EXPLORING PASADENA’S PAST
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony | City of Pasadena | June 2, 2022
HON. JOHN J. KENNEDY COUNCILMEMBER - DISTRICT 3
2 June 2022
Dear Friend and Neighbor, Please take a moment to review and reflect upon the photographs of the final art monument, representing and commemorating a history and a land bereft from a once vibrant heavily minority community in Pasadena, California. We worked hard to make sure this critical component was included in the development, and I demanded that it would be more than just a work of art. The images and words had to be researched, authentic and representative of what actually happened. Hats off to developers, Lincoln Property, for doing their part, and to City staff for providing a needed measure of oversight. The development is bounded by Fair Oaks Avenue, Union Street, Pasadena Avenue and Walnut Street. I am sure there is much more to come in introducing the monument to the residents of Pasadena and our neighbors in the region. I look forward to adding even more of my voice to the exposition of the historical and present significance of the monument(s) in the days, months and years ahead. Your comments, reflections and thoughts add to the richness of our proud history. Be sure to take the time to wander through 100 West Walnut, with family and friends, to bear witness to an important part of Pasadena’s past that has abundant relevance today as we continue to seek justice in Pasadena and throughout this great nation of ours. Sincerely,
John J. Kennedy
100 North Garfield Avenue, Room S228 • Pasadena, California 91101 (626) 744-4738 • Fax (626) 744-3814 JohnJKennedy@cityofpasadena.net
Remembering Real People, Places, and Faces This small neighborhood reflects big chapters in Pasadena’s past. It has been a corporate headquarters, a multiracial, multiethnic neighborhood, and long before that, Indigenous Tongva lands. Beginning in the late 1800s, generations of African Americans, Japanese Americans, Mexican Americans, and other residents lived here. They raised families, ran businesses, built churches, and shaped Pasadena’s social fabric while combating racial prejudice and discrimination. These exhibits honor the memories of everyone who lived and worked in this area before “urban renewal” forced them from their homes. They are dedicated to envisioning a more just future for all Pasadenans.
PHOTO First AME Sunday School, 1938
Building Freeways, Dividing Communities Freeways connect cities yet divide communities. Pasadena is no exception. It built the nation’s first freeway to connect to downtown Los Angeles and also cut itself in half to ease access to the suburbs. In the late 1960s and 1970s, thousands of people living in Pasadena’s central a nd northwest neighborhoods were forced to move or sell their homes under e minent domain. Used by governments to acquire private property for “urban renewal” and infrastructure projects, eminent domain uprooted this entire neighborhood and permanently altered the city’s landscape and community life.
PHOTOS John Muir High School, about 1930 Although Pasadena’s public schools weren’t segregated as a matter of law, they were segregated in practice, e specially in the upper grades. As Donald Mims, a local Pasadenan, r ecalled: “The only thing that wasn’t really segregated were the schools. T hey were segregated, but … if you happened to live where you did, you could go to that school.” Detail from Thomas Brothers map of Pasadena, 1935
Exploring Pasadena’s Past “ Well, the first thing to hit me [after returning to Pasadena in the early 1970s] was physical. I didn’t know that you had freeways bisecting the city. Of course, you know, I have feelings about that. I know that freeways always follow the path of least resistance and that would mean through the homes and backyards and the property of poor people. It has to follow the line of least resistance.” — Reverend Wilbur Johnson
PHOTOS Bird’s-eye view of Pasadena, 1903 Pasadena’s economic geography is already visible in this early view. Large estates line Orange Grove Boulevard—“Millionaire’s Row.” Working-class neighborhoods— for the cooks, chauffeurs, gardeners, and housekeepers who ran the big estates— are concentrated on Vernon Avenue, parallel to the railroad tracks. Easements for these tracks justified taking the “path of least resistance” through this neighborhood when it came time to build freeways. The Heart of Pasadena’s Communities of Color Pasadena’s Black population grew from just 75 people in 1890 to 24,000 in 1990. Most of these families arrived during the Great Migration (1915–1970), when millions of Black people left the South to escape the rise of Jim Crow laws. But in Pasadena and elsewhere, racist policies and practices continued to dictate where people of color lived, worked, and went to school. This map illustrates Pasadena’s central corridor—sandwiched between Orange Grove’s mansions on the west and Fair Oaks’ businesses on the east—that was the heart of a multiracial, working-class community for most of the 1900s. As residents were forced out of central Pasadena, most moved into northwest Pasadena or west Altadena as the only welcoming neighborhoods.
