AfriGeneas | African American Genealogy

Califia's life and land "at the right hand of the Indies" were described in a novel written about 1510, by Garcia Ordonez Rodriguez de Montalvo, a Spanish writer, and was entitled "Las Serges des Esplandian". To some extent, this document helped to precipitate the Spanish hunt for gold in North America. In fact, thirty years later, when the explorer Cortes landed with his crew in what is known today as Baja California, it is said that he announced to his men (of which 300 were of African descent) that they had arrived in Califia's land. By 1770, the entire Pacific coast controlled by Spain had been given the name California, and the Spanish speaking people who lived there were called Californios. A portion of the original of this document was translated by Edward Everett Hale for The Antiquarian Society, and the story was printed in the Atlantic Monthly magazine in 1864.

The best known depictions of Queen Califia are murals done by well known artists. One seven foot high panel showing Califia as a Black woman with her Amazons is in The Room of the Dons at the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco, and was created for the opening of the hotel in 1926, by Maynard Dixon and Frank Von Sloun. Another famous depiction, created by Louise Lloyd and entitled "The Naming of California", can be seen in Sacramento in the Senate Rules Committee Hearing Chamber on the 4th floor of the State Building.

It is interesting to note that, beginning in 1781, a document called a "cedula" could be purchased which would officially change one's racial designation. Many such records can be found at the Bancroft Library in San Francisco and at other California libraries, museums and historical societies. In addition, although Old Mexico had previously used a variety of terms to describe blood quantum similar to Louisiana's methods, once a couple reached California to the north, any of their children born there were automatically classified as Spanish if one parent was Spanish.

For all practical purposes, early California could truly be described as a melting pot. Most people of African descent from 1816-1840 were absorbed into the mix, so that there were few if any real "Negro communities" prior to the Gold Rush. By 1848, the Californio was often tri-racial (Indian, Spanish and African), and included many immigrant bloodlines. The lower economic classes of Californios gradually became more Indian, partly due to intermarriage with California Indians. The upper classes of Californios often "married light", to European-born Spaniards when possible, or to other European or American whites.

The four Presidios were founded at the same time as the Missions of the same names, and were intended to protect any colonizers and several Missions nearby. Each fort had 8 brass cannons, and while they could not resist a sustained attack by sea, they were strong enough to protect the settlers from any hostile Indians or other attack by land. As would be expected, settlers began to move nearer to the Presidios for protection, to the point that eventually they were actually given the title “Presidio-Pueblo”.

The four Pueblos were established as farming communities in fertile valleys. The original hope was that they would be able to furnish the Presidios with grain and other staples, so that Mexico would not have to continue to ship them by sea. The Pueblos were divided into house lots, farm lots, lands to be rented, lands to be held in common, and pastures. There was to be food and pay for settlers, distributions of house lots, farming lots and animals, common use of water and firewood, and the settlers would not have to pay taxes for five years after their arrival.

San Jose - San Jose was the first Pueblo to be established, and was located on the Guadalupe River in 1777, not far from San Francisco. The first settlers were 14 men recruited from the Presidios at Monterey and San Francisco, and their families. The small town grew very slowly at first, and the Mission there was not established until almost twenty years later.

Los Angeles - The area that became the second Pueblo was discovered in 1769, during the development of the trail between San Diego and San Francisco. Described in the notes of the priests and soldiers as “a delightful place”, it was “by a river" which they named El Rio de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula (the River of Our Lady Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula). They experienced three earthquakes during their stay, but still they noted the possibilities for a settlement in their report. Twelve years later, El Pueblo was founded as the city with the long name that has been shortened around the world to "LA".

Most members of the 11 founding families came from Sinaloa, Mexico, where a third of the population had some degree of African ancestry. Of these 11 men, 11 women and 22 children, 26 persons were of African ancestry, two were Caucasian, and the remainder were either Indians or Indian/Caucasian (Mestizos). Between 1781 and 1790, eight of the original settlers of African ancestry had been officially re-classified as "Espanol", and some of the Indians had been re-classified as "Mestizos". The whitening of the founders had begun. By 1860, one of the few reminders of LA’s Black History was a street downtown called Calle de los Negros, where saloons and gambling dens were found.

