Honoring Mayor Bob Bartlett

By Susie Ling

The City of Monrovia celebrated former Mayor Robert T. Bartlett. City Council members – past and present – gathered with about 150 well-wishers for the unveiling of a street sign that reads “Honoring Mayor Bob Bartlett” on Royal Oaks Drive and California Avenue. Bartlett served as the first African American mayor of Monrovia from 1976-78 and 1988-2001. He was the driving force behind the redevelopment of Huntington Drive in Monrovia into an active commercial/industrial strip in the 1980s. Another of Bartlett’s efforts, the Gold Line to Monrovia, will be completed in 2015. At the event, Bob sat next to Patricia Ostrye, the first woman to serve on Monrovia City Council in 1974.

At the December 19th celebration were neighbors from the old days, including one that attended kindergarten at Huntington Elementary with Bob. Huntington Elementary was a segregated school until the 1960s. Bob said, “Royal Oaks Drive was always number one in baseball. We beat Walnut Avenue and Almond Avenue.” Bartlett is a second-generation Monrovian. Bob remembers boyhood days riding around on his bicycle and “borrowing” oranges and pomegranates from Monrovia fruit groves. His mother, born Mary Gadbury, came to Monrovia in 1925 when she was six years old. “My mom was the best,” said Bob. Mary graduated from Monrovia High School, raised five children on Royal Oaks Drive, and was active in the PTA, Bethel AME Church, and other community organizations.

Bob’s father, Ray Bartlett, was a gifted sports athlete from Pasadena. He participated in football, baseball, basketball, and track at Pasadena Junior College. In 1938, he and Jackie Robinson, who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era, helped PJC win the state championship. The two went on to UCLA together and then played for the semi-professional Honolulu Bears football team right before Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941. Ray was conscripted into the service, and his marriage with young Mary did not last. After the war, Ray went on to become a detective with the Pasadena Police Department.

Bob’s stepfather, Russell Carr, was a construction worker for over 30 years. Russell’s grandfather was Seaborn Carr. Seaborn Carr migrated from Georgia to Pasadena in 1893. In 1902, he established The Enterprise, Pasadena’s first African American newspaper, and in 1903, he was one of the founding members of Scott Methodist Episcopal Church.

Bob was energetic and jovial at the Friday event. He got testimonials and good wishes from a long string of politicians, neighbors, and family. It was a great party.

Images: Mayor Bob Bartlett with his brothers and sister; Councilman and friend Larry Spicer with Mayor Bob Bartlett (photos by Susie Ling)