Monrovia Finally Honors Latina Civil Rights Leader's Contributions to the City

Lucinda Garcia was never recognized in her lifetime for her fight against segregation in Monrovia, but her contributions to civil rights will finally be honored decades after her death when Olive Avenue Park is re-named in her honor next week.

Councilman Tom Adams spearheaded a movement to pay tribute to the city's rich Latino heritage, and Garcia was chosen by a committee formed in an effort to identify the historical figure in town most deserving of recognition. City Manager Scott Ochoa said the committee quickly zeroed in on Garcia, who was born in 1880 and fought institutionalized racism in town throughout the 1950s.

"At that time Monrovia, like most of this country, had very clear unwritten boundaries that separated communities," Ochoa said. "The Hispanic community was very much an enclave unto itself. I think what really makes her standout ... was that she was a pioneer in the area of civil rights."

Garcia's most notable battle came against the priest at , which at the time was dominated by the Irish and Italians, Adams said. Garcia demanded equal treatment for Latinos, who were kept from participating in many church ceremonies at the time.

"A woman of Hispanic background taking on a priest in that era was a pretty bold step to take," Adams said.

Ochoa agreed and described her as "fearless."

"She was an advocate for what would amount to equal status in institutions as sacrosanct, at least at that time, as the Roman Catholic Church," Ochoa said.

A descendant of the legendary Palomares family, which owned property throughout the region, Garcia was known at the time as a doña, or family matriarch, Ochoa said. She held a lot of sway in the local Latino community, and helped to organize neighborhoods to fight against racial injustice both at the church and in local government. She died in 1958 at the age of 78.

The Garcia family continues to flourish in Monrovia and many of Garcia's descendants still live in the city, Adams said.

"She may very well be the one person that Monrovia can look to and say these are continuous residents of Monrovia throughout its entire history," Adams said.

Jimmy O'Ballas, the president of the Monrovia Latino Heritage Society (MLHS) who sat on the committee that helped choose Garcia, said it was about time that the contributions of Monrovia's Latinos were officially recognized, both in the re-naming of the park and the city's first-ever Cinco de Mayo festival on May 1.

"She never experienced anything that celebrated her culture," O'Ballas said. "The fact that it's taken this long for a Cinco de Mayo celebration and the naming of a park after a Latina-- it has just taken way too long."

A dedication ceremony for the park is also set for May 1 at 11 a.m. and most of the City Council is expected to attend, Adams said. The council officially approved the park's name change last week.

Ochoa expects the sign needed for the park to cost between $13,000 and $17,000, but he said most if not all the cost would be covered by private donations solicited by MLHS.

Adams said he got the idea to dedicate a park to a prominent Latino when discussing the city's history of segregation with his brother-in-law, who is Latino. At some point, he realized that no monuments to Monrovia's Latinos exist.

"I thought there is a significant group of people who have been here long since before Monrovia and there's nothing in Monrovia that would point to that," Adams said. "I think this was a great opportunity not only to honor her legacy but hopefully something that can help bridge the gap and acknowledge a group of people that have felt ignored throughout (the city's) 125 year history."