Bound for Freedom: Black Los Angeles in Jim Crow America (George Gund Foundation Imprint in African American Studies)

519 Pages·2005·2.8 MB·English

by  Douglas Flamming

BOUND FOR
FREEDOM
   
    
The George Gund Foundation has endowed
this imprint to advance understanding of
the history,culture,and current issues
ofAfrican Americans.
Douglas Flamming
BOUND FOR
FREEDOM
Black Los Angeles in
Jim Crow America
University of California Press
BERKELEY LOS ANGELES LONDON
Portions of this book draw upon ideas and prose previously published in William Deverell
and Douglas Flamming,“Race,Rhetoric,and Regional Identity:Boosting Los Angeles,1880–
1930,” in Power and Place in the North American West,edited by Richard White and John
Findlay (Seattle:University of Washington Press,1999);and Douglas Flamming,“Becoming
Democrats:African American Politics in Los Angeles,1920–1965,” in Seeking El Dorado:
African Americans in California,edited by Lawrence B.de Graaf,Kevin Mulroy,and Quin-
tard Taylor (Seattle:University of Washington Press,2001).
Arna Bontemps’ poem “The Day-Breakers”reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Asso-
ciates Incorporated.From Personals,© 1963 by Arna Bontemps.Langston Hughes’ poem
“History” from The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes,© 1994 by the estate of Langston
Hughes,used by permission of Alfred A.Knopf.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles,California
University of California Press,Ltd.
London,England
© 2005 by the Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Flamming,Douglas.
Bound for freedom :Black Los Angeles in Jim Crow America /
Douglas Flamming.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn0-520-23919-9 (cloth :alk.paper)
1. African Americans—California—Los Angeles—History—
19th century. 2. African Americans—California—Los Angeles—
History—20th century. 3. African Americans—Civil rights—
California—Los Angeles—History. 4. Community life—
California—Los Angeles—History—19th century. 5. Community
life—California—Los Angeles—History—20th century. 6. Civil
rights movements—California—Los Angeles—History—19th
century. 7. Civil rights movements—California—Los Angeles—
History—20th century. 8. Los Angeles (Calif.)—Race relations.
I. Title.
f869.l89n4 2005
979.4'9400496073—dc22 2004018017
Manufactured in the United States of America
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed on Ecobook 50 containing a minimum 50% post-consumer
waste,processed chlorine free.The balance contains virgin pulp,in-
cluding 25% Forest Stewardship Council Certified for no old growth
tree cutting,processed either TCF or ECF.The sheet is acid-free and
meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r1997)
(Permanence of Paper).
For Judith
Forever
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book
provided by the African American Studies Endowment Fund of the University
of California Press Associates, which is supported by a major gift from the
George Gund Foundation.
Contents
Illustrations follow pages 158 and 342
List of Maps ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
PART I. Staking a Claim in the West
Arrival 17
1. Southern Roots,Western Dreams 35
2. The Conditions of Heaven 60
3. Claiming Central Avenue 92
4. A Civic Engagement 126
5. Politics and Patriotism 159
PART II. Civil Rights as a Way of Life
6. Fighting Spirit in the 1920s 191
7. The Business of Race 226
8. Surging Down Central Avenue 259
9. Responding to the Depression 296
10. Race and New Deal Liberalism 331
Departure 365
Notes 383
Bibliography 427
Index 439

Maps
1. Los Angeles and surrounding cities,ca.1918 18
2. The Central Avenue district (74th Assembly District) and its
surroundings,ca.1920 94
3. The Central Avenue district (74th Assembly District),ca.1920 95
4. The 62nd Assembly District,1930–1940 307
5. Voting trends in the Central Avenue district,1932–1936 326–27