Black Lives Matter Statement

The Altadena Historical Society Stands with Black Lives Matter

The Altadena Historical Society was founded in 1935 to document and share the history of Altadena. Every day history is being made, and now, amid a global pandemic, we are coming to grips with the realities that the Black community has faced for centuries, and it is painful to watch. 

We stand today with the many residents of Altadena in the fight against injustice, systemic racism, and erasure. The Altadena Historical Society will continue to engage in a positive dialogue around these issues and change the course of history through storytelling. 

Black people have unjustly suffered injury and death since the earliest beginnings of this country. More recently, people like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Armaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, and Emmett Till have died at the hands of police and racist individuals.

They, along with millions of other Blacks, suffer from what historian Carol Anderson called “the longest ongoing saga in American history.” Their names and their stories, along with so many others, will be recorded in history because they died at the hands of injustice and racism. We need to tell their stories. 

In our commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and mutual respect, and to create a historical record that documents the experiences of unheard and marginalized voices, we must listen to and amplify the demands of people and communities of color. We must continue to listen, document, and expose the injustices so many have suffered for centuries, and develop ways to fund new projects and programs to expand these efforts.  

The Altadena Historical Society is committed to eradicate racist methods and practices that erase the full, and often painful, history of our entire community. We are working towards including all of Altadena’s past in our archives, and we know we have much more to do to reach this goal. As recently as this year, our “Hidden History” project had its second successful event. 

The “Hidden History” project aims to create historical records of the many diverse residents of Altadena; the Black families who have lived here for decades, the indigenous populations who lived here originally, the Japanese Americans who were forcibly relocated and incarcerated during World War II, and the Latinx community that has enriched our area over the past few decades. 

The Altadena Historical Society will not marginalize the voices of people of color in our community. We will expand and improve our programs to be inclusive and informative on the subject of race relations. We will tell their stories. 

We are committed to listening and documenting those voices along with White voices.  We are committed to abolishing the gross inequities between White communities and Black communities by documenting a complete and accurate history. Although history, as it unfolds, may be uncomfortable, it is important that future generations see, hear, and know stories and events that are relevant and representative in order to change the course of history for the better. 

Memories about Altadena's Grocery Stores

We received so many memories from readers commenting on our January 2017 post about the closing of Ralphs, that we decided to include them here: 

Dick Bale wrote:

The store described in the blog as being on the southwest corner of Fair Oaks and Mendocino, was actually just south of Harriet. It was owned and operated by the McQuown family in the late 1930s through the ‘40s – perhaps later. Our home was just a few doors from the store and as a nine year old I liked to hang out with the man who operated the produce department. I’d help trim a crate of lettuce, pulling off any damaged leaves and rinsing the head in an outdoor sink behind the store. The McQuown’s also operated another modest grocery store on the east side of Altadena. I’m not certain but I believe it was on Altadena Drive near New York Drive or Washington St. Sometimes I’d go there with the produce man who let me ride on top of crates of vegetables in the back of his small stake truck. In the spring of 1942, when Roosevelt ordered all people of Japanese descent incarcerated, the Japanese produce manager signed everything, including his bank accounts and home, over to Mr. McQuown. When the war was over McQuown turned everything back to the returning Japanese family.

Altadena's Notable Residents - Mabel Normand

In 1922, silent film screen actress and comedian Mabel Normand  (1892-1930) lived in Altadena, residing in a house on Foothill Blvd (now Altadena Drive).

1917

Normand began her film career making a name for herself in slapstick comedy. She helped Mack Sennett launch Keystone Studios where they produced Keystone Cop comedies. Normand also wrote and directed many of Charlie Chaplin's earliest shorts, often acting in them as well. In 1916, she opened her own production company and studio.

Exhibit at AHS Showcases 51 Accomplished Altadena Residents

FIFTY ONE FAMOUS AND FASCINATING ALTADENANS

New Exhibit at Altadena Historical Society Showcases Scores of Accomplished Altadenans Then and Now

Fifty famous and fascinating Altadenans--movie stars, artists, authors, scientists, athletes and more--are highlighted in a new exhibit at the Altadena Historical Society.

