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.
Adobe duplex dwelling located at the corner of New High and Ord Streets in the former neighborhood called Sonora Town. A man is seen purchasing ice cream from a vendor and his mobile cart.
After the session of California to the United States, the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas land grant was patented to Maria Rita Valdez de Villa. She possessed the land from 1831 to 1854. After that, the property changed hands several times before becoming Beverly Hills in the early 20th century.
After the session of California to the United States, the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas land grant was patented to Maria Rita Valdez de Villa. She possessed the land from 1831 to 1854. After that, the property changed hands several times before becoming Beverly Hills in the early 20th century.
After the session of California to the United States, the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas land grant was patented to Maria Rita Valdez de Villa. She possessed the land from 1831 to 1854. After that, the property changed hands several times before becoming Beverly Hills in the early 20th century.
An African American miner and a white miner use a "long Tom" to sluice gravels at Spanish Flat, a mining camp in El Dorado County just a few miles north of Placerville. An African American and a white miner are on the road behind them with a horse and cart.
Pacific Creamery Co., located in Buena Park produced Lilly Cream Ice Cream. Buena Park first became known as a dairy center, and both the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railroads built depots to transport merchandise. The Lily Creamery started operations in Buena Park in 1889. With the exception of a few wineries, the creamery was the first industry in the city. The Pacific Creamery Plant was sold in 1927, and it operated under the Borden Milk Co. Creamery and Ice Factory name until its closure in 1953.
African American man (far right) holding a rope, and wearing a cowboy outfit. Two other men dressed as cowboys (left). They are in a corral with horses in the background.
African American family, one boy, two girls and the parents, standing in front of the porch of a house with a striped awning above them. They are dressed for a special occasion with the boy in a jacket and knickers suit, the girls in light-colored dresses and stockings with large bows in their hair, the mother in a light-colored blouse and long, silk skirt and the father in a light-colored three-piece suit.
A group of African American men standing in front of the newly opened Magnolia Saloon, owned by Robert Stewart, located on the corner of New High and Marchessault Street in “Sonoratown”. All of the buildings lining the street are adobe or wood. A wagon is parked across New High Street near a laundry. Two large trees shade that side of the street near a picket fence. The J.W. Robinson Mansion is visible on the left overlooking Castelar and Bellevue (Sunset Boulevard).
A group of African American men standing in front of the newly opened Magnolia Saloon, owned by Robert Stewart, located on the corner of New High and Marchessault Street in “Sonoratown”. All of the buildings lining the street are adobe or wood. A wagon is parked across New High Street near a laundry. Two large trees shade that side of the street near a picket fence. The J.W. Robinson Mansion is visible on the left overlooking Castelar and Bellevue (Sunset Boulevard).
African American men holding picket signs on a street corner. Signs read "If good enough to fight together, why not to work together," "Jim Crow must Go!," "American youth wants Democracy [...]" One man holds a folded newspaper with partial headlines reading "[...]pper attacks [...] Lindenberg"
Two photographs or actors in cowboy costumes, probably for westerns produced by white studios. 1) 3 white men dressed as cowboys on a corral. 2) An African American man and woman each on horseback with a woman standing between them in a corral.
Ten African American women stand on the steps of the Episcopal Church of the Advent (4976 W. Adams Blvd.), greeting the minister, Reverend Lewis P. Bohler, as they leave.
Group of seven children (11-15 years old) playing various musical instruments including saxophones, a piano, and a drum. More older children look in from a doorway. This is probably in the area of Central Avenue.
A. J. (Andrew Jackson) Roberts attended Wilberforce University and Oberlin College. After graduation he taught school, married Ellen Hemings (a granddaughter of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson) in Chillicothe, Ohio, and moved to California as an early pioneer in 1888. He founded a transfer and trucking business in 1905, sold it and founded the A. J. Roberts and Sons mortuary. The firm began at 12th and Los Angeles, moved to 1119-1121 S. Los Angeles, and to 1415 S. Central Avenue in 1922.
Allensworth was a town founded 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.
Color photograph of an altar of St. Matthias Episcopal Church at Christmas time. The church was located at W. Washington Blvd. and Normandie Ave. until 1963.
