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with him, and asked why was I going around speaking, and what did I have to do with it. I told him just because I belonged to the party. He told me, âI want you to stop and have no more to do with it, or they would kill meââjust that way. I promised that I would not have anything more to do with it. They had pistols in their hands, and were armed, and I had to make the promise to save my life; and then they let me loose. I went to the clerk employed by a man by the name of
Vincent Petty. I went there and they came in there and attacked me again, and told me, in the presence of Petty and his clerk, if I ever went around making speeches anywhere in that county to put on my burying-clothes, as I would never come back to West Point any more.
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Sunday town hall-style meetings to discuss issues in the black community that was established in 1903 by
Jefferson Edmonds, the Rev. Jarrett E. Edwards, pastor of the First AME Church, and John Wesley Coleman, a businessman, among others. Meeting weekly, first at the First AME Church and then at the Odd Fellowsâ Hall at 7th and Wall Streets to discuss current events, philanthropic causes, and political issues, the Forum was part of the Los Angeles African American community until 1942.
420:, contracts which white property owners attached to the deed of a house that barred people of color from purchasing the properties. Though the practice became ubiquitous in Southern California after World War I, the first restrictive covenant that used âthe all-inclusive term of ânon-Caucasiansâ to define all who could not purchase property,â was drafted in 1902, and the practice grew quickly thereafter.
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386:(the first black female doctor on the west coast) to medical school. The Forum became more politically active during the 1910s when the Shenk Rule of 1912 caused concern that Southern-style Jim Crow practices were creeping into Los Angeles. By publicizing the hardship caused by the Shenk Rule and urging voters to the polls, the
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of candidates who promised to do the most good for the
African American community, regardless of party. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Silver Platformâremoving the United States from the Gold Standardâwas popular with farmers for its promise of easing agricultural debt. Edmonds supported the
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In 1912, the Los
Angeles City Attorney, Shenk, issued a ruling stating that "...it was neither extortion or a violation of the Civil Rights Act to charge a negro more for an article than a white man..." At the time, the decision was known as the Shenk Rule, and many white business owners used it as a
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In spite of the violence and intimidation
Edmonds experienced in the South, he remained politically active after moving to California. At a time when most African Americans were expected to vote for the Republican âParty of Lincolnâ as a matter of course, Jefferson Edmonds advocated political support
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In 1903, Edmonds worked with
Frederick Roberts and Reverend J.E. Edwards found an organization called the Los Angeles Forum whose primary purpose was to challenge racial discrimination and consolidate black political power in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Forum (known as âThe Forumâ) was a series of
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They had a parade at West Point. I was standing on the corner talking and some of the colored men came up, and a colored man says, âI do not care how many are riding around, I am a
Republican and expect to vote the ticket.â Just then a man walked up with a pistol and shot him. Pretty soon another
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I went around a great deal in the county in the
Republican canvass, and I spoke, I think, a time or two in the last campaign. I continued to go to them until I was attacked in the streets of West Point one day by a man by the name of McCeachin. He attacked me on the street. There was four or five
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Even during
Reconstruction participation in the political system was dangerous for African Americans. Undeterred, Edmonds continued to vote though he was attacked and threatened by white mobs during the Election of 1875, and was witness to violence, intimidation, and murder. In June 1876, Edmonds
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Jefferson Lewis
Edmonds was born enslaved on the Edmunds family's plantation in Virginia. After emancipation he moved to Columbus, Mississippi, where he pursued an education in a series âfreedmenâs schools.â In 1875, at the age of 23, Edmonds began teaching in the black schools of Mississippi and
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Edmonds was also a California "booster" who believed Southern blacks should migrate to Los Angeles both for economic opportunity and political freedom. He wrote that Southern California was âripe for advancing the raceâ and cited specifically the ability of blacks to own businesses and homes. He
