The California Coastal Cleanup Day/Coastweeks 2012 events, September 15 and 16, were a very rewarding collaboration, with historic preservation, aquatic, and environmental groups participating to educate the public about our shared history and concerns at a precious California oceanfront site at Bay Street in Santa Monica (sometimes controversially known as the “Inkwell”). This project is Public History forging new partnerships, new allies, and new audiences for historical and environmental studies, and action for preservation of our cultural sites and ecological environment.

Here is a short hand that we distributed at the September 15 event on the beach site. Or you can read my previous post on the subject.

In addition, the Los Angeles Times published a feature article about the event on Saturday, September 15, 2012 (“Unearthing History at a Santa Monica Beach” by Martha Groves).

Click to read the LA Times article about the 2012 Coastal Cleanup Day events.

For more information about Coastal Cleanup Day 2012, see also:

“I had the chance to spend a few minutes with White Wash Director Ted Woods today in Santa Monica at a special screening of the documentary. I don’t surf and barely swim, so I was interested in exploring the world of black surfers.”
— Leroy Hamilton

• HealTheBay.org press release about the event (“Coastal Cleanup Day 2012 Sizzles in L.A. County”).
• Complete set of event photos posted by HealTheBay.org on Flickr.
• YouTube video: “Behind the Lens with Leroy Hamilton — White Wash Director Ted Woods”; published September 16, 2012 by photohami. Videographer Leroy Hamilton interviewed Woods at the special documentary screening at the Santa Monica Public Library for the CA Coastal Cleanup Day/Coastweeks event. (See screening event photos #13 and #14, with captions, below.)

In addition, here is a gallery of selected photos from the 2012 Santa Monica Coastal Cleanup Day events. Below the thumbnail images are detailed captions corresponding to each of the numbered photos.

PHOTO GALLERY
CCD2012: Bay Street, Santa Monica

The Historical African American Beach Site Sometimes Controversially Known as the “Inkwell”

PHOTO CAPTIONS

Photo #1:
Mark Gold, associate director of UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and former president of Heal the Bay; Alison Rose Jefferson, historian; and Meredith McCarthy, director of Programs at Heal the Bay at the historic Bay Street beach 2012 California Coastal Cleanup site. This Santa Monica beach site, controversially known as the “Inkwell,” was a popular hangout for African Americans from the 1920s to the early 1960s, long after racial restriction on public beaches were invalidated in 1927. Numerous groups — Heal the Bay, the Santa Monica Conservancy, the California Historical Society, the Los Angeles Black Underwater Explorers, BlackSurfing.com, black swimmers and ocean lifeguards, the NAACP, and other groups — hope to raise collective awareness by combining a coastal cleanup with education about the role of African Americans in Santa Monica’s history.
(Photo by Heal the Bay)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #2:
Check out Plastic Bag Monster vs. @BlueDemonJr on @KTLAGayle@KTLA @CCD2012.
(Photo by Heal the Bay)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #3:
Los Angeles County Ocean Lifeguard Captain Remy Smith, Ocean Lifeguard Marcus Chapman, Jerry Burge from the Black Surfing Association, and Meredith McCarthy, Programs Director at Heal the Bay, volunteering at Santa Monica Bay Street cleanup site. Captain Smith organized other LAC ocean lifeguards to volunteer as a team to accompany Marcus Chapman in support of the cleanup day event. Although not pictured here, Christopher Smith (Captain Smith’s son), Brandon Henry Snell, and Josh Williams were the other LAC ocean lifeguards helping out at Bay Street on Cleanup Day this year.