El Pueblo State Historic Park, the grounds of the Pueblo, is located in downtown Los Angeles, and consists of 43 acres just north of the Hollywood Freeway. It is now bordered by Chinatown and Union Station. It has a number of historic landmarks which can be toured, such as the oldest existing residence (1818), the oldest church (1822), and the oldest street (Olvera Street), which is now a marketplace for tourists. The present Plaza was built in 1815 and is a short distance from the original, which had to be moved because of floods.

Branciforte - Founded in 1797, the third Pueblo was located near the Mission of Santa Cruz, and it did not fare well after its lands were merged with theirs during the secularization of the Missions in the 1830s. The original intent was to use retired soldiers as the settlers there, but since none wanted to move to that area, a group of 40 petty criminals was sent there instead. By 1905, Branciforte’s lands had been completely annexed to those of the town of Santa Cruz.

Sonoma - The first Pueblo to be settled north of San Francisco, it was founded during the Mexican Republic era, in 1835. General Mariano Vallejo, who had been the commander of the Presidio at San Francisco, was given the new responsibility of colonizing the northern frontier by the governor. Taking over the Mission there, he freed its Indian workers and distributed the Mission’s lands.

All of the Mission locations were carefully chosen for their good land, the availability of water, accessibility, and nearness to native population centers. They eventually encompassed most of the coastal region from San Diego to Sonoma, north of San Francisco. Founded by priests of the Roman Catholic Church, the Missions resembled small Spanish villages. The church was the main building, and also served as a fort for the villagers during attack. There were separate houses for the priests, soldiers, married people, single males, and unmarried females, as well as barns and other farm buildings. Mission lands for farming and the grazing of animals usually extended from border to border between the Missions. As their number increased, the intent was for travelers (or soldiers) to be able to walk from the safety of one Mission to the next, along El Camino Real (The Royal Road) in about one day's time. In all there were 21 Missions built between 1769 and 1823.

At their peak, the Missions were very productive. They held over 400,000 cattle, 60,000 horses, 300,000 sheep, goats and pigs, and produced at least 120,000 bushels of various grains such as wheat, maize and beans. They also produced wine from their vineyards, brandy from their orchards, soap, leather, hides, wool, oil, cotton, hemp, linen, tobacco, salt and soda. Their annual worth for Spain was about two million dollars.

While numerous Ranchos undoubtedly belonged to people of Black ancestry at some time in the past, the following are known to have been owned by those of African-American descent:

The Pico Family: This family, for whom Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles is named, is probably the most famous. The sons of Los Angeles founder Santiago de la Cruz Pico, a mestizo, and his mulatto wife Maria de la Bastida, acquired the first Rancho in what is now Ventura County. The Pico brothers owned a number of large Ranchos, including Rancho Jamul in San Diego, San Onofre (the nuclear plant) and Rancho Santa Margarita (which became Camp Pendleton), Los Coyotes and Rancho Paso de Bartolo Viejo (a large portion of the City of Whittier), and half of the San Fernando Valley. An uncle, Jose Dolores Pico, owned a Rancho in Salinas. In 1845, a grandson, Pio Pico, became Governor of California.

Manuel Nieto: The mulatto son of a Black man and a Spanish woman, he owned Rancho Los Alamitos and Rancho Los Cerritos for a total of 167,000 acres of grazing land, southeast of Los Angeles. Rancho Los Cerritos encompassed the land that is now known as the City of Long Beach.

Francisco Reyes: A mulatto, he owned Rancho San Fernando, which formed a large portion of the (now) San Fernando Valley. In the 1790s he sold it, and later became the mayor of Los Angeles.

Jose Bartolome Tapia: The son of Felipe Tapia, a mulatto, and Juana Cardenas, a mestiza, he owned Rancho Malibu.

Tiberio Tapia: Grandson of a Black man and a mestiza, he owned Rancho Cucamonga near Los Angeles, and served 3 times as mayor of Los Angeles.

Maria Rita Valdez: Her Black grandparents (Luis Quintero) were among the founders of Los Angeles, and she owned Rancho Rodeo de Las Aguas, now known as Beverly Hills.

