Black History Month / Valley Retrospective : Perspectives on the Past--and the Future

From the African American who owned much of what is now the San Fernando Valley in the 1790s to the high school student who has devoted himself to keeping his peers out of gangs, people of African descent in the Valley have a long, proud history.

In this special report, we look back at some of that history and--with the help of several voices from the present--turn to the future.

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SAN FERNANDO / Past Is Rich but Difficult to Uncover

When the students at San Fernando High School glance at the hallway displays this month, they will see some familiar faces--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and other African Americans of national fame.

But they won’t see the face of Nancy Avery, Pacoima’s postmaster from 1961 to 1984 and the first African American to head a major post office. They won’t see Fernando Reyes, a biracial mayor of Los Angeles who in the 1790s owned much of what is now the San Fernando Valley.

Though the history of people of African descent in the Valley is a long one, it’s not well-known or easily accessible.

The San Fernando Valley Historical Society’s files include 11 newspaper clippings under the heading “Pacoima-Ethnic Groups.” Volunteers can find only a handful of articles relating to African Americans.

Itibari Zulu, librarian for UCLA’s Center for Afro-American Studies, said he knew of no history compilation about African Americans in the Valley. “I don’t think anybody has written anything,” he said.

The history is there for those willing to search, however. From brothers Pio and Andres Pico--who were of Mexican and African descent--to the Cal State Northridge students who took over the campus in 1968 to demand an Afro-American studies department, there is history.

“You have to really go and look it up but it’s there,” said William Huling, a retired sociology professor who taught Pan African studies and sociology at CSUN. “There’s a huge history of blacks in the Valley that’s unknown.”

Huling discovered some of that history researching a 1978 dissertation titled “Aging Blacks in Suburbia.”

“I found it fascinating,” Huling said. “It really opened my eyes.”

Huling donated his recorded interviews with African American community leaders--including Avery, the Rev. Hillery T. Broadous and the Rev. T. G. Pledger--to the CSUN library, where he hopes they will inspire other scholars to follow his lead.

“There are so many others that need to be included,” he said. Perhaps the single deepest source of historical material--the collection of a former bookstore owner and community volunteer--may find its way into a small library. The Pacoima Chamber of Commerce hopes to use material amassed by 82-year-old Pauline Jenkins--including minutes of meetings dating to the 1950s--to chronicle the history of Pacoima, one of the few places where blacks were encouraged to settle in the Valley after World War II.

Marie Harris, a 32-year Pacoima resident and former honorary mayor of the community, tried to revive interest in Pacoima and its history with the “Back to Pacoima Expo,” but it faded in 1987 after seven years, because of the project’s expense.

The community itself, she said, should take responsibility for preserving its heritage.

“I think most of the blame lies with the Afro-American community for not having honored the people who were trailblazers in our community,” Harris said. “Some of the history that did not get out was because we didn’t put it out.”

Now, some African Americans fear they will lose touch with even more of their past as they begin to make up smaller percentages of the populations of old enclaves like Pacoima and Arleta, where African Americans make up only 9% of the communities, according to the 1990 census, compared to 17% in 1980.

“The incentive (to research the history) isn’t there,” said Huling. “But it is history.”