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to write an eight-page spread on the state of the Black Los Angeles community. The special edition was an effort to commemorate President Abraham Lincolnâs centennial birthday. At the time, Edmonds had been in the publishing business for over a decade. He focused the special edition around his
753:âNegroes Who Have Won Place or Fortune in Los Angeles and Pasadena.: IN BUSINESS THEY SUCCEED; COLORED BROTHERS WHO HAVE GAINED PROPERTY; Men of the Race That Have Acquired Homes and Lands in Southern California--Engaged in Many Pursuits, They Have Made Good and Are Flourishing.,â
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Volume 11, Issue 13, 1913-01-17, p. 02 made by the Los Angeles Public Library from the Edmonds Family Collection for the 2018 Los Angeles City Hall African American Heritage Month Exhibit "Write In America," presented in part by the office of Los Angeles City Council President, Herb
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Volume 9, Issue 18, 1911-06-16, p. 02 made by the Los Angeles Public Library from the Edmonds Family Collection for the 2018 Los Angeles City Hall African American Heritage Month Exhibit "Write In America" presented in part by the office of Los Angeles City Council President, Herb
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In 2018, Edmonds and his descendants were among those honored at a Los Angeles City Hall ceremony opening the 2018 Los Angeles City Hall African American Heritage Month Exhibit "Write In America". The ceremony and exhibit were presented by the offices of City Council President,
315:
Volume 12, Issue 3 (1913-04-18) made by the Los Angeles Public Library from the Edmonds Family Collection for the 2018 Los Angeles City Hall African American Heritage Month Exhibit "Write In America," presented in part by the office of Los Angeles City Council President, Herb
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to highlight black business owners and stressed the importance of supporting black-owned establishments. He profiled black business owners such as Mary Owens and J.B. Loving, independent realtors; A.J. Jones, hotel owner, V.W. Morris, a restaurant owner, and many more.
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As racially restrictive covenants became more popular in new housing tracts and subdivisions, Edmonds partnered with Noah Thompson in a 1913 joint real estate venture to sell homes to African Americans in and around Los Angeles, the Noah D. Thompson Realty Company.
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Much of the original text for this article was created for âWrite in Americaâ in conjunction with the office of Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson by Edmondsâ descendant, Arianne Edmonds, and Brenda Breaux and Amanda Charles of the Los Angeles Public
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When Edmonds brought his family to Los Angeles in 1892, African Americans could freely purchase and inhabit property in many parts of the city. But as more African Americans migrated to Los Angeles, that freedom was eroded by the rise of
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Edmonds opened the special edition with an article by Booker T. Washington and cited highlights about African American homeownership, thriving businesses, and community activist groups in the Los Angeles area at the turn of the century.
779:
Sanchez, G. J. (2007). The History of Segregation in Los Angeles: A Report on Racial Discrimination and Its Legacy. Scheff & Washington, PC, in legal case American Civil Rights Foundation v. Los Angeles Unified School District. p.
246:. He was a political supporter of the candidacy of William Jennings Bryan, a Democrat, when the vast majority of Southern California's African Americans were Republicans. This political difference of opinion with the majority of the
463:. Dr. Du Bois was impressed with his visit, proclaiming that âNowhere in the United States is the Negro so well and beautifully housed, nor the average of efficiency and intelligence in the colored population so high.â
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When John Shenk ran for mayor in 1913, Jefferson L. Edmonds âurged all African Americans to vote against him. When Shenk was defeated by a small margin, Edmonds claimed 'another great victory for the
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R.H. Hewitt, âRepublican Silver Party Delegate Certificationâ (Republican Silver Party, May 1, 1900), JLE-00026, Los Angeles Public Library preliminary scans of Edmonds Family Documents.
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Jefferson L. Edmonds was a featured writer in several citywide newspapers, often tasked with writing about the state of black politics in Los Angeles. In 1909 he was commissioned by the
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Noah Thompson worked with Booker T. Washington at the Tuskegee Institute from 1909 to 1911 before moving to Los Angeles. He later served as the president of the Los Angeles branch of
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continued this work until the late 1880s. He also bought a small farm in Northern Mississippi about thirty five miles south of Memphis, Tennessee and was active in local politics.