Slave owners who tried to use their slaves to mine gold for them often had problems. One of the "laws" in prospecting was that the gold belonged to the man who discovered it. The miners felt that having your slaves find gold for you violated this "law", and often forced slave owners out of the area. Many slave owners prospected in isolated areas or put ads in newspapers trying to sell their slaves; others allowed their slaves to buy themselves with their profits. Howard Barnes, a slave of the Boggs family from Missouri, is said to have sold pies at $1.00 each to pay for his freedom on the installment plan.

Two Black men are known to have delivered mail for the miners by Pony Express during this time: William Robinson carried the mail from Stockton to the miners, and George Monroe carried the mail between Merced and Mariposa. Monroe later became a stage driver, and was chosen to drive President Ulysses Grant to Yosemite, where an area called Monroe Meadows was named in his honor.

Recreation was rowdy, especially if the settlement was not near a big town where casino gambling and dance hall girls were available. The camps had bull fights, cock fights, dog fights, bear fights, foot races, billiards, bowling, boxing and wrestling (with nose biting and ear gouging allowed), and plenty of carefree betting on the winner. Surprisingly, many camps also had chess clubs, and often played against other camps by mail. Sometimes they had dances, and designated which men would be "girls" during the party by pinning a patch of colored cloth to their sleeve.

The people who fared the best during the Gold Rush Era were not the miners, but those who worked at other trades. Someone had to provide supplies and services to the miners, such as tools, haircuts, food items, cooks, rooms, baths, laundry service, and entertainment. Many of these were African-American entrepreneurs, especially barbers and cooks. Fortunes could be made, and often were. Prices that could be charged were often unbelievable: eggs $1.00 each, potatoes $.50 each, bread $1.00 per slice, shovels $10-20.00 each, a blanket $100.00, a butcher knife $30.00, a tin pan for gold washing $30.00. Although not begun by African-Americans, several current-day familiar name brands got their start then.

By the mid-1850s, hydraulic equipment had been brought in and mining became big business, so sophisticated that the ‘49ers were put out of business. As they moved away to try their luck at the gold fields in other States, many of the camps became ghost towns. Many former miners did stay, and became shop keepers, businessmen and farmers. By 1860, agriculture was the largest industry in the area.

Levi Strauss - Strauss noticed that the gold nuggets tore through the miners' pockets. He had brought canvas fabric to sell to the miners for use as tents. Instead, he made trousers out of the fabric and sold those. Everyone still wears his Levi's jeans.

John Studebaker - Known as "Wheelbarrow Johnny", he repaired wagons and made wheelbarrows for the miners. He later went home to South Bend, Indiana, where he made wagons, and then went into the auto making business.

Phillip Armour - He earned money by digging ditches until he could afford to buy a butcher shop. Then he sold meat to the miners. Later he went to Chicago and opened a meat packing plant.

Domenico Ghirardelli - An unsuccessful miner, he then opened several stores, but lost them to fires. He had learned the confectionery business in his youth in Italy, and started over for the third time by selling candy. He was finally able to build a large candy factory, from which to ship his chocolates throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Mmmmmm goodie!

Andrew Smith Hallidie - An unsuccessful miner (who was already an inventor and engineer), he recognized a need for, and set to work designing and creating "ropes" made out of wire, for raising and lowering containers of ore and rock, and for building suspension bridges. Later he realized that city street cars could be moved with underground cables made of similar material, and created San Francisco's cable car system. He profited from the royalties when other cities used his inventions.

Mark Hopkins - An unsuccessful miner, he grew vegetables and sold them off a wagon. He parlayed this into a grocery business, and teamed up with Collis Huntington supplying merchandise of all kinds to the miners. He used his profits to help found the Union Pacific Rail Road and became its Treasurer.

Collis Huntington - He became prosperous as a peddler before coming to California, where he opened a store dealing in miner's supplies. When he joined up with Mark Hopkins, their store became one of the best known in the entire State. He used his profits to help found the Union Pacific Rail Road and extended its lines for continuous rail service from San Francisco to Newport News, Virginia. He is also known to have made large contributions to Tuskegee and Hampton Institutes. His art collection was left to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Leland Stanford - A lawyer before moving to California, he sold mining supplies and other merchandise to the miners after his arrival. He became active in politics, and was governor of the state from 1861-1863. He used his political influence to obtain state financing and land grants for the transcontinental railroad, and became its president. When their son died at age15, Stanford and his wife founded and financed Stanford University in his memory. Later he became a U.S. Senator.

