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Boyle Heights Beat Article
"Black History Tour"
at Evergreen Cemetery
204 No. Evergreen Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90033
Ticket Donation: $20
Our educational tour guides are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about Boyle Heights. They take pride in the community where they were brought up and are committed to giving back. Throughout the tour, they will share their love for Boyle Heights with you and provide valuable insights about the many who remain connected.
One of the remarkable people we will be discussing during the tour is Bridget "Biddy" Mason. She was a former slave, philanthropist, and humanitarian. She was also a founding member of the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles in 1872. Her life motto was, "If you hold your hand closed, nothing good can come in. The open hand is blessed, for it gives in abundance, even as it receives." Biddy Mason was one of the first Black women to own land in the city.
During our tour, we will visit several notable gravesites, including those of Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, who appeared on the Jack Benny radio show, Louise Beavers, who played the lead role on the Beulah television show, which was the first TV sitcom to star a black person. We will also see the grave of William Nickerson Jr., who founded and was the first president of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co. This was the first African American life insurance company on the West Coast and the largest in California, and James Herman Banning's grave, who, in 1932, became the first African American to fly coast to coast, along with his partner Thomas Cox Allen.
Ms. Griego assisted in the nomination of two Los Angeles sites that became either a historical resource or a historic-cultural monument. In 2012, El Centro Grocery and the Maravilla Handball Court, located in the East Los Angeles community of Maravilla, was placed on the California Register of Historical Resources as the oldest remaining handball court in Los Angeles. In 2022, Otomisan Japanese Restaurant in Boyle Heights achieved Historic-Cultural Monument status by the city of Los Angeles as the city's oldest continuously operating Japanese restaurant
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BOBBY ULYSES NUNN JR. One of the original bass vocalist for "The Coasters" -
BOBBY ULYSES NUNN JR. One of the original bass vocalist for "The Coasters" -
BRIDGET "BIDDY" MASON . Former slave, nurse/mid wife, successful entrepreneur, humanitarian and founder of Los Angeles's first African-American congregation -
BRIDGET "BIDDY" MASON. Former slave, nurse/mid wife, successful entrepreneur, humanitarian and founder of Los Angeles's first African-American congregation -
JAMES HERMAN BANNING. He was the first African American aviator to fly coast-to-coast and licensed by the US Department of Commerce -
JAMES HERMAN BANNING. He was the first African American aviator to fly coast-to-coast and licensed by the US Department of Commerce -
JESSE LORENZO BELVIN. Singer, Songwriter. Jesse Lorenzo Belvin, who co-wrote one of the biggest hits of the 1950's – "Earth Angel," a hit for The Penguins in 1955, is one of the least known or recognized names among the greats of R&B and Soul music. Raised in Los Angeles. -
JESSING- WITH HIS JO ANN. Singer, Songwriter. Jesse Lorenzo Belvin, who co-wrote one of the biggest hits of the 1950's – "Earth Angel," a hit for The Penguins in 1955, is one of the least known or recognized names among the greats of R&B and Soul music. Raised in Los Angeles. -
LOUISE ELLEN BEAVERS. Louise Beavers was a breakthrough actress for blacks. Beavers was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, one of the four African American sororities. She is interred with her mother in Evergreen Cemetery. -
LOUISE ELLEN BEAVERS. Louise Beavers was a breakthrough actress for blacks. Beavers was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, one of the four African American sororities. She is interred with her mother in Evergreen Cemetery. -
ROCHESTER EDDIE ANDERSON. Anderson entered show business on the vaudeville circuit as a teenager. In the early 1930. An American comedian and actor. To a generation of early radio and television comedy, he was known as "Rochester." -
ROCHESTER EDDIE ANDERSON. Anderson entered show business on the vaudeville circuit as a teenager. In the early 1930. An American comedian and actor. To a generation of early radio and television comedy, he was known as "Rochester." -
SAM HASKINS. Firefighter, Social Reformer. He was the first African American Los Angeles Fire Department member to die in the line of duty, being killed when a fire carriage ran over him in route to a blaze. -
WILLIAM NICKERSON JR. Nickerson was a pioneer and entrepreneur of Black business in Los Angeles. He was the founder and first president of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, the first African American life insurance company on the West Coast and California's largest African American life insurance company. -
WILLIAM NICKERSON JR. Nickerson was a pioneer and entrepreneur of Black business in Los Angeles. He was the founder and first president of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, the first African American life insurance company on the West Coast and California's largest African American life insurance company.
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