“We’ve had great fun researching and producing this exhibit,” said Jane Brackman, Society president.  “The trouble has been choosing those to include, as we have far more than our gallery can accommodate.”

The show--which opens Monday Oct. 3--is in both the Historical Society’s gallery and in the lobby of the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive, just west of the Sheriff’s Station.

It is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, and by appointment for groups and others, (626) 797-8016.  It is free of charge, but donations toward the Society’s work are welcomed.

“Many of the people featured are our current neighbors and gave their kind permission for us to include them, while others have passed on,” Brackman said.  “In fact, we didn’t include several Altadena residents who are major stars in their fields, but cherish the privacy they have by living here.“

Current or former Altadenans included in the new exhibit include:

*The Smothers Brothers.  Singers, musicians, comedians and television stars; as boys, Tom and Dick Smothers lived with relatives on Santa Anita Avenue.

*Noted contemporary authors Miles Corwin, Naomi Hirahara, Jervey Tervalon and Michelle Huneven; deceased best-seller Zane Grey.

*Entrepreneur Horace Dobbins.  Dobbins proposed an elevated bikeway between Pasadena and Los Angeles, some of which was built.  His beautiful and innovative home was near the top of Lincoln Avenue.

*Tennis great Stan Smith, who trained at the Altadena Town and Country Club, winner of the 1971 U.S. Open and 1972 Wimbledon, and LPGA golfer Mo Martin, winner of the 2014 Women’s British Open.

*Mary Colter.  One of America’s first and most celebrated female architects, designing and overseeing construction of iconic tourist attractions and hotels at the Grand Canyon and throughout the Southwest. 

*Famed seismologist Charles Richter; legendary astronomer George Ellery Hale; and brilliant physicist, exuberant adventurer and best-selling author Richard Feynman.

*Octavia Butler.  A science fiction writer who received a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant in 1995 and was a PEN Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Butler’s work is still selling.

*Johnny Otis. Called “The King of Rock and Roll” and “Godfather of Rhythm and Blues,” he was a singer, musician, composer, arranger, bandleader, talent scout, disk jockey, record producer, television show host, artist, author, journalist, minister and impresario.

Society President Jane Brackman said the most frequent comments overheard from people viewing the exhibit are “No kidding!,” “Oh, really!!,” and “Come look at this!,” which is her invitation to the public: “Come look at this!”

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The Altadena Historical Society was founded in 1935 and is a tax-exempt non-profit whose mission is to gather, preserve and present information about the people, places and events that have shaped the community.

Author Naomi Hirahara Speaks at AHS

NAOMI HIRAHARA SPEAKS ON JAPANESE-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE APRIL 25, 2016 AT ALTADENA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Program at Altadena Community Center is Free and Open to Public

730 E. Altadena Drive, Altadena CA 91001

The star of author Naomi Hirahara’s series of award-winning mystery books, Mas Arai, is a Japanese gardener living in post-World War II Altadena.

Now, Ms. Hirahara will speak on her childhood years in Altadena and the experiences of Japanese-Americans in 20^th century Los Angeles, at 7:30 p.m. Monday April 25 at the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive.

The free, illustrated program, open to the public, is sponsored by the Altadena Historical Society.

“Altadena had a small community of Japanese immigrants and their families, with a church and at least one business, in the pre- and post-war years,” said Jane Brackman, Ph.D., president of the Historical Society.

“Ms. Hirahara has woven her experiences and memories of those years into her books, and we are honored and delighted that she will share them with everyone on April 25,” Brackman said.

Hirahara is the author of five books in the Mas Arai series, with the sixth--”Sayonara Slam”--due out in May.  She also has authored two mystery books featuring a Los Angeles bicycle policeman.

Hirahara was born in Pasasdena in 1962, and lived in Altadena with her family until they moved to South Pasadena in 1971.  She still lives in South Pasadena.