Charles Crocker - Forced to leave school at an early age to help support his family, he worked at an assortment of occupations. He came to California to prospect gold, but quickly abandoned that to open a store. He soon became a wealthy merchant, entered politics, and used his profits in the founding the Union Pacific Rail Road. He was in charge of construction, equipment, accounting, and the importing of the Chinese workers. He set up the Chinese "coolie" system, and drove them so hard that the project was completed 7 years ahead of the government's deadline. Later he was involved in real estate and banking, and his bank was the ancestor of the Crocker National Bank.

Among the earliest Black Miners were sailors who jumped ship from Massachusetts whaling ships. Being used to foreign places and hard work, and having a degree of independence from long voyages, they did well as miners. When reports of their success began to appear in Eastern antislavery journals, other Blacks were probably encouraged to join the Gold Rush.

In 1848, at the start of the Gold Rush Era, there were only a few dozen African Americans who were documented as living in all of California. Within 4 years, their population had increased to more than 2,000 with more than half involved in gold rush-related activities.

It has been said that Black miners preferred integrated settings, and prospected most often with Chinese, Latin American and European miners, or miners who had come from New England. Many of the photographs that show Black miners depict them in integrated settings, and in some areas mining camps were also named for them. On old California maps, there are at least 30 mining camps in which either the word “Negro”, “Nigger”, or “los Negros” is used as part of the name of the camp. Black miners are known to have worked in the following settlements:

Negro Bar – settled on the American River in 1849, it was later called Mormon Bar; now a part of the City of Folsom [permanent].

Negro Slide – situated in Plumas county on a mountainside, between Goodyear Bar and St. Joe’s Bar

Negro Tent – originally a tent where food and tools could be purchased from Black miners, it was situated on a ridge between Camptonville and Goodyear; eventually expanded and became a hotel and restaurant

Negro Hill - situated near Sacramento on the Mokelumne River; one Black miner is said to have made over $80,000 here before leaving

Little Negro Hill - located on the American River, it had a store, boarding house and houses; shared with Chinese and Portuguese miners, this settlement is estimated to have had 400 people

Downieville [permanent] - founded by a Scotsman, Maj. William Downie in1849, with 10 Black sailors, an Irishman, an Indian and a Hawaiian; also called Downie's Canyon.

Kentucky Ridge - established by ex-slaves near Hangtown (now Placerville [permanent], it lasted 2 years before an attack by rival whites caused the founders to move away

Nigger Heaven - eventually proved rich in oil rather than gold; the black owners then leased some of the land to the Standard Oil Company

Negro Run	Negro Flat	Negro Butte	Nigger Diggins
Nigger Bill Bend	Nigger Jack Slough	Arroyo de los Negros	Indian Gulch
Spanish Flat	Rose's Bar	Massachusetts Flats	Oroville
Auburn Ravine	Gold Springs	Caloma

It should also be noted that the African-American Civil War Memorial and Museum, located at “U” Street and Vermont Avenue N.W., in Washington DC, also bear witness to the dedication of the more than 200,000 Black Civil War soldiers. A beautiful bronze statue and a Wall of Honor listing these men by name (cared for by the National Park Service), are fitting tributes to our ancestors who fought for freedom. A website at www.afroamcivilwar.org/discover.html gives more information and directions to the memorial and the museum. The Park Service also has a website, where these Soldiers, Sailors, and their units are indexed for research at www.itd.nps.gov/.

Early in the Gold Rush, because of concerns that denying African-Americans their rights might cause a delay in California being granted statehood, the State constitution was written declaring it to be a “free” state. Within a year or so, however, the melting-pot theory of the mines began to be hard-fought by some white Americans, who called themselves “nativists”. These men felt that only Americans should be allowed to mine for gold on U.S. soil, and pushed for discriminatory laws against foreign miners, especially those who were Chinese or Mexican.

