Mesa History:
The Washington Escobedo Heritage Neighborhood

Learn the history of the Washington Escobedo Neighborhood, including 💠 Veora Johnson - the first black, female principal in Mesa. Johnson Elementary school is named after her 💠 Booker T. Washington Elementary School - the original building (1920-1964) was the only school for African American children in Mesa and surrounding areas 💠 The Alston House and Dr. Lucius Charles Alston - the first black physician in Mesa

Veora Johnson

Veora Johnson Elementary School was named after her. Watch a video on the school website.

She was the first president of the Delta Beta Omega Chapter of the Alpha Sigma sorority.

In 1967 she became the first female African American principal in Mesa Public Schools.

Click here to read about her many accomplishments!

Miss Veora Johnson | Salt River StoriesIn 1927, at the young age of 16, Miss Johnson moved to Mesa, Arizona to inspire young African American students to continue their education. She served the Mesa community for 47 years as a teacher and administrator. She served on seven boards, two at the state level, and one by Supreme Court appointment. Miss Johnson was a Golden Soror and lifetime member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She was a founder and first president of the Delta Beta Omega Chapter of the sorority at Arizona State...

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Booker T. Washington Elementary School

Segregating Mesa - Booker T. Washington School | Salt River StoriesThe year 1910 marked the beginning of racial segregation in the elementary schools in Mesa. During Mesa’s territorial years (1878-1910), all children were allowed to attend any school. In 1910 the Webster School was built for the Mexican American children. African American children were instructed in a separate classroom in the Webster School until 1920 when the Booker T. Washington School was constructed specifically for the African American children. Originally, it was a two room brick...

African-American Schools and Desegregation in ArizonaFebruary is Black History Month, and we’re highlighting the history of desegregation of schools in Arizona. Since the territorial period, members of Arizona’s African-American community…

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Washington Escobedo Historic Neighborhood

City of Mesa website

Mesa protecting historic Black neighborhood’s legacyThe children kicking around a ball at a nearby park or playing in a courtyard live in a different world – with more tolerant views on diversity than the flagrant

When Mesa faced discrimination and segregationVirtually every Valley community supported the practice of segregation, including Mesa

Click here to watch the North Town documentary on Amazon.

Mesa Recognizes History Of Washington-Escobedo NeighborhoodMesa’s Washington-Escobedo neighborhood has a history that stretches back to the days of African-American segregation in the early 1900s. It has since grown to include a large Hispanic population. This week the Mesa voted to formally recognize that history and named Washington-Escobedo its first Heritage Neighborhood.

Mesa blacks log oral histories of early timesWhen Elizabeth Tomlin came to Mesa in 1935, she started the Open Door Church. The congregation held services under a cottonwood tree at the corner of what is now Center

Mesa neighborhood with civil rights history protected from large developmentsA new designation gives the Washington park - Escobedo Neighborhood immunity from building projects detrimental to its roots.

Visit the website below and start the video at 5:22 to view an interview with filmmaker Bruce Nelson who discusses the North Town documentary:

North Town Neighborhood Documentary | Arizona PBSNorth Town is the early name of what is now known as the Washington Escobedo Park Neighborhood in Mesa. Filmmaker Bruce Nelson talks about a new documentary exploring the history of this once segregated neighborhood.

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Alston House

City of Mesa website

Dr. Lucius Charles Alston House | Salt River StoriesDr. Lucius Charles Alston was born September 2, 1892 in Louisburg, North Carolina. After Dr. Alston graduated from the University of West Tennessee with a medical degree in 1918, overcoming rampant discrimination and the white-supremacist norms of the Jim Crow South. In the early twentieth century, only about 1 percent of all physicians were African-American. Dr. Alston also served in World War I in the 802nd pioneer infantry overseas. When Alston returned from Europe, he married Velma Young,...

Home of Mesa’s first black doctor makes national historic registerNearly a century ago, racial tensions forced Mesa’s black residents to live at the city’s northern edge and establish a separate society with their own churches and stores.

Alston House Center for Peace and Justice | Arizona PBSThe Alston House, built in the 1920s, was the home and office of Dr. Lucius Alston, the first African American doctor to practice in Mesa. During an era of segregation, he treated members of the African American, Hispanic, and Native American communities. After a three-year restoration project, the house will serve as office and community space for the Mesa Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee and the Mesa Association of Hispanic Citizens. Phil Austin, chairman of the Alston House Committee and president of the Mesa Association of Hispanic Citizens, along with Cliff Moon of the Mesa Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee talk about Dr. Alston and the history of the house.

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