In the 21st century, a fifth-generation Santa Monican and Californian, Captain Remy Smith became a lifeguard due to his love of the ocean environment and sports. He also continues the tradition of service to the local community begun by his great grandfather. The first minister of the Phillips Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (known as the “Colored Methodist Church” before 1954), Rev. James A. Stout (1875–1932), and Remy’s great grandmother Mary (1872–1964) nurtured the first institutional space that addressed African American community needs in Santa Monica.
(Photo by Heal the Bay)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #4:
Heal the Bay staff member Antonio Carrera, historian Alison Rose Jefferson, and Ted Woods, director of the documentary film White Wash, at Coastal Cleanup Day at the Bay Street, Santa Monica, cleanup site.
(Photo by Heal the Bay)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #5:
Santa Monica Conservancy docents Carolyn Edwards and Robbie Jones pause for a photo opportunity with Santa Monica resident Maurice Maxwell in front of the historic plaque commemorating the site sometimes known as the “Inkwell.”
(Photo by Heal the Bay)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #6:
Los Angeles Black Underwater Explorers President Richard Rice and member DonCosta Seawell are joined by Santa Monica resident Michele Duncan and historian Alison Rose Jefferson for a break from their education and cleanup activities.
(Photo by Heal the Bay)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #7:
History exhibit entitled “Hidden Beach Stories & the California Dream: African Americans, Beach Culture, Santa Monica & the American Narrative” created by historian Alison Rose Jefferson.
(Photo by Heal the Bay)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #8:
Reverse side of the history exhibit entitled “Hidden Beach Stories & the California Dream: African Americans, Beach Culture, Santa Monica & the American Narrative” created by historian Alison Rose Jefferson.
(Photo by Heal the Bay)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #9:
Rick Blocker, founder of BlackSurfing.com, interviewed by Heal the Bay interns during Coastal Cleanup Day at the Bay Street, Santa Monica, cleanup site in front of the landmark monument installed by the City of Santa Monica in 2008 to commemorate the historical African American gathering place sometime known as the “Inkwell.”
(Photo by Heal the Bay)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #10:
From the Inland Empire of Phillips Ranch and Fullerton, California — Sayer Cooke, a 10th grader at Diamond Ranch High School (r) and his friend Elijah Etuk, a 9th Grader at Troy High School (l) have been encouraged to participate in community service through their families and school. They both love the beach, and understand the widespread negative effects of pollution on the coastline. The boys told our roving photographer they were introduced to the historical background of the site at Bay Street (“The Inkwell”) by historian Alison Rose Jefferson, which made their participation even more significant. Sayer’s mother, Gabrielle Hollis (c) who works for the Shammas Group in Downtown Los Angeles, brought the boys out to the 2012 California Coastal Cleanup activity for their day of service and education.
(Photo by Heal the Bay)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #11:
Santa Monica Conservancy docents Christie Smith and Eric Natwig chat with LaVerne Ross, longtime Santa Monica resident and founder of the local Juneteenth celebration at the 2012 California Coastal Cleanup Day at the Bay Street beach site in Santa Monica, sometimes known as the “Inkwell.” Other docents helping out with education duties for day included Santa Monica Conservancy docents Carol Lemlein (also the president of the SMC), Jane Wiedlea Koehler, Robbie Jones, and Carolyn Edwards.
(Photo by Santa Monica Conservancy)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #12:
Los Angeles Conservancy Board Member Elizabeth Edwards Harris (second left) and members of the Los Angeles Black Underwater Explorers listens to the remarks made by Heal the Bay Program Director Meredith McCarthy and historian Alison Rose Jefferson at the end of the 2012 California Coastal Cleanup Day work activities. Not pictured here, Los Angeles Conservancy Board Member Eric Moore and his daughter Tara also came out to support the cleanup of the beach controversially known as the “Inkwell.”
(Photo by Heal the Bay)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #13:
Historian Alison Rose Jefferson, retired Olympic rower/President of the LA84 Foundation Anita DeFrantz, and filmmaker Ted Woods before the screening and panel discussion at a packed-house viewing of White Wash on Sunday, September 16 at the Santa Monica Public Library. Although not pictured here, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and his Senior Deputy for Agency Review and Support Peter Hong were also in the house to see this documentary film, which explores race through ocean culture. This event was part of the 2012 California Coastal Cleanup Day/Coastweeks events, and was sponsored by the Santa Monica Public Library, the Santa Monica Conservancy, the California Historical Society, and the NAACP. (See link to YouTube interview above, “Behind the Lens with Leroy Hamilton,” with filmmaker Ted Woods discussing why he made White Wash.)
(Photo by Heal the Bay)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo #14:
Packed house at today’s White Wash screening! @benharper; Sunday, September 16 at the Santa Monica Public Library. This event was part of the 2012 California Coastal Cleanup Day/Coastweeks events, and was sponsored by the Santa Monica Public Library, the Santa Monica Conservancy, the California Historical Society, and the NAACP. (See link to YouTube interview above, “Behind the Lens with Leroy Hamilton,” with filmmaker Ted Woods discussing why he made White Wash.)
(Photo by Heal the Bay)