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In the early 1900s, the group raised money for causes as diverse as the San Francisco earthquake, the 28th Street YMCA, black agricultural homesteading experiments, and sending
291:, which operated over a span of about fourteen years from approximately 1900-1906 and 1910-1913, was known for its support of working-class black Angelenos. Edmonds used the
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179:(1852 â January 4, 1914) was a farmer, real estate entrepreneur, Los Angeles newspaper editor, and political activist who is most well known as the owner and editor of the
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As a leader and a visionary in the struggle against racism in Southern California, Edmonds deserves the scholarly attention and reputation garnered by his contemporaries
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In response to death threats against his family, Edmonds left post-Reconstruction Mississippi for Los Angeles around 1890. In 1896 he published his first newspaper, the
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testified before the United States Senate Select Committee to Inquire into the Mississippi Election of 1875 about his being beaten and intimidated by a mob:
789:âNoah D Thompson Realty Co.â (Liberator Publishing Company, 1913), JLE-00038, Los Angeles Public Library preliminary scans of Edmonds Family Collection.
584:"Mississippi in 1875. Report of the Select committee to inquire into the Mississippi election of 1875, with the testimony and documentary evidence ..."
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did not survive Edmondsâ death, the Forum continued for an additional 28 years, and Edmondsâ legacy of service to Los Angeles survives to this day.
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Booker T. Washington SPECIALLY CONTRIBUTED TO THE TIMES, âOpportunity of the Negro in America.: TO CONVERT OBSTACLES INTO OPPORTUNITIES.,â
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to champion civil rights, and support candidates of any party whom Edmonds believed would support African American community objectives.
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852:
718:, April 25, 1913, sec. 1, 19130425_Liberator, Los Angeles Public Library preliminary scans of Edmonds Family Liberator Collection.
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April 18, 1913, sec. 1, 19130418_Liberator, Los Angeles Public Library preliminary scans of Edmonds Family Liberator Collection.
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Lonnie G. Bunch, âThe Greatest State for the Negro: Jefferson L. Edmonds, Black Propagandist of the California Dream,â in
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personal slave narrative. He details his account of hearing the news of the Civil War ending and the promise of freedom.
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The Edmonds family has been part of Los Angeles for more than a century. In 2017, the Edmonds family partnered with the
822:"Write in America: Los Angeles Sentinel & Black Media Professionals Honored During African American Heritage Month"
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Bunch, âThe Greatest State for the Negro: Jefferson L. Edmonds, Black Propagandist of the California Dream.â p. 142
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Bunch, âThe Greatest State for the Negro: Jefferson L. Edmonds, Black Propagandist of the California Dream,â 131.
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Jefferson Lewis Edmonds died on January 4, 1914. One of his eulogies was read by former Los Angeles Mayor
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means of enforcing de facto segregation. Edmonds attacked the decision in print and used the pages of the
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J.L. Edmonds, âShenkâs Adroit Ruling as City Attorney in Favor of Discrimination Against the Negro.,â
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770:, January 17, 1913, Los Angeles Public Library preliminary scans of Edmonds Family Collection.
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through the California Revealed Digitization Program. When complete, digitized copies of the
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680:"The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, July 07, 1900, Image 1"
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an early-twentieth-century Los Angeles news-magazine for the African American community.
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viewed home ownership as especially important in the black quest for full citizenship.
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In approximately 1900 Edmonds started a second paper in Los Angeles. He named it the
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will be viewable for free online by the people of Los Angeles, and the world.
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J. L. EDMONS, âHow Freedomâs Word Found the Bondman.: How Freedomâs Word.,â
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24:
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J. L. Edmonds, âWHY ARE THE COLORED VOTERS SUPPORTING THE UNION TICKET,â
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readers led his partners to relieve Edmonds of his editorial duties.
