Marne L. Campbell - Making Black Los Angeles: Class, Gender, and Community, 1850-1917

Making Black Los Angeles

Making Black Los Angeles

Class, Gender, and Community, 18501917

Marne L. Campbell

The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill

2016 Marne L. Campbell

All rights reserved

Set in Espinosa Nova and Alegreya Sans by Westchester Publishing Services

Manufactured in the United States of America

The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Campbell, Marne L.

Title: Making black Los Angeles : class, gender, and community, 18501917 / Marne L. Campbell.

Description: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016008486 | ISBN 9781469629261 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781469629278 (pbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781469629285 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH : African AmericansCaliforniaLos AngelesSocial conditions19th century. | African AmericansCaliforniaLos AngelesSocial conditions20th century. | Community lifeCaliforniaLos AngelesHistory19th century. | Community lifeCaliforniaLos AngelesHistory20th century. | Los Angeles (Calif.)Race relationsHistory19th century. | Los Angeles (Calif.)Race relationsHistory20th century.

Classification: LCC F869. L 89 N 3265 2016 | DDC 305.8009794/9409034dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016008486

Cover illustration: Family portrait, Los Angeles, ca. 1918 (Security Pacific Bank Collection, Los Angeles Public Library, #00048301).

Frontis: Lishey Family, 1910, Watts, California. Ruth (holding a violin), Lettie, Oliver, Robert, and Gladys. Los Angeles Public Library, Shades of L.A. Collection.

Portions of this book have been published as: African American Women, Wealth Accumulations, and Social Welfare Activism in 19th Century Los Angeles, Journal of African American History 97, no. 4 (Fall 2012); and The Newest Religious Sect Has Started in Los Angeles: Race, Class, Ethnicity, and the Origins of the Pentecostal Movement, 19061913, Journal of African American History 95 no. 1 (Fall 2009).

For my parents, Isaac and Diana Campbell.
I know youre smiling down on me from heaven .

Contents

Illustrations

Figures

Tables

Acknowledgments

This project started out as something completely different, but has ended as something I am truly proud of, and there are so many people who have helped me get through it.

When I was an undergraduate student at UCLA, I was introduced to Brenda E. Stevenson. She was the only faculty member at the time who was working on black women, and thats what I was mostly interested in studying. I went into the Interdepartmental Program in Afro-American Studies for my masters degree, and focused on slave women. I also applied to, and was accepted, by the Department of History at UCLA to continue my research, but because of certain situations, I decided to change my topic. While I thought I was going to be a strict slavery scholar, Brenda encouraged me to do this research, and has taught me to do (I think) very good research. Brenda, thank you so much for believing in me, especially when I wanted to give up, and give in.

I want to thank all of the people at UCLA who helped me along the way, from undergraduate to graduate school in both Afro-American Studies and History. First, the faculty and staff who have been there for me: In Afro-American Studies (back then), Valerie Smith, Richard Yarborough, Darnell Hunt, Sid Lemelle, Paul Von Blum, Mark Sawyer, Jan Freeman, Itibari Zulu, and Veronica Benson were very supportive of me. In the Department of History thanks to Steve Aron and Kevin Terraciano, who both gave constructive feedback on this project. In addition, Brenda Stevenson and Richard Yarborough were so helpful, along with other faculty and staff like John Lasslett, Muriel McClendon, Ron Mellor, Ruth Bloch, Richard Weiss, Gary B. Nash, and Nancy Dennis. I also want to thank the Institute of American Cultures, the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies (CAAS, when I was an undergrad), and the UCLA Graduate Division for supporting my research.

I have had tremendous support from staff at several archives, including the Seaver Center for Western History research, the Autry Museum of Western History, the California State Library and the California State Archive, the Los Angeles Public Library, and UCLA Librarys department of Special Collections. I have also had generous support from the University of California Presidents Office as a Presidents Postdoctoral Fellow, and the Huntington Library. I thank all of the staff at each of these institutions, especially Kimberly Adkinson at the UC Office of the President, and Jaeda Snow and Alison Monheim at the Huntington Library.

My family has been very supportive of this endeavor, even though I lost my mother in 1999 and my father in 2007. I love and miss you both so very much. Not a day goes by that I dont think about you. Thanks to my big brother, Isaac Campbell III. You were there for me, Isaac, when times were roughest. I love you so much! DeShaun Davis, Im pretty sure you set the standard for patience. Thank you. And my fictive kin: Emma and James Conesthank you for allowing me to be part of your family. Emma, you are the best little sister anyone could ask for! You really do make my life bright! Brenda Stevenson you have been supportive of me and of my work above and beyond measure. I think its safe to say that weve been through a lot together, and through it all, you have been my mentor, my friend, and my family. I have learned so much from you, and because of you, I am a better person and scholar. I hope this work makes you proud, but mostly, I hope it reflects the kind of training you have given me. Also, Karen and Lee Eckes, Robin Reinhard, the Clair family, Jonesy, Skyler Harris, Michelle Schultz, Christopher Romeo Romero, Kimberly Mimi Romero, and Jeff Reinhard. You all have helped me through some really rough times, and through it all, you kept encouraging me to pursue this project. Thank you.

I have several colleagues who have been supportive of me at different stages of this project. First, I want to thank my LMU colleaguesAngela James, Adilifu Nama, and Brad Stone in African American Studies; Traci Voyles, Sina Kramer, and Stella Oh in Womens Studies; and Karen Mary Davalos in Chicana/o Studies. Two of my other colleagues in Chicana/o Studies, Eliza Rodriguez y Gibson and Yvette Saavedra (#anythingforsaavedra), have become my really close friends, and I am so grateful to have you in my life. Thank you so much for your support, your friendship, and your truly valuable feedback. Thanks to my colleagues and former colleagues from LMU: Dorothea Herreiner, Linh Hua, Maria Valenzuela, Jane Yamashiro, Deanna Cooke, Rae Linda Brown, Abbie Robinson-Armstrong, Danielle Borgia, Deena Gonzalez, and Edward Park. Liz Faulkner has been particularly supportive. And my good friend and colleague Heather Tarletonit has been absolutely wonderful having a writing partner during this final stretch. You are always encouraging, and I dont think you know how much your positive attitude has helped me.

I also have several good friends to thank. Some are colleagues, but they have been my friends beyond work. Jessica Millwardthank you for asking all the right questions, checking in when I needed, and knowing when I needed to keep my head down. Its been a great (almost) two decades, my friend. Clarence Langthank you for pushing me to keep at it. I know it didnt seem like it at times, but I always heard, and I always listened. Thanks Eboni Stevens, Janique Jammie Dunn, Chloe Kipnis, Leonardo Zuniga, LaShawn Witt, Shane Somerville, and Hooman Rahimizadeh. Special thanks to Lovell Lovey Seville, I know you are resting peacefully, and that heaven is a happier place with you in it, even though we miss you down here.