Exterior view of the adobe house of Andrés Pico, with three eucalyptus trees along the long side. The porch and windows are gone and the adobe bricks are visible in areas with missing plaster. The location is 10940 N. Sepulveda Blvd. in Mission Hills.
Angelita Williams, a young, an African American woman wearing a hat and gloves, stands next to an early model automobile, with a dwelling in the background.
Beckwourth Pass was discovered by James P. Beckwourth in 1850. Beckwourth developed Beckwourth Trail, traversing the pass, that was used by immigrants during the Gold Rush from 1851 to 1855. After that, the railroad came into use.
Beckwourth Pass was discovered by James P. Beckwourth in 1850. Beckwourth developed Beckwourth Trail, traversing the pass, that was used by immigrants during the Gold Rush from 1851 to 1855. After that, the railroad came into use.
Artists Hale Woodruff (L) and Charles Alston (R) at the Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego. They were researching the mural for the new building of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Photograph of an unidentified African descent artist standing next to a painting hanging on a wall, probably at an exhibition, probably in Los Angeles.
Banquet table at an anniversary celebration of Drs. John and Vada Somerville with flowers, candles, coffee urns and two cakes. This is at their home at 2401 Harvard Blvd. where the Somervilles lived from 1944 to 1950/51.
Bessie Bruington Burke is recognized as the first black principal of a Los Angeles public school. She attended Los Angeles State Normal School (now part of UCLA) and earned her teaching credential in 1911. Her education was paid for by the Los Angeles Forum, a political and civic organization founded by African Americans in the early 20th century.
Bessie Coleman was an African American civil aviator. She was the first woman of African-American descent to hold a civilian pilot license. Due to discrimination against blacks in the U. S., she traveled to Paris in, 1920 to learn to fly and earn an international pilot's license. She then returned to the United States in 1921 and became a "barnstorming" stunt flier. "Queen Bess," as she was known, was a highly popular draw for the next five years. She was a speaker, was often interviewed by newspapers, and she was admired by both blacks and whites. In 1926 Coleman died in a tragic airplane accident. She was 34 years old.
Bessie Coleman standing alongside a plane in a field. Next to her is an unidentified male pilot. Coleman is wearing a leather pilot's cap, goggles and a jacket. .
Bessie Coleman standing next to a airplane propeller. She is wearing air pilot clothing, including a flying cap, a jacket and knickerbockers, and knee-high lace-up boots.
Bessie Coleman standing on the wheel of an airplane, wearing air pilot clothing, including a leather flying helmet, a jacket and knickerbockers, a leather coat, and knee-high lace-up boots.
Bessie Coleman standing in an air field wearing air pilot clothing, including a leather flying helmet, a jacket and knickerbockers, a leather coat, and knee-high lace-up boots.
Alison Saar is an African American artist who seeks to clearly communicate her ideas and emotions through the power of form. Her sculptures have their own personal vocabulary that speaks in a direct language about history, race, and mythology. Her works tell the stories of the African American experience over time and space. She is the daughter of assemblage artist Betye Saar.
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).
Beverly A. Johnson was a caterer in Sacramento. He and his wife, Rachael, had five children: Ernest H. Johnson, the first African American student at Stanford University; Helena Theresa Johnson Harper; Belle Johnson Butler; and Louise V. Johnson McCard; Harry L. Johnson.
Biddy Mason was brought to California as a slave in a wagon train. She petitioned for her freedom, and a judge granted it to her and her family in 1856. She and her family lived with Robert Owens, Sr., when she first moved to Los Angeles. Her daughter Ellen married Robert Owen's son Charles.
Biddy Mason (center, left with white collar), her daughter Ellen Mason Owens (1st from right), and others behind a picket fence, on the front porch of the house of Robert Owens, Sr.
Biddy Mason was brought to California as a slave in a wagon train. She petitioned for her freedom, and a judge granted it to her and her family in 1856. She and her family lived with Robert Owens, Sr., when she first moved to Los Angeles. Her daughter Ellen married Robert Owen's son Charles.
Grafton Tyler Brown was an African American who artist worked as a lithographer, cartographer and landscape painter capturing images of landscapes in the northwest United States, and British Columbia.