The nativists also strongly supported the Fugitive Slave Act of 1852, and soon pushed for a California version, which declared that any slave brought here before 1849 who did not return to his master would be jailed. This caused many difficulties for former slaves who had legally bought their freedom, although some had white friends who were willing to help them. Some white attorneys and a few early sympathetic judges also worked on their behalf. Several rulings were made in court cases to the effect that, since African-Americans could not testify in court, their statements that they were runaways were inadmissible. Others were deemed free, provided they had escaped within California, and had not crossed the border into another State.

There were also a number of wealthy Blacks, particularly in the San Francisco area, who spent much of their time and money helping runaways and those less fortunate obtain their freedom. Several had been involved in abolition societies in the northeast and in the Underground Railroad, and still had connections to Frederick Douglass. Among the leaders were Henry M. Collins, Jonas Townsend, Rev. Jeremiah Sanderson, Frederick Barbados, Peter Lester, Jacob Francis, David Ruggles, and Mifflin Gibbs. Many African-American citizens also fought against attempts to impose second-class citizenship on them by sending petitions to the legislature. Usually rejected, the petitions still focused attention on the issues.

The first civil rights organization, called The Franchise League of San Francisco, was formed in 1852. Black newspapers, such as The Mirror of the Times, The San Francisco Elevator, and The Pacific Appeal began publishing news of importance to African-Americans.

In 1855, African Americans began to hold statewide Colored Citizens’ Conventions, where they discussed problems and possible solutions. They also listed their places of employment at that time, and the value of their property, attempting to show that they were not a burden to the State. At the 1857 Convention, property ownership was listed by county in the following amounts:

San Francisco $450,000 Nevada co. $260,000

Mariposa co. $ 75,000 Shasta co. $ 76,000

Butte co. $ 96,000 Yerba co. $ 94,000

Siskiyou co. $ 65,000 Sierra co. $ 65,000

Tuolumne co. $ 90,000 Plumas co. $ 20,000

Santa Clara co. $ 21,000 El Dorado co. $250,000

Sacramento co. $ 84,703 Amador co. $ 50,000

Alameda co. $ 50,900 San Joaquin co. $ 80,000

Napa co. $ 30,000 Sonoma co. $ 5,000

By 1858, a Bill was proposed by whites attempting to regulate the immigration of Free Negroes, similar to the laws enacted in the southeastern States 50 years earlier. A prominent Black clergyman, Rev. J.J. Moore, was allowed to speak before the legislature, however, and the Bill did not pass. As more whites began to arrive, they began to form trade unions which pushed African-Americans out of the jobs they had normally held. Many African-Americans became discouraged and left California to pursue lives in Victoria, British Columbia, invited by the Canadian government.

During the Civil War, wheat and wool grown in California helped the Union troops. Most volunteers never left the State, although one battalion did serve in Virginia. In 1863, the right to testify against whites in court was finally granted, and the filing of civil law suits against discrimination by African-Americans began. Other civil rights organizations, such as The Universal Negro Improvement Association, The Afro-American League, and the NAACP began forming to assist African-Americans as larger numbers of former slaves and free people began to immigrate to California.

Some of these newcomers brought their families and took advantage of The Homestead Act. They agreed to stay for 5 years and make improvements on the land. African-Americans who were former Union soldiers were allowed to use their time in service as part of their residency requirement. Others who could afford the price, paid $1.25 per acre for land. By 1871, schools became a target for activists, but it took almost 20 years to be assured of equal education under the law. By the 1900s, hard work had begun on gaining more economic opportunities and better housing.

Thanks to Milton Hines of the San Diego African American Genealogy Group for contributing the booklet "Black Pioneers in San Diego", by Larry Malone and Gail Madyun, published by the San Diego Historical Society, which was the source of much of the following information.

San Diego’s early African American population grew very slowly. Although there had been Black-Mexicans in the area since the time of Cortes, they had basically been assimilated into the Mexican culture and society. The city was founded as the first Pueblo and Presidio in Upper California in 1769, and has many historical landmarks. Many of these can be seen at http://www.sandiegohistory.org

The first documented American Black to arrive in San Diego was John Brown, a sailor who deserted the ship O'Cain in 1804. In 1816, three Black crewmen deserted the schooner Albatross. By 1880, there were still only 55 Blacks enumerated in the San Diego census. Most of these had come to California from the rural southeast as slaves, former slaves and employees of whites who brought them.

