Barack obama talks about the daytoday workings of the presidency including history making about what he witnessed exploring the american story watch American History tv saturday o cspan2 and fd a full schedule under Program Guide or watch online anytime at cspan. Org history. Lynn hudson is a professor of history and affiliate faculty member of black Student University of illinois at chicago Peer Research focus the study of race and gender on the u. S. West. Shes the author of a black entrepreneur who in 19th century San Francisco which was awarded the prize from the western association of womennt historians. She was a fellow at the huntington library. Her new book is west of jim crow the fight against californias color line which covers a history of discrimination White Supremacy in california. You for being with us peer ongoing handed over to you and i will see you again for q a with the audience at the end. Thank you so much. I am just so happy to be here. Let me just get this going. First of all, i have big thank youse to give to the California Historical society. I frankly would not about a career as a historian without them. They have been helping me every single step along my career. I have visited them for my first book where i did much of my research about maryellen in the old library and the librarians, the curators, i just i cant say enough. I could spend all my time thinking of the librarian. I want to give a special shout out for Frances Kaplan for doing the publicity but also want to give a shout out to denver cost and come to the phone archivist who really want a chapter would not exist without her help. And allison gore who ive worked with for years. She was one of the people who gave me the idea for this book. She worked in the archives for many years and really encouraged me to write the chapter on the exhibition which launched the book so we wait big thanks and a lot of appreciation for you all to show appreciation for your. So lets get to it. I try to do in this book is to give a sense of the breadth and the depth of White Supremacy in california to reveal the expanse of jim crow and also antiblack practices. I also attempted to underscore the complex system and networks of resistance that have existed in this state, that involved networks of African Americans, mexicanamericans, africanamericans and other allies from stated to the Civil Rights Movement. From statehood and the Civil Rights Movement. One book does not document every instance of segregation. They spent time in Public Libraries from riverside to montana, lack of time and focus on six stories that show the contours of jim crow, many other scholars have documented the nuanced ways jim crow operated in the state, scholars like scott, Kelly Hernandez, to name a few. They help us understand the ways racism and segregation are paraded across the state. Chartering the beginnings of the system. With antiblack practices, how is it refined and established before the 1950s and the first roads we recognize as part of the Civil Rights Movement like montgomery bus boycotts and before that area. In chapter 5 of my book, the way allies pushed back against racially restrictive housing and that all of white supremacist and the ku klux klan in that story. It involved some figures that are wellknown to scholars in california history. The longest publishing black newspaper published out of Central Avenue in los angeles. A very important figure, some of you might know about her, the first black woman to run for Vice President in 1962 on the Progressive Party ticket but my interest in this story, shes one of the first to talk about the arrival of the ku klux klan and the most formidable. When you think about the ku klux klan, probably talk about the origins of the clan in American History after the civil war, forming the effort to stop africanamericans in their quest for freedom. You see the published in harpers weekly in 1974 showing the clan there. On the left is another White Supremacist Organization and you can see the words worse than slavery. We associate them with a moment of freedom with foundations in the south and the terror that promulgated across the south. My concern is the second clan of the 1920s that became particularly strong in the midwest. You might remember the clan was popular in ohio and indiana but was also strong in california and 1921, that year the clan arrived in Downtown Los Angeles and the california eagle ran front page headlines showing shall we entertain the clan and what should we do about the arrival, talking about the dangers of the clan held in Downtown Los Angeles in 1924. And while the strength of this plan, it did spread up and down, oakland and anaheim. The fledgling naacp founded the alarm and road to the national office, what do we know about this, what can we do about this . As soon as the clan arrived, africanamericans across the state organized against it, the reputation of being a more congressional professional clan meaning members of the professional class. A lot of california clan members in the 1920s ran for office on city council, were middleclass outstanding homeowners was up secured by the violence, one of the points i make about the clan in california is we cant be full by this portrayal of the second clan or the third clan i will talk about in a minute. The concern with africanamericans unlike the first clan targeting newly freed black americans is the second was more concerned about catholics in america and immigrants in america, there were concerns about African Americans and their presence was a threat to clan members. I want to say that. The clan of california received tremendous publicity in 1922 when it rated the home of a mexican family and inglewood. This is a picture