HIST 481C - Mapping Orange County Sites

The first black men to enter the West were Spanish-speaking settlers from central Mexico. They were followed by free English-speaking fur traders and by slaves primarily in Texas. Some males arrived in California during the 1850s, initiating a voluntary migration of farmers, miners, soldiers, and cowboys through the nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century, black men settled mainly in the cities and worked in unskilled nonunion occupations. By World War II, far more migrants had arrived in response to wartime work opportunities. War work allowed both newcomers and old residents access to skilled unionized employment for the first time. Discrimination continued, however, prompting a civil rights movement in the West in the 1960s that paralleled activities in the South. That movement opened new opportunities for the skilled and educated. However, postwar deindustrialization moved many unskilled African American men to the margins of the Western urban economy.

This guest post was authored by 2020 Junior Fellow Sophia Southard, University of Kansas Graduate, B.A. in History. This is another in a series looking African Americans in business and the sciences.

Celebrating 40 years in Orange County, the O.C. Black History Parade and Cultural Faire united community members of all backgrounds in downtown Anaheim on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. The parade was led by Dwayne “BH” Shipp, the youngest of the ten Shipp children.

It is one of the most tantalizing what-ifs of Southern California history. What if the Pacific Beach Club had not burned 95 years ago this winter and had opened as one of the nation’s premier Black resorts in 1926 in Huntington Beach?