Below are links to stories on people and places that have been overlooked in the “collective memory” of the heritage of the Southern California region and the United States.
Some of these stories include coverage of my research and public/applied history programming efforts.
stories on people and places that have been overlooked
Black Californians have been at the forefront of beach culture. A museum exhibit helps tell that history
Photo: Women participating in a beauty pageant at the 22nd Annual Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company picnic, Val Verde Park, July 18, 1947. Courtesy Library Special Collections/Charles E. Young...
Bruce’s Beach, Black leisure sites highlighted at California African American Museum exhibit
Photo: Historian and author Alison Rose Jefferson gives a curator tour on June 19, 2024 of her exhibit, “Black California Dreamin’: Claiming Space at America’s Leisure Frontier” at the California African...
Manhattan Beach Celebrates Juneteenth With Party, Concert
Photo: Members of the Manhattan Beach Black Scholars Union pose with advisor Janet Allen (left) and former Manhattan Beach Mayor Mitch Ward at the Juneteenth celebration at Polliwog Park on Saturday. ...
What If We Saw Cars Like Rolling Sculpture?
Photo: From left to right: Heather Heslup, Larry Earl, and Charles Dickson. What If We Saw Cars Like Rolling Sculpture? By Jackie Mansky | Zocalo Public SquareJune 3, 2024 The Automobile Represents an...
‘Wade in the Water’ Shines Light on Black Surf Culture
Photo: Wade in the Water. (From left to right) Nathan Fluellen, Natasha Smith and Sofly Surf School founders Sahfilli Matturi, Beyin Abraha. 'Wade in the Water' Shines a Light on Black Surf CultureBy...
Will Santa Monica compensate Silas White’s descendants after taking his property?
Photo: Courtesy of Santa Monica Museum Will Santa Monica compensate Silas White's descendants after taking his property?By Jonathan Bastian | Press Play with Madeleine Brand KCRW FMMarch 27, 2024 The...
Santa Monica killed a Black entrepreneurs dream in 1960. Now it wants to make amends.
Photo: Courtesy of Los Angeles Times Archives, Sunday, September 14, 1958 Santa Monica killed a Black entrepreneur’s dream in 1960. Now it wants to make amends.By Nathan Solis | Los Angeles TimesMarch...
An Interview with Alison Rose Jefferson
Photo: Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times An Interview with Alison Rose JeffersonBy Brian Tanguay | California Review of BooksFebruary 24, 2024 When Alison Rose Jefferson was a graduate student at USC she...
BRUCE’S BEACH: A hundred years, later, the Prioleau family returns to Manhattan Beach
Photo: Family matriarch Anna Gonzales and descendents of Major George Prioleau receive the Manhattan Beach City Council’s resolution of apology from Mayor Pro Tem Joe Franklin. Photo by Elka Worner...
Swimming is in my blood
Photo: Los Angeles Standard Newspaper Swimming is in my blood By Jason Lewis | The Los Angeles Standard NewspaperSeptember 9, 2023 A trip to Negril, Jamaica led to an emotional experience in the...
And before you go, some good news
Photo: Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images And before you go, some good newsBy Soumya Karlamangla | The New York TimesSeptember 5, 2023 A new photography exhibition at the California African American Museum...
SoCal was a haven for Black developers. racist resident ended it.
Photo: Hattie McDaniel and boys from the Los Angeles Health Club attend the Val Verde Park swimming pool cornerstone installation ceremony, April 16, 1939. Credit: Fay M. Jackson Memorial Collection,...
Black California Dreamin’ – wie Afronamerika Pioniere Kaliforniens zeitkultur prägten
Photo: Zum ersten Mal zeigt eine umfangreiche Ausstellung die Anfänge der afroamerikanischen Freizeitkultur in Kalifornien (For the first time,an extensive exhibition shows the beginnings of...
“Black California Dreaming”: Ausstellung in L.A. über schwarze Strandgeschichte
Photo: Deutschlandfunk Logo “Black California Dreaming”: Ausstellung in L.A. über schwarze Strandgeschichte (Exhibition in L.A. about black beach history) By Kerstin Zilm | Deutschlandfunk radio...
California dreaming'” scenes of Black joy and leisure in the Jim Crow era – in pictures
Photo: The Guardian Staff arrangement, preview of photographs in exhibition curated by Alison Rose Jefferson at the California African American Museum, Los Angeles California dreamin’: scenes of Black...
Black California Dreamin’ at CAAM
Photo: Verna Deckard Lewis and Arthur Lewis, 1924, Courtesy of Elizebeth and Arthur Lewis Black California Dreamin' at CAAM By Jason Lewis | The Los Angeles Standard NewspaperAugust 8, 2023 Historian and...
Black Beaches/Resorts: Stolen Black History w/ Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson – August 2, 2023
Photo: First Things First With Dominique DiPrima Staff, KBLA 1580 AM Black Beaches/Resorts: Stolen Black History w/ Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson – August 2, 2023 at 8 AMFirst Things First with Dominique...
Denying our humanity: how Santa Monica decimated a thriving Black community
Photo: Alison Rose Jefferson showing Phillips Chapel CME Church. Photograph: Julien James/The Guardian 'Denying our humanity': how Santa Monica decimated a thriving Black communityBy Sam Levin | The...
Reparations task force gives recommendations on how California can atone for slavery
Photo: Attendees of the dedication ceremony of the plaque honoring the history of Bruce’s Beach view the plaque on March 18th, 2023 at Manhattan Beach, CA. Photograph: Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing...
Beyond Bruce’s Beach
Photo: Alison Rose Jefferson '80 stands in the permanent public art sculpture "In Four Stanzas" by artist April Banks in Historic Belmar Park in Santa Monica. Photograph: Jeff Hing Beyond Bruce's...
Right to Recreation: The History of African American Leisure Sites – Ep. 163
Photo: Leroy Hamilton Right to Recreation: The History of African American Leisure Sites – Ep. 163 By Jessica Aldridge | EcoJusticeRadio/SoCal 350 Climate Action February 2023 Historian Alison Rose...
KTLA 5 – Honoring Black History and Black Surfers
Photo: KTLA5 Honoring Black History and Black SurfersBy Kaj Goldberg | KTLA5 March 3, 2023 The story illuminated in the "Wade in the Water" documentary film are featured with interviews of Dr. Alison R....
Bruce’s Beach Was Hailed as a Reparations Model. Then the Family Sold It.
Photo: In July 2022 members of the Bruce family received the deeds to land that was siezed 95 years earlier by the city of Manhattan Beach. Patrick T. Fallon/Agence France-Presse – Getty Images Bruce's...
Surf, Sand, and Self-Determination: Jim Crow-Era Leisure for Black Angelenos
Season 3, Episode 1 | Surf, Sand, and Self-Determination: Jim Crow-Era Leisure for Black AngelenosBy Cindy Olnick | Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation PodcastSeptember 27, 2022 We said “so...