Accounting department of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company’s Compton office, 1984

Photo and Map Credits

Header Photos

Header photos for all pages are from the Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection (Collection 1889), Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company Records (Collection 1434), Walter L. Gordon, Jr./William C. Beverly, Jr. Collection (Collection 2270), and the Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.


Meet the Narrators

Photos of Sharon Coleman, Lynn Allen Jeter, Denise Legaux, and Winsor Williams were taken by Stefan Studer.

Photos of all other narrators were taken by Yolanda Hester.


Brief History

Period 1850 to 1920

All photos are from the Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection (Collection 1889). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.


Period 1920 to 1960 (Los Angeles)

Photos of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company are from Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company Records (Collection 1434). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Photos of Hefflin Manufacturing Company and Albert Baumann's pharmacy are from the Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection (Collection 1889). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Photos of Bowers and Sons Cleaners' exterior and interior are courtesy of Vivian Bowers.

Photos of Vivian Bowers at Bowers and Sons Cleaners and of 27th Street Bakery were taken by Yolanda Hester.


Period 1920 to 1960 (Pasadena)

Photos of Carrie McAdoo’s grocery store (BH-L-24-3), Jones House Cleaning and Floor Service (BH-D-29-7), James Woods’ shoeshine shop (BH-L-39-1), and James Woods Mortuary (BH-L-39-2) are all courtesy of the Archives at Pasadena Museum of History.

Recent photo of Woods-Valentine Mortuary was taken by Yolanda Hester.


Period 1960 to Present

Photo of Sharon Coleman is courtesy of Sharon Coleman.

Photos of William Taylor and the employees of Western Star Moving & Storage, of A+ Moving, and of the Robert Taylor furniture truck are all courtesy of William Taylor.

Recent photo of Harold & Belle's, 1970s photo of Harold & Belle's, and server and bartender are all courtesy of Denise Legaux.

All other photos were taken by Yolanda Hester.


Great Migration

Maps of both the Great Migration and the Second Great Migration are by Michael Siegel, ©Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library.


Weathering Change

Photos of Angelus Funeral Home in the 1920s and 1930s are from the Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection (Collection 1889). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Recent photo of Angelus Funeral Home was taken by Yolanda Hester.


Passing the Torch

Both photos of Bowers and Sons Cleaners are courtesy of Vivian Bowers.

Photos of James and Annie Mae Woods and of Fred and Arzella Valentine purchasing what would become Woods-Valentine Mortuary are courtesy of Gail Valentine Taylor.

Photo of the Valentine family was taken by Michael Fernandez.

Photo of Gregory Dulan and Adolf Dulan is courtesy of Gregory Dulan.

Photo of Winsor Williams, Sr. and Winsor Williams, Jr. was taken by Stefan Studer.

Photo of two generations of the 27th Street Bakery is courtesy of Jeanette Bolden-Pickens.