Remembering Biddy Mason Part 2: Building Black L.A.

Urban Roots

In our previous episode, we told you the first half of Biddy Mason’s remarkable story: how she was born into slavery in Mississippi, earned her freedom in one of the largest freedom suits in American history, and went on to become one of Los Angeles’ most well-respected healers.

Today, in the second of our two-part series, we're telling the final half of Biddy’s story: how she went from owning nothing at all to becoming one of the wealthiest women and philanthropists in the American West by the time she died in 1891.

You’d think this remarkable woman would be taught in every California classroom; her memory etched throughout the built landscapes of Southern California. But no. Apart from one (absurdly difficult to locate) memorial pocket park downtown, Biddy’s memory has almost been erased. The courthouse where her freedom trial was held is gone. Her first home, too. Her former real estate properties, if still standing, have no markers. Even the UCSF mural, one of only two historical depictions of Biddy, was very nearly demolished in 2020.

But a group of organizers and historians fought back to keep the mural — and Biddy’s story — safe from destruction. Now, the Biddy Mason Collaborative is uncovering more and more about this woman who built Black L.A. — and working hard to keep her memory alive.

Our Guests: This episode we speak with folks from the Biddy Mason Collaborative. We talk with co-directors Sarah “Sally” Barringer Gordon, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Kevin Waite, an American history professor at Durham University (in the UK) and author of West of Slavery, and Jackie Broxton, executive director of the Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation. We also speak to Laura Voisin George, an architectural historian (and PhD candidate at the UCSB) and Sky Lea Ross, a phD candidate at UCLA and a therapist with Peace Over Violence.

About Us: Urban Roots is a podcast that dives deep into little known stories from urban history. It is an offshoot of Urbanist Media, a not-for-profit anti-racist community preservation collaborative.

Credits: Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk / Editor and Executive Producer: Connor Lynch / Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

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