of clans at a funeral, and being bootleggers, a constable was shot, the clan was been and there was a trial. Everyone might not have known about this but this episode became national news. After that trial, to investigate the membership of the clan, to the states. This led to a raid on clan headquarters. What the das office covered surprised the observer. The la headquarters of the ku klux klan revealed 3000 clan members in la county alone, 1000 s. Including the da staff, and two names on the list spoke volumes, the la chief of police and la county sheriff were both members. The messenger put it in their report on the raid the same courageous thinker would contend that negroes can rely on police and the authorities when the evidence reveals the police and authorities are members of the ku klux klan. One would think this episode would put a end to the california clan but after the trial was botched, you can read about that in chapter 5 in which all these clan members debated their attack the local naacp, they continued to operate ever since the trial. What does this have to do with housing and segregation . Contrary to popular assumptions, this clan at a focus on africanamericans and catholics and others and another assumption i want us to get rid of and some believe that the clan disappeared during the 30s and especially world war ii, the tamping down of the second clan. Many believed that was the end of it for the clan to be spouting their own white supremacist ideology and they didnt go underground, in the war years 5, 46 for the resurgence of the clan, we call this the third clan and target is black and brown families moving into white and brown areas of the state. Is the clan i want to talk about. Photograph from north ridge. One of the things the plan hopes to stop is black and brown homeowners through previously white neighborhoods some of you might know that miller was a prominent attorney or later a judge and was the point person on legality unrestricted housing. Many of you are familiar with the term restricting covenants that this house, this property may never be sold. Miller was naacp person on and he would be instrumental in fighting against restrictive housing peer he would be one of the lead attorneys up and out the state for thousands dozens and dozens of cases where black folks moved into previously white neighborhoods. He also defends some of the most highprofile cases in the nation including the case of mcdaniel, the actress who won the oscar for gone with the wind. So he would be, he is also part of the story. Oh day short was a refrigeration engineer who lived and worked in los angeles 25 years by 1945. Like many black angelenos, heres frustrating by the housing shortage. His father of Young Children i do see his daughter and his wife, helen and they were of the desired neighborhoods by restrictive housing. The estimated about 80 of socal was tied up in restrictive housing. So that your had a lucky break and he got a job the plant from 1949. Many of you have heard of Kaiser Permanente clinic. In montana, the black workers in his shipbuilding yard in northern california. But this plant was in montana east of l. A. And fontana promoted itself as a place of jim crow restriction so his job as an engineer at this. , he felt like he won the lottery. It was a good job and the plan was the first facility for the products on one site. Its an international benchmark. The job was a boom for africanamericans and they labored in lower pain, lower status jobs. 1945 in december, oh day short and his family moved to a plot of land and fontana. The property was south of baseline street there was an area where no family could ever live. As soon as they moved into their house, they were visited by two white sheriffs and told him he is out of bounds. He moved to the black neighborhood on the other side of the road. December 3, the Real Estate Agent who sold short the lot fulltime, the Vigilante Committee had a meeting on your case last night, they are a rough bunch to deal with. If i were you, i get my family off this property. Oh day short was well aware the vigilante for clan members and he prepared for trouble did three things. First, he called his attorney, who was a law partner. Second, he contacted the fbi entered he contacted members of the flock press. California eagle and another black neighborhood. They have recounted the threats he received from the sheriff about the vigilante. Ten days later, it burst into flames. The fire that engulfed the property begin with the explosion and neighbors electrically. The family managed to escape the house but not before they were all severely burned. Nextdoor neighbors statement later to the press the neighbor said they didnt know was a black family because they assumed they were right. The little girl 15 minutes after she was admitted in the boy died the next morning as to their mother, having. Here is some coverage of the press. As soon as the fire subsided, reports circulated, white neighbors agreed the responsibility of the fire light with short. Mr. Short was lighting a lamp and it exploded. Black press wasnt having it. The california eagle suspected foul play and sent reporters to the scene of the crime, naacp and the l. A. Chapter also investigated the crime. As they began to investigate the crime, it became apparent that it was almost impossible for a lantern to cross that kind of explosion. Heres a picture of the eagle office because the walls of the house were knocked to the ground so the lamp or lantern theory, they should doubt on this theory. Now its a long investigation process, many months of investigation and i dont have time to do to help all of it but in the aftermath of the murder, there is an elaborate coverup of evidence that would have led to criminal conviction. The corner in his investigation refused to admit evidence that was set by vigilantes. The lantern itself so intact i supposedly blew up was not entered into the investigation and the District Attorney, it became clear in the midst of this coverup but there was also an organized resistance to the coverup and the efforts to seek justice for the family were also ongoing. 