Born in South LA
100+ Remarkable African Americans Who Were Born, Raised, Lived or Died in South Los Angeles
Minnie Riperton
Amazing Five-Octave Soprano Singer and Pioneering Breast Cancer Warrior
(b. 1947 – d. 1979)
Possessor of a simply mesmerizing voice—and one of the first celebrities to go public with a breast cancer diagnosis—singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton is perhaps best known for her five-octave soprano range, her 1975 hit single “Lovin’ You” from her 1974 gold album titled “Perfect Angel.”
Riperton’s 1970 debut solo album ‘Come to My Garden’ is now considered a masterpiece. On June 7, 2009, US TV network’s TV One channel premièred a one-hour documentary on Riperton’s career and life. In 1977, Riperton became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society, and in 1978, received the society’s Courage Award, which was presented to her at the White House by, then, President Jimmy Carter. Born in Chicago, Riperton lived, and died of breast cancer at age 31, in South LA.
— Excerpted from Born in South LA, pg. 53
Paul R. Williams
First Licensed African American Architect in California
(b. 1894 – d. 1980)
Williams, a renowned African American architect—and one of the most successful and talented architects to practice in Los Angeles—is best known for the LAX theme building, Angelus Funeral Home, Perino’s, the Ambassador and Beverly Hills Hotels, Saks 5th Avenue Beverly Hills, the Shrine Auditorium and numerous movie stars’ homes.
In 1921, Williams became the first licensed African American Architect in California and the first certified African American architect west of the Mississippi. Williams designed over 2,500 homes and commercial buildings, including those of numerous celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, and Lon Chaney. He also designed a number of important landmarks associated with the African American community—the First AME Church, the Second Baptist Church, the 28th Street YMCA, and the Angelus Funeral Home among them.
In 1923, Williams became the first Black architect to gain membership in the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 1957 he was inducted as the AIA’s first African American fellow. Williams childhood home at 1690 Victoria Avenue as designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #170. Williams was born, raised, lived and died in South LA.
— Excerpted from Born in South LA, pg. 16
Wanda Coleman
The LA Blueswoman and Unofficial Poet Laureate of Los Angeles
(b. 1946 – d. 2013)
Known as “the LA Blueswoman” poet and writer, Wanda Coleman won critical acclaim for her unusually prescient and often innovative work but struggled to make a living from her craft. “Coleman frequently writes to illuminate the lives of the underclass and the disenfranchised, the invisible men and women who populate America’s downtown streets after dark, the asylums and waystations, the inner-city hospitals and clinics,” Tony Magistrale wrote in Black American Literature Forum. “Wanda Coleman, like Gwendolyn Brooks before her, has much to tell us about what it is like to be a poor black woman in America.”
In all, Coleman published more than 20 books of poetry, essays, and short fiction. Coleman said: “Words seem inadequate in expressing the anger and outrage I feel at the persistent racism that permeates every aspect of black American life. Since words are what I am best at, I concern myself with this as an urban actuality as best I can.”
In November of 2015, the Ascot branch of the Los Angeles Public Library in Watts, where Coleman spent many of her formative years reading and writing, was renamed the Wanda Coleman Branch Library by the City of LA in her honor. Wanda Coleman was born and raised in the Watts neighborhood of South LA.
— Excerpted from Born in South LA, pg. 96
Horace Tapscott
Founder of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and The Union of God’s Musicians
(b. 1934 – d. 1999)
In 1961, Horace Tapscott founded the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in Watts. Tapscott’s goal was to depict “The lives of black people in their communities all over the country, where it had been turned around and been just made to fit the mode of being black and unworthy. We were trying to kill that kind of attitude about black folks through art.”
In 1963, Tapscott formed the Underground Musicians Association/Union of God’s Musicians and Artists Ascension with the goal of making music that brought folks together and eased tensions between groups, creating spaces so that the people had a place to turn to when they needed help, heightening social awareness.
Tapscott’s music reflects everyday life and the experience of the musician. Tapscott’s work is the subject of the UCLA Horace Tapscott Jazz Collection. Born in Houston, Texas, Tapscott was raised and lived in the Watts community of South LA.
— Excerpted from Born in South LA, pg. 155
Ruth Janetta Temple
Founder of the first Medical Clinic in Southeast Los Angeles
(b. 1892 – d. 1984)
Free, affordable health clinic pioneer and provider of healthcare and education to underserved communities in South LA, Dr. Ruth Janetta Temple was a true public health innovator. In 1913, Temple enrolled in the College of Medical Evangelists (now Loma Linda University) and, in 1918, became the first African American woman to graduate from this institution. Temple’s family could not afford to fund her college education, but the Los Angeles Forum, a black men’s civic organization, arranged to pay Temple’s tuition. Upon graduation from Loma Linda, Temple began working to create public health services for underserved low-income communities in Los Angeles so she and her husband Otis Banks turned their newly purchased five-bedroom bungalow into the Temple Health Institute, a free medical clinic that discussed common community issues such as substance abuse, immunization, nutrition and sex education and the first of its kind in all of LA. After over twenty years of service in the medical profession, Temple was accepted in the Public Health master’s program at Yale University in 1941, and the Los Angeles City Health Department awarded her with a scholarship to support her advanced educational endeavors. The Dr. Ruth Temple Health Care Center located at 3834 S Western Ave, LA 90062 is named in her honor.