The Azusa Mission Church played a key role in the Pentecostal movement at the turn of the twenty century. Its founder, William J. Seymour, an African American preacher, presided over the revival meetings and led the development of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. The first meeting was on April 14, 1906. Worship at 312 Azusa St. was frequent and spontaneous with services going almost around the clock. The services were characterized by spiritual experiences accompanied with testimonies of physical healing, miracles, and speaking in tongues. Along with members of the Holiness Movement, services were attended by Baptists, Mennonites, Quakers, and Presbyterians and by persons of different races. Women held positions of leadership. After 1915, the church went into decline; following Seymour’s death, his wife continued to hold worship services until 1931.
Dr. Alva Curtis Garrott married Lillie Dejarnette in 1893. Dr. Garrott earned degrees in Pharmacy and Dentistry at Howard University in Washington, D. C. before bringing his family to Los Angeles in 1901, becoming this city's first Negro dentist.
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.
Photograph of Brice Taylor wearing a football uniform on a field at the University of Southern California. The photograph is on a page from an article titled "From football coach to college President."
African American coachman wearing a tall hat in the driver's seat of a transport buggy hitched to two horses, with a woman passenger seated behind him. A white man, woman and two children stand on the right, with a well-dressed African American woman seated in front of them. The scene is on a narrow, brick-paved lane between two buildings. The building on the right looks like a coach house.
One Hundred or more African American adults and children pose for a group portrait at Eastlake Park (now Lincoln Park) during a picnic sponsored by their employer, Bullocks department Store.
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.
California Governor Goodwin Knight shakes the hand of Louis M. Blodget (the contractor who built the first for Golden State Mutual Life Insurance in 1928; president of f Liberty Savings and Loan), with Allensworth Blodgett (left, son of Louis M. Blodgett) and Jackson L. Taylor (vice president of Liberty Savings and Loan), and Arvilla Knight (wife of Goodwin Knight) looking on.
Canada Lee (born Lionel Cornelius Canegata) was a noted 20th century jockey, boxer, actor and civil rights activist. He was primarily a stage actor from the early 1930s to his death. His breakout film role was in 1941 where Lee played Bigger Thomas in the film Native Son to great critical and popular acclaim. His passionate devotion to equality was reflected in his theatrical and film roles.
Carol Brice was an African American contralto. She made her recital debut in 1943, that year becoming the first African-American to win the Walter Naumburg Award. Her concerts often featured the piano accompaniment of her brother, Jonathan Brice. She was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and received a bachelor of music degree at Talladega College in Alabama. Brice performed on Broadway in several well-known plays and musicals. Brice began teaching at the University of Oklahoma at Norman in 1974. She later founded the non-profit Cimarron Circuit Opera Company in Oklahoma with her husband, the baritone Thomas Carey.
Adobe house on the former Rancho Santa Gertrudes near Santa Fe Springs. It was probably built by someone in the Nieto family, was later owned by Lemuel Carpenter, then John Downey, then Ramirez.
The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade, is part of "America's New Year Celebration" held New Year's Day. It was used to showcase California’s mild winter weather, and encourage migration from the East and the Midwest. Early precursors to the parade had horse-drawn carriages covered in flowers, followed by foot races, polo matches, and a game of tug-of-war on the town lot. Upon seeing the scores of flowers on display, one professor decided to suggest the name "Tournament of Roses." The first official parade was in 1895.
Parade with an African American coach driver dressed in a white suit and top hat driving a floral, horse-drawn carriage. Four white women in white dresses and sun bonnets ride along. There is a multi-story commercial building in the background which may be a storefront church with signs reading "Godless [...]," "Behold he Come [...] Jesus / [Every] eye shall see [...] also which pierce." The partial face of a horse to the left.
Eddie "Rochester" Anderson in the driver's seat of an Army jeep with passengers (left to right) Jack Benny, Dennis Day, Phil Harris, Mary Livingstone and Don Wilson, with soldiers gathered behind them during a USO entertainment tour.
At the celebration held by the Harriet Tubman Auxiliary of the Red Cross in honor of overseas soldiers, service men are seated in the front, then nurses (center row) and Citizens (back), at Patriotic Hall.