Pasadena Museum of History Education Volunteer Adrian Panton takes us on a visual journey through a century of Black history in Pasadena and neighboring communities.
Despite this area’s long tradition of diversity, much local recorded history has been heavily focused on ‘elite’ elements of local life, with emphasis on topics such as Arroyo culture, Craftsman art and architecture, the ‘Indiana Colony’ and their citrus groves, and the mansions of the very rich. While important, the emphasis on these particular stories leaves out the experiences of many of the city’s residents – individual and groups that contributed substantially to the growth of this area into the communities we know today. In 2009, Pasadena Museum of History took steps to correct this historical bias through the groundbreaking exhibition Family Stories: Sharing a Community’s Legacy.
Mr. Panton developed Glimpses of Early Black History based on research he undertook in conjunction with the Family Stories exhibition. The photos in the Black History Collection were provided to Pasadena Museum of History by families of early African-American settlers in Pasadena. Through these photos of individuals, groups, and places, we experience the presence of the African-American community from the mid-1850s through 1950 in the Pasadena/Altadena area and throughout the West San Gabriel Valley.