Born in Natchez Mississippi, Temple was raised, served and excelled in South LA.
— Excerpted from Born in South LA, pg. 66
Arnaud “Arna” Bontemps
Leading Literary Figure of the Harlem Renaissance
(b. 1902 – d. 1973)
In 1903—at the age of three—future poet, novelist, librarian, and member of the Harlem Renaissance—Arna Bontemps moved to South LA as a child with his family. He grew up in California, attended the San Fernando Boarding Academy as a teen, and graduated from Pacific Union College in 1923. In 1924, Bontemps accepted a teaching position, moved to New York, became a part of the Harlem Renaissance, and the rest is history.
Bontemps’ work includes several books of fiction, numerous short stories, and the 1945 novel “Anyplace But Here,” in which he speaks about growing up in Watts. Through his librarianship and bibliographic work, Bontemps became a leading figure in establishing African American literature as a legitimate object of study and preservation. Bontemps’ work as a poet, novelist, children’s writer, editor, librarian, and historian helped shape modern African American literature, but it also had a tremendous influence on African American culture.
— Excerpted from Born in South LA, pg. 84
Teresa Graves
First African American Actress to Star on TV Drama Series
(b. 1948 – d. 2002)
From 1969 through 1975, Teresa Graves, a bouncy, beautiful and talented actress and singer, landed many acting roles on a number of TV shows including The Funny Side (1971); the very popular TV show, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In where became a regular (1969-1971); and, The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1972). Graves also appeared in several films including That Man Bolt (1973) and Black Eye (1974).
Graves is best known for her starring role as the undercover police detective Christie Love in the mid-70’s TV crime-drama Get Christie Love! (1974-1975) when she became the second African American woman to star in her own hour–long TV series (See Hadda Brooks pg. 76) and the first to star in a TV drama series. More recently, Graves was featured in the 2013 hit “Keeping Up with the Joneses”. Born in Houston, Graves was raised, educated, lived in Hyde Park where she cared for her mother and died in South LA.
— Excerpted from Born in South LA, pg. 46
Frederick Madison Roberts
First African American Graduate of LA High, Journalist, Newspaper Owner, and First African American Elected to the California State Assembly
(b. 1879 – d. 1952)
In 1918, when LA’s population was not quite 3% Black, journalist, newspaper owner, editor, and the great-grandson of Sally Hemmings—consort of the slave-owning President Thomas Jefferson—Frederick Madison Roberts simultaneously became the first African American elected to the California State Assembly, and the first Black person to hold statewide office on the Pacific coast.
After being elected, Roberts served in the state assembly for 16 years, representing the district until 1934. During that period, he sponsored legislation that resulted in the establishment of UCLA, and improvements in public education. He also proposed several civil rights and anti-lynching measures.
In 1957 the city of Los Angeles dedicated Frederick M. Roberts Park on 4700 Honduras St in South LA, in his memory. On February 25, 2002, the California State Senate honored Frederick Madison Roberts for his contributions and service to the State of California. Roberts was born in Ohio, arrived in California at age six and lived, served, and died in South LA.
— Excerpted from Born in South LA, pg. 120
Charlotta Bass
Civil Rights Activist, Journalist, Newspaper Owner, and First African American Woman Nominated for Vice President of United States
(b. 1874 – d. 1969)
Multidimensional Charlotta Bass was a journalist, newspaper publisher-editor, community educator, civil rights activist, politician, and leader of California’s first African American newspaper, the California Eagle, from 1912 to 1951. In 1911, at the age of 36, Bass first landed in LA and went to work for John Neimore, founder of the California Eagle newspaper. Neimore mentored her in the workings of a black newspaper, emphasizing the importance of political activism, racial justice advocacy, and the urgent need to defend and expand the rights of African Americans.
Neimore suffered from poor health and, in 1912, on his deathbed, Neimore turned the California Eagle over to Bass who ran it for the next 40 years. At its height, the newspaper had a circulation of 60,000, making it the largest African American newspaper on the West Coast. Referring to the press, Bass said “African American newspapers are instrumental in fostering community consciousness.”
In 1950, Bass joined the Progressive Party and ran for Congress. In 1952, Charlotta Bass became the first African American woman selected to run for Vice President of the United States by the Progressive Party. Born in Rhode Island on Valentine’s Day, Bass lived and died in South LA.
— Excerpted from Born in South LA, pg. 86
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Going beyond common—and often damaging—stereotypes, Born in South LA shares knowledge about the amazing accomplishments and varied careers of South Los Angeles' Black communities.