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to chronicle discrimination and hardship caused by the Shenk Rule.
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J.L. Edmonds, âNegroes Who Have Made, and Are Making History,â
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J.L. Edmonds, âJudge H. H. Rose Next Mayor of Los Angeles,â
659:, October 16, 1898, California Digital Newspaper Collection.
459:â historic trips to Los Angeles in 1913 in the pages of the
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Edmonds also told the Committee of a murder heâd witnessed:
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Govt. print. off. October 19, 1876 – via HathiTrust.
16:
American newspaper editor, political activist(1858 - 1914)
93:, an early twentieth-century Los Angeles news magazine.
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Humanities, National Endowment for the (July 7, 1900).
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National Museum of African American History and Culture
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Testimony for the United States Senate Select Committee
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598:"A Teacher Describes Violence and Intimidation (1875)"
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colored man made some expression and he was shot at."
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755:Los Angeles Times (1886-1922); Los Angeles, Calif.
742:Los Angeles Times (1886-1922); Los Angeles, Calif.
729:Los Angeles Times (1886-1922); Los Angeles, Calif.
571:Seeking El Dorado: African Americans in California
573:(University of Washington Press, 2001). p. 131
435:. He was also a journalist who wrote for the
398:The Liberator Supported Black Business Owners
89:Jefferson Lewis Edmonds, owner and editor of
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394:in the 1913 race for mayor of Los Angeles.
390:and the Forum contributed to the defeat of
757:, February 12, 1909, sec. Special Section.
744:, February 12, 1909, sec. Special Section.
731:, February 12, 1909, sec. Special Section.
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443:and worked as an associate editor of the
287:of the mid-nineteenth-century. Edmonds'
893:20th-century American newspaper editors
888:19th-century American newspaper editors
682:– via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
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433:Universal Negro Improvement Association
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548:Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson
7:
491:, now the founding director of the
530:to digitize their holdings of the
263:through participation in both the
254:Participation in Political Parties
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437:Los Angeles Times, Evening Press,
883:Editors of California newspapers
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267:and the Democratic conventions.
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418:racially restrictive covenants
1:
798:W.E.B. Du Bois, âEditorial,â
878:American political activists
602:Facing History and Ourselves
909:
621:"The J.L. Edmonds Project"
552:Councilmember Curren Price
528:Los Angeles Public Library
161:
82:
625:The J.L. Edmonds Project
411:J.L. Edmonds Real Estate
146:The Pasadena Searchlight
853:Jefferson Lewis Edmonds
265:Silver Republican Party
177:Jefferson Lewis Edmonds
77:Jefferson Lewis Edmonds
38:, as no other articles
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501:William Monroe Trotter
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369:A preliminary scan of
356:Defending Civil Rights
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311:A preliminary scan of
285:abolitionist newspaper
281:William Lloyd Garrison
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233:A preliminary scan of
225:The Move to California
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855:at Wikimedia Commons
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361:The Los Angeles Forum
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244:Pasadena Searchlight
824:. February 8, 2018.
802:, July 1913. p. 130
511:, publisher of the
137:Editor, Real Estate
657:Los Angeles Herald
478:Meredith P. Snyder
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57:for suggestions.
47:to this page from
851:Media related to
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337:Los Angeles Times
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166:.jledmondsproject
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125:(1914-01-04)
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62:October 2018
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873:1914 deaths
868:1852 births
646:Bunch, 134.
637:Bunch, 132.
544:Herb Wesson
384:Ruth Temple
862:Categories
800:The Crisis
558:References
451:The Crisis
392:John Shenk
187:Early life
134:Occupation
53:; try the
40:link to it
536:Liberator
532:Liberator
495:, wrote:
487:In 2001,
482:Liberator
461:Liberator
445:Liberator
388:Liberator
330:Liberator
323:Liberator
293:