Her father was born in California, but was taken to Hiroshima, Japan, as an infant, and was only miles away from the epicenter when the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb there in 1945.  Her mother, born in Hiroshima, also survived, but lost her father in the blast.

After the war, her father returned to California and eventually established himself in the gardening and landscaping business, as did so many other Japanese-Americans after being released from the camps in which they were incarcerated during the war.

Naomi and a younger brother were raised in Altadena and then South Pasadena.  She graduated from Stanford University, and was a reporter and editor for Los Angeles’s Rafu Shimpo Japanese newspaper, covering the reparations movement for Japanese-Americans forced from their homes and businesses and incarcerated during the war, as well as the L.A. riots and their aftermath.

In addition to her mystery novels, she is the editor of “Greenmakers: Japanese American Gardeners in Southern California;” an award-winning book for young adults; and several biographies and histories.

She will bring several of her books to the April 25 program for sale and autographing.

Altadena Historical Society has its offices and archives in the Altadena Community Center, and is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, and by appointment.

The current exhibit at the society is “Altadena in the Rose Parade,” which will run through June.

An Altadena Love of Historic Proportion

In honor of Valentine's Day

Artist Charles White (1918-1979) and author/educator Frances Barrett White (1926-2000) were married in 1950.  Frances wrote Reaches of the Heart in 1994, a loving literary tribute to her husband.  

Noted painter and lithographer, Charles White was a significant part of the twentieth century social realist art scene. The book is an endearing love story, and an intimate picture of what life was like for an interracial couple in a world not ready to accept such a union. The family eventually moved to Altadena, where they were active in civil rights issues and the integration of local public schools.

Altadena Author Zane Grey Topic of Historical Society Program

SENSATIONAL LIFE OF ALTADENA AUTHOR ZANE GREY TOPIC OF PROGRAM AT ALTADENA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Free, 7:30 p.m. Monday Jan. 25, 2016 event at Altadena Community Center

The sensational and occasionally salacious life of best-selling Western author and longtime Altadena resident Zane Grey will be presented at the Monday, Jan. 25 meeting of the Altadena Historical Society.

The illustrated program will be presented by Grey expert Steve Lund, a member of the Zane Grey West Society.  The 7:30 p.m. meeting will be free and open to the public, and held in the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive.

Grey’s most famous work was the Western novel “Riders of the Purple Sage.” His numerous books and magazine stories became the basis of more than 100 Hollywood films, variously starring the actors Tom Mix, Fay Wray, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Barbara Stanwyck, Randolph Scott, even Shirley Temple.

Grey and his wife and family lived in a mansion at the southeast corner of Mariposa and Marengo in Altadena, now on the National Register of Historic Places.  Grey also built a unique, pueblo-style house in East Altadena for one of his secretaries.

An inveterate sportsman and outdoorsman, Grey set world records with his deep-sea catches off Catalina Island, where he had a home.  He also was reputed to be another type of adventurer; a 2005 biography of Grey by Thomas H. Pauly published by University of Illinois Press is titled “Zane Grey: His Life, His Adventures, His Women.”

People can learn more about Altadena at the Historical Society’s newly redesigned website, and at the Society’s archives and new museum in the Community Center.  The society is open from 9 to 11 a.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, and by appointment at (626) 797-8016.

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Mary Pickford and Altadena's Christmas Tree Lane

In 1940, when Mary Pickford was to be featured in a broadcast starring Christmas Tree Lane, she made a mistake when addressing the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. She said Christmas Tree Lane was in Pasadena.

The Altadena Chamber was quick to respond, albeit light-heartedly:

The actress promptly apologized, and with everyone's ruffled feathers smoothed, the broadcast went as scheduled.

Even star of the big screen Mary Pickford couldn't get away with mistaking Altadena for Pasadena. Some things never change.

The Pickford letters are in the AHS archives. Our collection includes many thousands of documents. Come by and visit.