HISTORIC Belmar + SANTA MONICA BLACK HISTORY

Credit: Santa Monica History Museum, Bill Beebe Collection

Many African Americans arrived in California from southern states, during the 1880s through post World War II, seeking a better lifestyle and less anti-Black sentiment in the days of discriminatory and segregating Jim Crow laws. Some settled in South Santa Monica, in what would become the Belmar Triangle neighborhood. Nearby Phillips Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, a remodeled version of which now sits at 4th and Bay Street, was an important social and institutional center for African Americans living in the South Santa Monica neighborhoods. The community in Santa Monica thrived despite racial discrimination as African Americans built homes and opened businesses, including the La Bonita Bathhouse and Café, and enjoyed the Bay Street Beach.

(Left to right) Leroy and Pearlie Jamison; the Rev. James Stevenson and his wife, Onnie; Ida Buchanan; newlyweds Waron and James; Odessa Billingsley; Barbara Sapp; Martha Stevenson; Rosanna Redding; and Aaron Sapp

In the 1950s, however, the area was taken through eminent domain and razed to make way for the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The demise of the neighborhood was in part a nationwide "urban renewal" program funded by the federal government. Today, a compelling outdoor exhibit with 16 panels chronicling the story of the African American community at Historic Belmar Park, at 4th Street and Pico Boulevard, honors this historic neighborhood.

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Belmar History + Art

In 2019, the City of Santa Monica's Cultural Affairs division embarked on a collaborative project to commemorate the history of the African American residents and business owners of the Belmar neighborhood. This video provides a snippet of this year-long public art, public history, and community engagement project. (6-min watch)

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The UCLA History-Geography Project partners with K-12 educators, scholars, and community organizations to build inquiry-driven, culturally responsive history education across Southern California.

Explore their curriculum for the Belmar History + Art Project.

3rd & 4th Grade Curriculum

What actions did people take in order to live freely in my community? What informed actions can we take today?

8th Grade Curriculum

How did the African Americans of Santa Monica and Los Angeles challenge racial discrimination and segregation at beaches to form community spaces during the 1900s?

11h Grade Curriculum

How can memorials help us understand continuity and change in our community?

Ethnic Studies

What can we learn from the hidden history of African American resistance to institutionalized racism in Santa Monica?

"Wherever we root ourselves, this country tries to uproot us, but the seeds we plant thrive and flourish. In Santa Monica, as elsewhere, Black residents lived, worked, and found happiness in what the area had to offer, all the while fighting for civil rights, freedom, and equality."

— Alison Rose Jefferson, historian and author of Living the California Dream
"Our parents and grandparents didn't always talk about these stories, because that history was painful. Even people who lived here were like 'There's nothing [historical] here.' I knew that the history was interesting, though, and that people needed and wanted to know."

— Robbie Jones, founder of Black Santa Monica Tours
"We are our ancestors' wildest dreams. A resilient people, travelers of the Great Migration... Near the Pacific Ocean's sandy shores of Santa Monica. We are the impossible now reality, gently swathed in a patchwork quilt with threads of blood, sweat, and tears."

— Angela D. Scott, from the poem We Are Santa Monica, Black Unapologetically

HISTORIC Belmar + SANTA MONICA BLACK HISTORY

Belmar History + Art

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"Wherever we root ourselves, this country tries to uproot us, but the seeds we plant thrive and flourish. In Santa Monica, as elsewhere, Black residents lived, worked, and found happiness in what the area had to offer, all the while fighting for civil rights, freedom, and equality."

"Our parents and grandparents didn't always talk about these stories, because that history was painful. Even people who lived here were like 'There's nothing [historical] here.' I knew that the history was interesting, though, and that people needed and wanted to know."

"We are our ancestors' wildest dreams. A resilient people, travelers of the Great Migration... Near the Pacific Ocean's sandy shores of Santa Monica. We are the impossible now reality, gently swathed in a patchwork quilt with threads of blood, sweat, and tears."