Nathaniel Harrison is believed to have been the first permanent Black resident of the county. He was born a slave in 1820 in TN, and arrived in San Diego in 1848. He built a cabin on 160 acres on Mt. Palomar, and made a living for more than 50 years by raising and selling livestock and working on other nearby ranches. A street sign in Pauma Valley points the way to Nathaniel Harrison Grade.

Between 1860 and 1870, the majority of Blacks lived in the area called Julian, where there were several Black farmers: James Hamilton, James Brown, Jesse Tull, Thomas Jackson, and Fred Coleman. It was there that Ernest Morgan and Elvira Price ran the Bon Ton Restaurant. Isaac Atkinson ran a bakery in Julian before he moved to San Diego proper and started a Black newspaper, The Colonizer, in 1892. Fred Coleman discovered gold in Julian in 1869, and a gold rush of sorts began there, which resulted in a boom town called Coleman City. Coleman later constructed and operated toll roads between El Cajon and the town.

Probably the best known early Black woman there was America Newton, who arrived from MO in 1872 and settled in Julian. She earned her living by washing the miners' clothes, and the trail running past her cabin was named America Grade. In 1887, Albert and Margaret Robinson built, owned and operated the Hotel Robinson for 28 years. This hotel, still in operation and now known as the Julian Hotel, is a National Historical Landmark as the oldest continuously operated hotel in southern California.

Thanks to railroad connections made to the north and east, San Diego began to grow, and by the 1890s, there was a real downtown area. Most Blacks worked as servants and unskilled laborers, or as teamsters, coachmen, cooks, sailors, porters, bootblacks, waiters and longshoremen. Many helped in the construction of the Cuyamaca Flume, which brought much needed water to San Diego. By this time, there were also some Black businesses which had customers of all races:

Henry H. Brown, saloon	George Millen, blacksmith	Daniel Fry, blacksmith
Joseph Steward, lawyer	Isaac Wooden, City employee	Walter Meadows, jeweler
Amos Hudgens, barber	Reuben Williams (aka Reuben the Guide), tours	Dr. Burney, rancher
Edward Anderson, laundry, garbage collection, and a mortuary that is still in operation

Political, religious and social activities grew as the population increased. Solomon and Cordelia Johnson brought in a chapter of the NAACP. S.A. McFarland and Rev. George Washington Woodbey became politicians. A brass band of 13 musicians was formed. Black couples entered and won local dance contests. Early organizations, social clubs and churches were:

Colored Voters Political Club	McFarland Political Club	McKinley Political Club
Sliver Gate Colored Republican Club	Hotel Florence Social Club	The Acme Social Club
The Violet Club (elite females)	Second Baptist Church	Bethel AME Church
Colored Employees Social and Aid Club	Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Known members of Fidelity Lodge No. 10, Prince Hall Masons were: Charlie Goodwin, Walter McDonald, C.M. Dickens, Walter Meadows, Gus Thompson and Richard Marshall, who later became Grand Master of California's Prince Hall Masons.

The Ku Klux Klan became somewhat active in the 1920s, but directed most of its activities against Mexicans. This was probably due to the comparatively small population of African Americans at that time.

Segregation held sway, particularly through restrictive covenants in housing and property ownership, although a few Blacks did own large homes in mixed areas. Schools did not officially hire African American teachers until 1941.

In the mid-1940s, World War II created changes in the number and types of jobs available in the San Diego area and other western cities. Opportunities opened for workers in factories and shipyards, and some of the rapid growth of the African American population in San Diego resulted when military men decided to settle there after the War. Since that time, Black population growth has continued at a steady pace.

*We welcome any additions or corrections of information, extractions of records, or genealogical data from descendants of the above-named persons, or other parties who may be interested in the Black History of San Diego.

