Projects

Watsonville has seen different stages and groups that have had a great part in their

history. A group that across research keeps being left out time and time again is the black

communities that also played a huge role in the Watsonville you see and know now. After

attempting to find churches I stumbled upon one and elided to do my focus and see through that

one would more appear. Throughout this class we learned that assumption is big whether it is not

good to assume that our history is what is told or that we need to assume to find the hunch. My

project changed through the whole process. There were always different factors that came with

finding people. For example, rather than focusing on all the churches then I started to narrow

down on one and considered which cemetery is closest to this church.

Eminent Domain in AfricanAmerican communities is as simple as the law taking advantage of the education and legal literacy gap that has been systematically reproduced for over 200 years. Throughout the research, it is clear that those in Santa Cruz County also participated in taking advantage. To be Black in any lifetime means being placed at a disadvantage from birth. Many newly freed slaves came to California to gain an advantage during and after the Gold Rush. As they became more successful in areas dominated by racism, they were met with legal violence. Many attempted to persevere, staying disciplined enough to start over after being dealt a bad hand. Continuously meeting the law with pushback. Yet, in death, everything you fight for is in vain in the context of eminent domain inAfrican communities. Which is why those of us alive advocate to make sure no part of their activism and perserverance was in vain.

This project reconstructs the life and family history of early Santa Cruz Black pioneers buried in an unmarked grave in Evergreen Cemetery. I traced family connections of London Nelson, David Boffman, and Samuel Padmore across state-lines to uncover experiences before and after arrival in Santa Cruz during the Gold Rush Era.

This project seeks to reconstruct family histories connected to Evergreen Cemetery in Santa Cruz through the use of cemetery records, census records, marriage records, newspaper archives, and genealogical databases. By tracing surnames, family relationships, migration paths, and burial locations, the project aims to recover and preserve histories that have often been fragmented, overlooked, or underrepresented in traditional archives. Particular attention is given to Black pioneers and early community members whose lives contributed to the social and historical development of Santa Cruz County.

Post-WWII, thirteen members of the 54th Coast Artillery Regiment remained in Santa Cruz and were honored with a memorial plaque at Lighthouse Point, their site of defense. This project aims to trace their individual community impacts and connections as Santa Cruz citizens.

My project aims to find the locations of where the early black people of Santa Cruz county are buried or cremated. A reason the London Nelson Legacy Initiative (LNLI)  started was to bring justice to the deaths of the first black folks in the Santa Cruz area. Due to racism and segregation, black people were not allowed most privileges white people had; burial plots were a factor of these systemic issues. This quarter, I found what I could about where early black people were laid to rest here in this county.

This project was this website in and of itself! In collaborating with UC Santa Cruz, the London Nelson Legacy Initiative gave university students the chance to contribute back to the community and this website it part of it.

This project looks at the pre-statehood history of California, from the Mission System since 1770 to the Bear Flag Rebellion in 1846 and beyond. By unpacking hidden Black history during this time, the dominant narrative of the state created by Spanish, Mexican, and American occupation is further analyzed, and it asks who really shaped California.