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.
Two plaques at the site of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church building at 8th St. and Towne Ave. with a pictorial image of the church building, and providing a brief history of the A.M.E. and the church's designation as a Los Angeles cultural heritage landmark, and information about the ministers of the church at that time.
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.
Elias Baldwin's race horse, Volante, shown with a black jockey. Volante won the American Derby at Washington Park in 1885. This was the most prestigious race for 3-year-olds at that time.
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).
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.
Attorney General Stanley Mosk (3rd from right) ready to cut the ribbon for English Square office complex at 85th and Broadway, with the owner, attorney Herman English, and his wife, Eula (right), and (from left): Reverend W. L. Robinson, Attorney Loren Miller, emcee; and Councilman Billy Mills and his wife, Rubye.
Juanita Ellsworth Miller was the Deputy Director of the Department of Social Welfare for the State of California, a chartered member of the Allied Arts League and a life member of the NAACP. She was married to judge Loren Miller.
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.