Mapping Prejudice in Pasadena Neighborhoods, public schools, jobs, restaurants, movie theaters, swimming pools: little escaped the color barrier in mid-1900s Pasadena. In response, civil rights advocates used the legal system to push Pasadena toward equity for all citizens. In 1947 a decades-long battle finally allowed for the opening of Brookside Plunge, the city’s public swimming pool, to everyone. In 1969 Pasadena became the first city outside the Deep South mandated by the US government to end segregation in public schools. Despite the Supreme Court’s 1948 ruling against restrictive housing covenants, housing discrimination has continued through unfair lending practices, entrenched segregation, and lack of affordable housing.
PHOTOS “This tract is exclusive and restrictive.” Sunkist Gardens in southeast Los Angeles, 1950 Published in the California Eagle, a Los Angeles-based African American newspaper, this photo documented a suburb designed to exclude Black veterans. Even though the GI Bill guaranteed low-interest mortgages to all veterans, the VA didn’t actually administer the loans. Consequently, Black veterans were systematically denied access to affordable housing through unfair pricing systems and lending practices. Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) map of Pasadena, 1939 Derived from maps created by HOLC, a federal agency, the term redlining describes discriminatory lending practices and housing policies. The redlined areas on this 1939 map o f Pasadena were deemed “hazardous” for banks and other mortgage lenders to consider making investments there. These red areas correspond with the neighborhoods then o ccupied mostly by African Americans, Japanese Americans, a nd Mexican Americans. “International Day” at Brookside Plunge, about 1928 Within days of the city-owned pool opening on a segregated basis in 1914, Black Pasadenans protested: “ It is not right … a municipal swimming pool is open only one afternoon and evening a week [so-called International Day], whereas for whites it is open at all times.” After many decades, multiple petitions, and a lawsuit filed by the NAACP of Pasadena, the pool finally opened to all residents in 1947.
Keeping the Faith Nearly a half-dozen churches anchored this neighborhood’s communities: Scott Methodist Church on Mary Street (close to where you’re standing), Japanese Union Church on Kensington Place, First AME on Vernon, Friendship Baptist on Dayton, and St. Andrews on Raymond. As places of worship, moral leadership, and cultural identity, these churches have helped people create community and combat prejudice.
PHOTOS Soon after the First AME Church moved to Kensington Place and Vernon Avenue in 1910, members of the congregation had to protect their church against repeated arson attempts, standing guard at night until the threat subsided. The First AME Church is now located at 1700 North Raymond, after being forced to move for freeway construction. Martin Luther King at Friendship Baptist Church, 80 West Dayton, 1960 Established in 1913, Japanese Union Church served the growing community of Japanese Americans who lived and worked in this neighborhood. Now called First Presbyterian Church Altadena, the church relocated in 1968.
DID YOU KNOW? You’re walking on hallowed ground. Scott Methodist Episcopal Church, 55 Mary Street, 1956 One of several local African American churches in Pasadena, Scott Methodist Episcopal Church was originally located near here. “Parsons sits on ground that we used to own,” r ecalled Rev. Wilbur Johnson. He insisted that the Pasadena Redevelopment Agency “treat us better” than others whose property the city acquired through eminent domain. The strategy worked: Scott Methodist rebuilt on a nice lot on Orange Grove.
At Home in Old Pasadena Beginning in the late 1800s, generations of African Americans, Japanese Americans, Mexican Americans, and other residents lived in this neighborhood. They raised families, ran businesses, built churches, and shaped Pasadena’s social fabric while combating racial prejudice and discrimination. These exhibits honor the memories of everyone who lived and worked here before “urban renewal” forced them from their homes. They are dedicated to envisioning a more just future for all Pasadenans.
Pioneers & Entrepreneurs Cattle drivers, entrepreneurs, health-seekers: Pasadena’s Black pioneers arrived with a host of skills and high hopes for a better life. Joseph Holmes drove cattle from Nebraska to Los Angeles in 1883, buying a vineyard in Pasadena with the proceeds. William and Frank Prince left Tennessee in 1886 to find work in Pasadena’s wealthy neighborhoods. Like thousands of other early migrants, Booker and Carrie McAdoo came here for health reasons. From a population of 200 in 1900, Pasadena’s Black population grew to 24,000 by the 1970s.
PHOTOS Reginald and Arthur Prince, 1916 Opening of Woods-Valentine Mortuary, about 1956 Carrie McAdoo’s grocery store, about 1910 Booker and Carrie McAdoo left Arkansas for California, settling here in 1899. They ran a restaurant together until B ooker died in 1909, after which Carrie opened a grocery s tore at 679 South Fair Oaks Avenue and continued to raise her growing family.
