Category Archives: African Americans

Black L.A. 1947: USC Film Student Refuses ‘Uncle Tom’ Role in Radio Play

Posted on June 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

June 5, 1947: USC film student James C. Johnson, a member of the Delta Kappa Alpha cinema fraternity, said he would not play a role in a student’s radio play because it depicted “the Negro as stereotype,” the Sentinel said. … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: 5 LAPD Officers Injured in 3 Fights

Posted on June 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

June 5, 1947: Christopher W. Bankhead, who was injured in a plane crash during World War II, dies of a heart “ailment” while cutting a customer’s hair at William McKinney’s barbershop, 4012 S. Central Ave. LAPD Officers S. Goldman and … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: DAR Reaffirms Ban on Black Performers at Constitution Hall

Posted on May 31, 2018 by lmharnisch

May 29, 1947:  The Daughters of the American Revolution, holding its annual convention in Washington, affirms its ban on African American performers at Constitution Hall. A story by the Associated Negro Press notes that Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: NAACP to Protest Not-Guilty Verdicts in South Carolina Lynching

Posted on May 30, 2018 by lmharnisch

May 29, 1947: You may recall that the Los Angeles Times devoted two paragraphs on Page 6 to the acquittal of 28 men in the lynching of Willie Earle. In contrast to the disinterest of The Times, the Sentinel published … Continue reading →

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May 28, 1947: Billie Holiday Sentenced to Prison on Drug Charge

Posted on May 28, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. On June 17, while Holiday was in prison, the film “New Orleans” opened in Los Angeles at the four Music Hall theaters: 8th and Broadway downtown; … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: ‘Dark Baby’ Scare Untrue

Posted on May 24, 2018 by lmharnisch

  May 22, 1947: The London Daily Mail reported that “5,000 Negro-fathered babies were to be sent” to the U.S., according to the Pittsburgh Courier. The Daily Mail also reported that a ship was being provided to bring the children. … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: America’s First Black Ballet Company Founded in L.A.

Posted on May 23, 2018 by lmharnisch

May 22, 1947: I cannot do justice to Joseph Rickard in a brief blog post. It’s enough to say that he was a visionary who began what is probably America’s first black ballet troupe, predating the Dance Theatre of Harlem … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: Racism on the Menu as Bullock’s Tea Room Refuses to Serve Blacks

Posted on May 22, 2018 by lmharnisch

The former Bullock’s downtown store at 7th and Hill Streets, via Google Street View. May 22, 1947: The campaign to integrate the tea room of Bullock’s downtown store apparently began with Edith Cotterell, who had an account at the department … Continue reading →

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May 21, 1947: South Carolina Jury Acquits 28 in Lynching

Posted on May 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. For the record An earlier headline on this post incorrectly reported the length of the jury’s deliberations. It was five hours and 15 minutes, not 15 … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: Sheriff’s Deputy Reprimanded for Striking Sentinel Staffer With Gun

Posted on May 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

Florence Avenue and Hooper Avenue, via Google Street View. May 15, 1947: About 3 a.m. on April 17, 1947, Louis V. Cole of the Sentinel advertising department was delivering tear sheets of that week’s ads when his car stalled. Cole … Continue reading →

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May 18, 1907: Black Worker on Search for Lost Lumber Gets in Fatal Fight

Posted on May 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. May 18, 1907 Los Angeles William Mullen, a black strikebreaker for the Pioneer Truck Company, was delivering a shipment of lumber when he realized that he had lost some of his load … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: ‘Whites Only’ Jobs as Black Unemployment Rises

Posted on May 17, 2018 by lmharnisch

May 15, 1947: The Sentinel calls for a federal fair employment practices act. Below, racial preferences in classified ads in the Los Angeles Times.  

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Black L.A. 1947: World War II Veteran Kills Wife, Commits Suicide

Posted on May 15, 2018 by lmharnisch

May 15, 1947: Robert B. Hudson, 30, was “ambitious, quiet and conservative in his activities,” the Sentinel said. He was discharged from the service with the rank of staff sergeant after 27 months in the South Pacific. He and his … Continue reading →

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1947: When History Shouldn’t Be Segregated

Posted on May 14, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and is one of my first comments on the 1947project blog, begun by Kim Cooper and Nathan Marsak. At that point, the Sentinel was not online. Where are the black people? I … Continue reading →

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History Deals a Deadly Hand

Posted on May 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. May 12, 1907 We’ve been having fun all week with the Shriners, parading around in their costumes, engaging in peculiar rites and pondering silly questions like “What Makes the Wildcat Wild?” Then … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: Thomas R. LeBlanc, Influential Figure in Los Angeles Music

Posted on May 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

LeBlanc’s Creole Band in an undated photo, via the Sentinel. May 8, 1947: I went down the research rabbit hole on the story of Thomas R. LeBlanc, who was featured in the Sentinel. This is a story that deserves more … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: John Thomas Trains at Main Street Gym for Bout With Enrique Bolanos at Wrigley Field

Posted on May 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

May 8, 1947: John Thomas begins training at the Main Street Gym for the California State lightweight championship match at Wrigley Field on June 3. Before being drafted into the Army, Thomas was an impressive young fighter and was scheduled … Continue reading →

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Black L.A., 1947: Racial Tensions at Fremont High Boost Homeowners’ Efforts to Keep Neighborhood White

Posted on May 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

March 1947: Students who walked out of classes at Fremont High School to protest the presence of six African American students stand next to a figure labeled “No Negroes” hung from a lamp post at 77th and San Pedro streets. … Continue reading →

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May 8, 1947: Mixed Marriage Was Illegal, Louisiana Court Rules, Ordering Woman to Vacate Home for New Owner

Posted on May 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Daisy Lee Wade, 14, shows off a bike she won in a contest to name a bicycle. Her winning entry: A Master Chaser. May 8, 1947: Tony Rice and Azelia Barthelmy (sometimes Berthlemy) were married by the Catholic Church of … Continue reading →

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From 1937: A Rape Victim’s ‘Night of Horror’

Posted on May 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

And here’s where we go down the research rabbit hole from the L.A. Sentinel, 1947: The California Venereal Disease Control Act of 1937. Which brings us to “California and Western Medicine,” July to December 1937.

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