. He opened a barbershop in Walla Walla, owned a ranch or farm, and was one of the founders of the Walla Walla Building and Loan Association. Five of their eight children lived into adulthood. Three of the sons became barbers in Portland.
George Monroe rode a stagecoach between Merced and Mariposa and became a renowned stage driver. He drove three United States presidents into Yosemite, Ulysses S. Grant, James A. Garfield and Rutherford B. Hayes, as well as Gen. William T. Sherman. Monroe Meadows in Yosemite is named after him.
Group gathered following the unveiling of the two murals titled “The Negro in California History” in the lobby of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company’s new home office building (4261 S. Central Ave.). The murals were painted by artists Hale Woodruff and Charles Alston and installed on the lower walls of the Roman travertine against which the group is standing. Left to right: George Beavers, Jr., chairman of the board, Golden State Mutual; Charlotta Bass, Publisher of the California Eagle, pulled the cord to unveil the Charles Alston Mural; Norman O. Houston, President, Golden State Mutual; Gussie Woods, mother of Hale Woodruff, pulled the cord to unveil the Woodruff mural; and Titus Alexander, member of the California Historical Society who aided in the research upon which the murals are based.
Roy Fowler's father, John Fowler, wrote a column called "Spreading Joy," which was published in the California Eagle newspaper. John Fowler's sister, Cora, married Felix Beckford and lived in Oakland. Their daughter, Ruth Beckford, is a dancer, teacher and author.
Charlotta Bass was the publisher of the California Eagle newspaper from 1912 to 1951, and a civil rights activist. The California Eagle, covering Los Angeles' African-American community, was one of the oldest and longest running African American newspapers.
Dr. John Somerville, born in Jamaica, was the first black graduate of USC School of Dentistry (1907). He married Vada Jetmore Watson (1912), who also became a dentist. He built the Somerville Hotel (1928), was instrumental in the founding of the Los Angeles chapter of NAACP (1914), and served on the Police Commission 1949-1953.
Beulah Ecton Woodard was an African-American sculptor and painter in California who specialized in African subjects. The first African American artist to show her work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, she founded the Los Angeles Negro Art Association (1937).
Studio portrait of a black early Californian woman (Possibly a slave) wearing a satin dress and a headscarf, holding a light skinned baby (possibly white), in a decorative, embossed frame.
Anna Dugged Owens married Robert Curry Owens who was the grandson of Robert Owens, Sr. and Biddy Mason, early African American pioneers and Los Angeles landowners.
Theresa Bel Virginia Harper Danley was the sister of Helena H. Harper Coates and Calvin B. Harper. She married Samuel Bober Danley and her daughter was Margaret Helena Danley.
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.
Group photograph of African American children in front of the doors of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. The girls are wearing white dresses with flowers in their hair, and the boys are dressed in black suits. There are about 10 adults in the group. The occasion has to do with the fraternal organization called the Ancient United Knights and Daughters of Africa.
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.
After his retirement from the military in 1906, Colonel Allen Allensworth founded the town of Allensworth in 1908, with the idea that African Americans could own property, learn, thrive, and live the American Dream. It was named by Lt. Colonel Allen Allensworth. It had a school system by 1910. With the death of Colonel Allensworth in 1914, the town experienced extreme losses, coupled with severe drought and decreased crop yields. Many residents left the area following World War I. The town was memorialized as a state park in 1974, and hosts events annually to preserve its history.
Charlotta Bass was the publisher of the California Eagle newspaper from 1912 to 1951, and a civil rights activist. The California Eagle, covering Los Angeles' African-American community, was one of the oldest and longest running African American newspapers.
Dorothy Vena-Johnson founded the League of Allied Artists in 1939 with Juanita Miller. She was an organizer for the 12 Big Sisters Club in Los Angeles. She was also an educator, and poet. She was married to attorney Ivan Johnson III.
Studio portrait of a child seated on a classicizing stone bench with a basket of flowers and a painted landscape backdrop. She is a member of the A. J. Roberts family.
Nellie Elizabeth Logan Christian Love was the daughter of Lavinia Coffey Logan Snaden (1849-1922). Her first husband was Green Berry Logan, a farmer in Tehama, California.
Samuel B. Danley, Jr., was a Department of Labor employment specialist. He and Theresa Bel Virginia Harper Danley were the parents of Margaret and Theresa.
Studio portrait of the family of Richard Bogle and America Waldo Bogle. The children are (left to right, back row): Arthur (about 14 years old), Belle (about 9), Warren (about 12), (left to right, front row): Waldo (about 4) and Kate (about 7).
Wiley Hinds was a wealthy California rancher and farmer in the area of Kaweah and Mineral King, in Tulare County. His daughter, Pearl, married Frederick Madison Roberts.
Mary Jane Broyles is seated holding a baby on the front steps of the house of her daughter, Portia B. Griffith, at 5000 Wall St, surrounded by about 44 family members of all ages.
Ralph Johnson Bunche was an American political scientist, academic, and diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Israel. He was the first African American to be so honored in the history of the prize. He was involved in the formation and administration of the United Nations. In 1963, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President John F. Kennedy. [Wikipedia]
Reverend Clayton D. Russell was an important religious and political leader in the Los Angeles African American community. He was the pastor of the People's Independent Church of Christ from 1936 to 1953. He founded the Church of Divine Guidance in 1953 and was the pastor until his death in 1981.
Adlai Ewing Stevenson was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, noted for his intellectual demeanor, eloquent public speaking, and promotion of progressive causes in the Democratic Party. He received the Democratic Party's nomination for president in the 1952 and 1956 elections.
Studio portrait of the Dejarnette (or De Jarnette) family; L to R, top row: Leslie Dejarnette Wheeler, Lillie Dejarnette Garrott, Alice Dejarnette Hooper, Katie Dejarnette Scott and Hattie Dejarnette Hamilton; middle row: Mabel Dejarnette Kennan, Robert Dejarnette (father), Stanley Dejarnette, Herbert Dejarnette and California Dejarnette (mother); front row: Robert Dejarnette and Gladys Dejarnette (baby).
Pre dedication banquet to celebrate the dedication of Frederick Roberts Park, with Pearl Hinds Roberts, his wife (seated, 2nd from right). About 42 people are grouped around the table for a group portrait. The location might be the home of Frederick and Pearl Roberts.
After his retirement from the military in 1906, Colonel Allen Allensworth founded the town of Allensworth in 1908, with the idea that African Americans could own property, learn, thrive, and live the American Dream. It was named by Lt. Colonel Allen Allensworth. It had a school system by 1910. With the death of Colonel Allensworth in 1914, the town experienced extreme losses, coupled with severe drought and decreased crop yields. Many residents left the area following World War I. The town was memorialized as a state park in 1974, and hosts events annually to preserve its history.
James Marsh Harvey founded the Harvey Brothers Sand and Gravel contracting company. In 1900 the family lived in Kupfrian Park, Florida. By 1920, they had relocated to Los Angeles (1464 E. 23rd St.).
Mary Ellen Pleasant was a very successful 19th-century African American entrepreneur, financier, real estate magnate and abolitionist. She was a "conductor” on the Underground Railroad and helped John Brown plan and finance his slave uprising.
Pearl Hinds Roberts was the widow of Frederick Madison Roberts, an American newspaper owner and editor, educator and business owner. He became a politician, the first known man of African American descent elected to the California State Assembly. He has been honored as the first person of African American descent to be elected to public office among the states on the West Coast.
Studio of the children of William E. Towns and his first wife, Alice Rochford Towns (left to right): Wallace, Ben, Nellie (Alice), and James Henry (who went by Henry). Alice Towns died in 1883.