Preserving Monrovia’s Black History

“We are notmakers of history. We are made by history,” said Dr. Martin Luther King. BlackHistory Month was first officially recognized by President Ford in 1976. BlackHistory Month had been earlier proposed by African American students at KentState in 1969. They, in turn, borrowed the concept from the father of AfricanAmerican history, Howard University’s Dr. Carter Woodson, who originated theidea in 1926. The Monrovia Duarte Black Alumni Association leads this community’s annualcommemoration.

But much of Monrovia’sAfrican American history has been lost. How can we build on yesterday’sfoundation if we can’t even find the foundation? This lost history is such adetriment to our understanding of ourselves and of our community.

For example,did you know that Dr. Leonard Stovall established a 50-bed hospital in Duartefor patients of all races suffering from tuberculosis? Where exactly was this1935 hospital? Did you know that Anna H. Jones – who died in Monrovia in 1932 –was a suffragist and a participant of the First Pan-African Congress in London? Did you know that theBlack-owned Harvey Brothers Sand and Gravel Company was founded in 1908 intoday’s Irwindale, and provided materials for the building of Los Angeles?Where are the papers of Monrovia’s NAACP founded by Isaac Epperson? Did youknow that director Rodney Hooks was senior class president at Monrovia in 1967?

The City ofMonrovia has laid claim to three of its most prominent African Americancitizens. The Neighborhood Treasure Project recognized Lieutenant Colonel AllenAllensworth, the first pastor of Second Baptist Church now on Shamrock. Anotherbeautiful plaque was made for Aunt Kate Wright, a former slave who helped theindigent and the ill of Monrovia. Mayor Robert Bartlett’s likeness says “hello”to all at the Gold Line station. All three of Monrovia’s historical societiesand the Duarte Historical Museum are trying their best to recover the diversityof community history. Dr. Carter Woodson would be proud.

You maycontact this writer at shling@pasadena.edu.

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