DID YOU KNOW? One of Pasadena’s oldest Black-owned businesses started here. James Woods operated a shoeshine at Union and Fair Oaks Avenue in the 1920s, across the street from a white-owned mortuary where he worked part time. After finishing mortuary studies in 1926, Woods opened his own mortuary. The family-owned business has continued to serve the community for generations. James Wood’s shoeshine shop, North Fair Oaks Avenue, 1927
Places Change, People Endure It’s hard to envision this neighborhood before freeways sliced through the landscape. Instead of massive overpasses, imagine quiet streets, busy churches, and small businesses. Although their family homes and f amiliar places have been erased, the people who once called this n eighborhood home have left their marks in countless ways.
PHOTOS View from City Hall before the freeways, 1966 First AME Sunday School, 1933 The few people pictured here honor the many whose stories we honor. Alice Brown grew up in this neighborhood, ran track for John Muir High School, and won medals in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. Fred Hiraoka worked at Lincoln Market, was interned during World War II, and became the first Japanese American engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1957. Arthur Prince’s family helped establish the First AME Church. Arthur later served as superintendent of the Enterprise School District in Redding. Jesusita Mijares (seated center) started making tortillas out of her home on South Fair Oaks A venue, expanding her business into the family-owned Mijares Restaurant. Pasadena Union Presbyterian Church (formerly Japanese Union Church), 1962
Before the Freeways Before freeways bisected this neighborhood, the corner of Lincoln and Fair Oaks—called by locals the “the Point” or the “the Triangle”— was a busy shopping hub, with Lincoln Market, a shoe repair place, a drug store, and a Winchell’s Donut House nearby. Public transit routes intersected there too, making it a convenient crossroads for getting around town.
PHOTOS Detail from aerial photomap of Pasadena, First National Trust and Savings Bank of Pasadena, 1922 Lincoln Market, 270 North Fair Oaks, 1929 Harold H. Parker Studio Collection of Negatives, Parsons employee Yvonne Fernandez at 11th floor window, about 1974 One of the last Pacific Electric Red Car runs from downtown Los Angeles to Pasadena, 1950
DID YOU KNOW? The Point had the best chili mac in town. Starting out with a hamburger stand in front of her home on Pasadena Avenue, Clara Allen took over a bigger space near the Point for the Green Buck, where she served the best chili mac in town. She shut it down after Parsons moved in and changed the neighborhood forever. The Green Buck restaurant, 263 North Fair Oaks Boulevard, about 1974
Forced from Home “ Redevelopment,” “urban renewal,” “neighborhood improvement”: Official justifications for displacing people never make up for the p ersonal losses they cause. When Pasadena “redeveloped” the city’s central corridor, and federal and state governments completed the Foothill Freeway in the 1970s, families that had lived here for generations were forced to move. Too often, homeowners couldn’t afford to buy in Pasadena with the funds they received through eminent domain. Many left the city altogether. During and after World War II, the few neighborhoods in northwest Pasadena that were open to people of color became even more densely populated and segregated. All too often, federal housing projects like the Pepper Project made segregation worse. Pasadena remained controlled by predominantly white politicians throughout the 1980s.
08/20/21
Submittal-101400-1160-0 - Office_Residenti
SIGN LOCATIONS 1
Before the Freeways
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Black Entrepreneurs and Business Owners
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Forced from Home: Eminent Domain and “Urban Renewal”
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Creating Community, Combatting Prejudice
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Redlining in Pasadena
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Location: Pieroni and Walnut Sign type: Upright bronze line-art map Before freeways bisected the city, the corner of Lincoln and Fair Oaks — called the triangle or the tip — was a busy shopping and transportation hub for Northwest Pasadena and the central business district. Note:This bronze panel features a line-art map locating streets and rail lines before and after the freeways.
Location: Fair Oaks and Holly Sign type: Upright porcelain enamel panel
Location: Pieroni and Union Sign type: Upright porcelain enamel panel
Location: Pasadena and Holly Sign type: Upright porcelain enamel panel Please note: this panel tells the story of the neighborhood along Kensington Place and Vernon Avenue (where the 210/134 intersects) and could mention some individual families, if that is the decision of the Northwest Commission’s ad-hoc committee.
Location: Pieroni (closer to Holly) Sign type: Upright bronze line-art map Racial segregation shaped daily life in Pasadena throughout the 1900s. All too often, skin color dictated where people lived, worked, went to school, shopped, dined, and relaxed. Most Blacks, Asian Americans, and Mexican Americans lived in racially restricted neighborhoods, enforced through covenants, unfair real estate and lending practices, and prejudiced political representation. Note: This bronze panel features a line-art map locating the redlined neighborhoods, the historically Black neighborhood on Vernon and Kensington Avenues, and the central business district. It may also feature the 1935 population chart assembled by the Pasadena Planning Commission showing where most African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans lived.
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Creating Comm Combatting Pr
Upright porcela
Keeping the Faith
Location: Pieroni (closer to Mary Street) Sign type: Upright porcelain enamel panel Numerous churches ministered to the families in this neighborhood: Scott Methodist (Mary Street; now Orange Grove), Japanese Union Church (formerly Kensington Place, now Altadena), First AME (Kensington and Vernon), Friendship Baptist (Dayton St.), and St.Andrews.
Hunt
88 North Fair Oaks Avenue #105 Pasadena, CA 91103 626.793.7847
Main Path of Travel
Hidden Pasadena Ex
Hidden Pasadena Interpretive Location
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HUNT DESIGN
10 West Cultural Signage Progra
ial - Cultural Signage Project - Calculations.pdf
Before the Freeways
Upright bronze line-art map
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Keeping the Faith
Upright porcelain enamel
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Redlining in Pasadena
Upright bronze line-art map
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munity, rejudice
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Black Entrepreneurs Help Build Pasadena
Upright porcelain enamel
Main exhibit wall: Four porcelain enamel panels
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3 Forced from Home: Eminent Domain and “Urban Renewal” Upright porcelain enamel
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Lincoln Properties
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Bronze Interpretive Plaques & Overview Interpretive Story Panel Location Plan
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PHOTO SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to the families, residents, archivists, librarians, and local historians whose collective efforts helped tell this story. Specific photographs and maps featured in “Exploring Pasadena’s Past” come from the following sources. “Remembering Real People, Places, and Faces”
“At Home in Old Pasadena”
Pasadena Museum of History
Thomas Brothers Map, courtesy David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
“Building Freeways, Dividing Communities’ The Huntington Library, San Marino, California David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
“Pioneers & Entrepreneurs” Pasadena Museum of History
“Exploring Pasadena’s Past:
“Places Change, People Endure”
Library of Congress
City of Pasadena
Bellefontaine Nursery
Pasadena Museum of History
Kawahara Collection, Pasadena City College, Shatford Library
Alice Brown-Harris
Morita Family Collection, Pasadena City College, Shatford Library
Miriam Matthews Photograph
The Huntington Library, San Marino, California Pasadena Star News, Pasadena Museum of History Herald Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library Mr. Michael Mims Takayama Family Collection, Pasadena City College, Shatford Library The Mijares Family “Mapping Prejudice in Pasadena” California Eagle Photograph Collection, Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research National Archives, courtesy Mapping Inequality, University of Richmond Pasadena Museum of History “Keeping the Faith” Pasadena Museum of History Shades of LA, Los Angeles Public Library
Pasadena Heritage Collection, OpenUCLA The Mijares Family Fukutaki Family Collection, Densho “Before the Freeways” Library of Congress The Huntington Library, San Marino, California Pasadena Star News, Pasadena Museum of History Herald Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library “Forced from Home” Pasadena Public Library
Pasadena City Council Mayor Victor M. Gordo District 1 Councilmember Tyron Hampton District 2 Councilmember Felicia Williams District 3 Councilmember John J. Kennedy District 4 Councilmember Gene Masuda District 5 Councilmember Jess Rivas District 6 Councilmember Steve Madison Vice-Mayor & Councilmember District 7 Andy Wilson Interim City Manager Cynthia J. Kurtz
ENJOY THE MONUMENTS! LOCATIONS: “Remembering Real People, Places, and Faces”
“At Home in Old Pasadena”
SE corner of Pieroni and Holly
Pedestrian walkway through 100 W Walnut near Holly
“Building Freeways, Dividing Communities” SE corner of Pieroni and Holly
“Pioneers & Entrepreneurs” SW corner of Fair Oaks and Holly
“Exploring Pasadena’s Past” SE corner of Pieroni and Holly
“Places Change, People Endure” SE corner of Pasadena and Holly
“Mapping Prejudice in Pasadena” SE corner of Pieroni and Holly “Keeping the Faith” Pedestrian walkway through 100 W Walnut near historic Mary Street
“Before the Freeways” Pedestrian walkway through 100 W Walnut near Walnut “Forced from Home” Pedestrian walkway through 100 W Walnut near Union
Thank you for your commitment to our community.