Pasadena Heritage happily presents 200 Years of Black Pioneers in Pasadena and Los Angeles,

Many don’t realize just how deep the roots of the African American community run in Southern California. This talk brings those stories to the forefront, exploring the lives and legacies of pioneering Black individuals and communities whose impact shaped Los Angeles and Pasadena from the very beginning.

We’ll look at:

• The Pobladores, the original 1781 settlers of the Pueblo of Los Angeles — more than half of whom had African ancestry.
• Pío Pico, the last Mexican governor of California, of African and mestizo heritage.
• Biddy Mason, a midwife who went from newly freed slave to one of the largest commercial landowners in Los Angeles within just two decades.
• Paul R. Williams, the first licensed African American architect west of the Mississippi, who designed more than a thousand buildings across Southern California.
• Jackie Robinson, who excelled in four sports at John Muir High School, Pasadena City College, and UCLA before breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier.
• Tom Bradley, Los Angeles’s first African American mayor, who led the city for two decades, from 1973 to 1993.
• This hybrid program will be presented by Dave Nufer, Pasadena Heritage docent and Board member, and Steven McCall, docent and recent Board Chair of the Los Angeles Conservancy.