California State Archives 1020 “O” Street Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 653-2246 (Reference Desk) http://www.ss.ca.gov/archives/archives_e.htm/	National Archives – Pacific Sierra Region 1000 Commodore Drive San Bruno, CA 94066-2350 (650) 876-9009
Sutro Library 480 Winston Drive San Francisco, CA 94132-1777 (415) 731-4477 http://www.onelibrary.com/Library/calstsut.htm/	National Archives – Laguna Nigel 24000 Avila Road Laguna Nigel, CA 92677 (714) 643-4220
California State Library 914 Capitol Mall, Room 221 Library & Courts Building I Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 654-0174 http://www.library.ca.gov/	City of Los Angeles Public Library (Central) 630 West 5th Street Los Angeles, CA 90071 (213) 228-7000 http://www.lapl.org/
UC Berkeley, The Bancroft Library Berkeley, CA 94720-6000 http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BANC/	County of Los Angeles Public Library A.C. Bilbrew - Black Resource Center 150 E. El Segundo Los Angeles, CA 90016 (310) 538-3350
LDS Family History Center 4770 Lincoln Avenue Oakland, CA 94602-2325 (510) 531-3905	California Historical Society 678 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) 357-1848 http://www.calhist.org/
LDS Family History Center 10741 Santa Monica Boulevard W. Los Angeles, CA 90024 (310) 474-9990	LA City Historical Society 1471 Fairbanks Place Los Angeles, CA 90026
UCLA Libraries 405 Hilgard Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90095 UCLA – Young’s Research Library (310) 825-4732 UCLA – African American Studies Dept. Library (310) 825-6060 Call for exact campus location directions and nearest on-campus parking lot information.	Carlsbad City Library 1250 Carlsbad Village Drive Carlsbad, CA 92009 (760) 434-2931 http://www.ci.carlsbad.ca.us/cserv/library/
California African American Museum 600 State Street Los Angeles, CA http://www.caam.ca.gov/his/history.html/	Autrey Museum of Western History 4700 Western Heritage Way Los Angeles, CA 90027 (323) 667-2000
World Wide Web Library Directory for California http://www.webpan.com/msauers/libdir/usa/ca.html/	California Ethnic & Multicultural Archives http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/cema/ - Search on African-American

California State Genealogical Alliance P.O. Box 311 Danville, CA 94526-0311 http://www.csga.com	California Genealogical Society and Library 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2 Oakland, CA 94612-3017 (510) 663-1358 / fax: (510) 663-1596 http://www.calgensoc.org/>http://www.calgensoc.org
Southern California Genealogical Society & Library 417 Irving Drive @Glenoaks Blvd. Burbank, CA 91504-2408 (818) 843-7247 http://www.scgsgenealogy.com	Questing Heirs Genealogical Society City of Long Beach Public Library 101 Pacific Avenue Long Beach, CA 90806 (562) 570-7500

California African-American Genealogical Society (CAAGS) P.O. Box 8442 Los Angeles, CA 90008 Online contact: Ronald Batiste “Website Under Construction”	The African American Heritage Society City of Long Beach Public Library 560 Hill Street Long Beach, CA 90806 (562) 570-1050
African American Genealogical Society of Northern California P.O. Box 27485 Oakland, CA 94602-0985 Online contact: baobabtree@aagsnc.org http://www.aagsnc.org	Gaslamp Black Historical Society P.O. Box 1122469 San Diego, CA 92112-2469 http://www.harlemofthewest.com"
San Diego African American Genealogy Research Group P.O. Box 740240 San Diego, CA 92174-0240 Contact: Margaret Lewis	High Desert Black Heritage Committee P.O. Box 31 Victorville, CA 92393 (760) 243-7486
African American Genealogy Society of Sacramento, CA P.O. Box 277681 Sacramento, CA 95827-7681 Online Contact: Denise Griggs http://www.aagssc.org	Orange Co. California African-American Genealogical Society Online Contact: Vanessa Schatz “In the Process of Formation” (OCAAGS)
African American SIG (Special Interest Group) of the Tracy Area Genealogical Society (TAGS) Online Contact: Evelyn Tolbert Website: http://www.rootsweb.com/~catags

Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS)
P.O. Box 73086
Washington, DC 20056-3086
Online Contact: Diane Thompkins
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdaahgs
(Has 21 Chapters in various States)

International Society of Sons & Daughters of Slave Ancestry (ISDSA)
P.O. Box 436937
Chicago, IL 60643-6937
Online Contact: isdsa@aol.com
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilissdsa