The beachfront resort, Bruce’s Beach, run for and by Black residents of the community, located in Manhattan Beach, was one of the first enclaves of Black leisure in the Los Angeles area during the Jim Crow era. Willa and Charles Bruce bought the land in 1912 and despite harassment and violence from white neighbors, it thrived until the 1920s when the city council used eminent domain to seize the property for use as a park. The land sat unused for years until it was transferred to the state in 1948, then the county, and along the way turned into a park. Roughly a hundred years later in 2021, and worth an estimated $75 million, the descendants of the Bruces were awarded their land back through state legislation unanimously approved, a milestone in the fight for reparations and the return of land stolen from people of color. 

Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson, an independent historian, heritage conservationist, third generation Californian, and a 2021–22 Getty Conservation Institute Scholar in Residence based in Los Angeles, shares some of her research on Bruce’s Beach included in her most recent book, Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era (University of Nebraska Press). The book was awarded the 2020 Miriam Matthews Ethnic History Award by the Los Angeles City Historical Society for its exceptional contributions to the greater understanding and awareness of regional history. Her work on Bruce’s Beach, has been foundational to a current public policy initiative to rectify 1920s racist actions which chased Black people out of the area. Living the California Dream…has been optioned by actors Brad Pitt and Viola Davis’ production companies in a joint venture with Amazon to produce a scripted TV series.

Join Dr. Jefferson and host Brad Johnson as they discuss how African Americans pioneered the nation’s “frontier of leisure” in Southern California in conjunction with their growing population in the region during the nation’s Jim Crow era (1900s to 1960s); the significance of leisure in pursuing the full range of human experience, fulfillment and dignity; and the meaning of spatial justice. We also hear from Dr. Jefferson about some of her other projects including Santa Monica’s Belmar History + Art and the Angels Walk LA Central Avenue heritage trail which both reconstruct and reinsert the historical African American experience in the regional landscape and American identity; upcoming exhibits; and on-going field trip programming for underserved youth.  Join us at the corner table!

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