1946, a leader of the Los Angeles Socialist Workers Party wrote and published this pamphlet. She distributed the pamphlet happened on the state across the country and she spoke about the short murder across the country. There was a forward by the sister of helen, his sisterinlaw. In addition to the workers party, the Labor Movement also pressured the governor, District AttorneySan Bernardino to investigate the murders. Since it is a refrigeration engineer, hed also been a member of the Labor Movement and cio in particular put pressure on state officials to investigate the murder. State attorney general robert the murder in the client, he promised an investigation but nothing came of it much to the disappointment of the organized resistance. An editorial and deliberative summed it up. When any person propel with entire certainty, the shorts were a victim of jim crow. Theyre finding a home in Los Angeles Jim crow was a violator of Community Tradition and built his house on the lot he purchased, the deputy sheriffs and set them selves toward a plan to deprive american citizens of his constitutional right. All the shorts are dead, only jim crow is alive. The story doesnt quite and fair because jimmy in 1946 stepped up efforts to investigate the client. You have penny here on the far right with two members, and in 1946 the klan d up its efforts to terrorize black homeowners and this caused him to continue his investigation of the klan. That year in 1946 the klan burn crosses on the homes of many black homeowners across Southern California. It also burned crosses in front of the Jewish Fraternity at usc because the fraternity had supported an end [inaudible] and in the spring of 1946 he began calling clan members into his office. But again the results were disheartening to those seeking justice for the short spirit he found no evidence that socalled vigilante activity to be directed at the effort in American Community inso montanar against mr. Short personally. Now, many people wondered if his response to the murders was linked to his bid for governor that year. He went up againstng earl warren and was defeated. But what kinney did do was with the help of an l. A. Superior court judge is to revoke the charter of the ku klux klan thereby making it unlawful for the organization to hold meetings in theng state. She knew this was largely symbolic because in the 1950s, client activities continued. And you have a picture from 1962 52, the timelines in this photo was new racial intimidation fears and you can read the caption where the reporter is examining the letters kkk that were on the sidewalk in front of presumably a black family, and that the hope of a negro teacher in the vicinity was recently bombed. That teacher was William Bailey lived in southcentral l. A. And client attacks continued into the 50s. Now, we also know that brown v. Board of education in 1954 would inspire White Supremacists to push back against integration with new inspiration. So. While the client may have morphed into a different kind of organization in the 1960s, it had not disappeared. So im just going to close here. The threat that segregationists saw him in was many layered. They were educated men with good jobs. They could purchase property. They could vote they could inhabit public spaces and institutions. Lord miller, charlotta bascom of the california eagle and los angeles district mounted against housing discrimination and the klan was formidable but they never acted alone. Joined by the naacp, the cio, socialist workers party, the communist party and activists such as van marshall, californias movement against restrictive housing went broader and deeper individuals across the state few of them remembered because the color line and lifted her neighbors d into neighbors that we know to be watched by the kkk. Short and hisig family, and others, sounded the alarm against the client or white supremacist violence of the 1940s found expression in montana after the brand the board decision. The backlash against School Desegregation of the revival of the klan became so successful that by 1965 president Lyndon Johnson ordered an investigation to clamp down on the client activity. In 1963 in africanamerican captain in the air force bought a houseap in San Bernardino only to watch it destroyed arsonists before he and his family could movee in. Little had changed in the 17 year since the 7 years since the murders of the shorts. The golden state have long published, punished africanamericans who dare to challengepu segregation. Sum paid with their lives. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much. Thank you, lynn. I would invite anybody to put questions they might have in the q a box, and maybe all people are starting to do that i could get in my questions. Absolutely. I read a quote by you in an interview when you talkingng abt this and you said at school you learned about citizens in the south and you might learn about chicago but you dont hear stories about los angeles or about the west. Why do you think that is and you think that is changing . Rk thats a great question. Of course my recollection are dated and i think schoolteachers in the west and in california are doing so much to teach children about resistance and Civil Rights Movement in the west. I get to the question in a minute. I want to say fi