In that post on Bay Street Beach, I was so taken by Verna Deckard Lewis Williams, the young woman posing with her friends and her future husband, Arthur Lewis. She seemed so lively and confident, not to mention seriously stylish:
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Originally Posted by tovangar2
Verna and Arthur, shortly before their wedding, up against the Dell's fence:
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More photos from her album are on LAPL, and, like a trail of breadcrumbs, led me to much more info about her life and Los Angeles.
The earliest photo I found is Verna as a child with her dad, Jule, back in their hometown of Tatum, Texas. Jule, who owned a blacksmith shop and garage, taught Verna to drive when she was seven. Jule loved cars, but, as there were only three in all of Tatum, the Deckard family moved to Los Angeles, where there were plenty (Verna's driving career had to be put on hold for a few years).
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Jule Deckard ("Papa") and his three Fords in Los Angeles:
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Jule ensured that Verna had wheels. Verna and the "Joy Girls", during their high school years, lounging on her Ford coupe. Verna regularly drove her friends to Bay Street Beach and also to school. Verna often had the two-seater so packed (including friends riding on the running boards) that the police intervened, ca 1924.
Great photo:
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Verna with other clubwomen, all young wives, and her son, Arthur, Jr, on the lawn of a house near 35th Pl and Raymond, still a lovely neighborhood with many original homes. ca 1926:
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A portrait of Verna and little Arthur soon after Arthur, Sr's untimely death from tuberculosis (inset is a photo of Arthur, Sr) ca 1927:
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A family tinged by grief. Newly-widowed Verna and little Arthur with her dad and mom, Eula, scoping out Val Verde in the Santa Clarita Valley (more on Val Verde below
*), ca 1927:
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Two shots of Verna in a beauty contest at Parkridge County Club in Corona, ca 1928:
Still full of Joy, Verna poses on the golf course:
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Verna, front and center, lined up for photographers in front of the clubhouse with the other young women:
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The clubhouse:
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Clara Bow was the first member of the 1926 Parkridge County Club (she won the membership in a dance contest at the Montmartre Cafe). The club gained many celebrity members. However, due to poor management, the club closed after just two years. In ca 1928 it was purchased by a group of African-American businessmen, who developed it into the most prominent and largest African-American country club in the country.
The club had its own air strip:
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Much later, Parkridge was used as a sanitarium and finally demolished in the 60s. The combined Cresta Verde Golf Course and housing development is on the site now:
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Verna and friends Mabel and Marie in Spanish dress at a Halloween Ball at La Veda Ballroom, Vernon and Wall, ca 1929:
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Verna and Arthur on the lawn of her parents' home on Hooper Lane, south of downtown (Hooper Lane is now almost totally cleared) ca 1930:
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ca 1931. Verna, chatting with a steward, and friends on the boat to Catalina:
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An image of Arthur at his grandparents' house, taken by an itinerant photographer ca 1932 . When I was a kid, photographers used to come round the neighborhoods with a pony for children to pose on. This is the first time I've seen a goat and cart:
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There are other images, the last I could find dated 1973, most of Ms Williams (she did eventually remarry) in her role as a clubwoman
It's seriously great that Ms. Williams made these images available to LAPL.
*A note on Val Verde:
In 1924 a group of Black professionals, including
Sidney P Dones, Joe and Charlotta Bass, publishers, and others established a one-thousand-acre safe haven for African-Americans in the Santa Clarita Valley.
(At almost the same time, Dr Wilber C Gordon had tried for a site he named Gordon Manor (more subdivision than resort), then near, now in, Torrance (from Manhattan Beach Blvd to Redondo Beach Blvd, between Prairie and Crenshaw), but, after the project was quite far along, the land was condemned by the County, under pressure from PV homeowners.
A fascinating and horrifying story. Attorney Henry O'Melveny and Frederick Law Olmsted don't come out of it well):
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Although integration was the goal, the fact that being the object of racial animosity is seriously exhausting and debilitating made a haven like Val Verde distinctly welcome.
The approach to Val Verde, which seemed as remote from the cares of the world as Shangri La:
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Laura Janes, (one of the Pasadena Janes) made the sale to African-Americans possible.
The land was divided into half-acre lots for vacation homes. Inns and guest houses were built too and a community center. Tennis courts, a 9-hole golf course, hiking trails and stables rounded out the resort. A theater, featuring all-Black productions was built.
Bill Robinson helped establish a church. Restaurants, shops and even a nightclub (all the most popular bands made the trek out to play) were added. Although not affordable for everyone Val Verde and Parkridge CC absorbed some of the pressure brought on by the social construct. Thousands came out for weekend events or just to swim and relax.
The town was renamed Eureka Villa, changed from the original name of Val Verde, the nearby site of a short-lived 19th-century gold camp (the name was soon changed back).
October, 1925:
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People from as far away as Chicago built vacation homes. Never exclusively African-American, people of good-will from all ancestries bought in too to escape the poisoned atmosphere back in the city.
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In 1939 fifty acres was donated to LA County for a regional park. The WPA came up with money for a swimming pool (Hattie McDaniel and Louise Beavers were at the pool's grand opening):
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As racial restrictions eased, Val Verde's reason for being began to fade. Long-overdue access to LA's leisure and entertainment venues became universal, if not always entirely comfortable. Val Verde is now majority Hispanic. It's also a favorite CalArts retirement spot. It's managed to never lose its serene, rural atmosphere.
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The 1994 earthquake caused absolute havoc in Val Verde. Almost all the historic buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed. Even the pool had to be rebuilt. The town is up and running again now, of course, but I read that the 2,500 residents rely on a single local shop.
More info on Val Verde:
Black Past
LAT
WhitewashedAdobe
SCVhistory
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This post has been amended and corrected with the gracious and welcome help of
Alison Rose Jefferson