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.
Bi-fold photograph album with two images of a family. Left: A couple with a boy toddler and an older woman who may be the grandmother in a yard. Right A mother holding a baby in a yard in front of a wooden fence.
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.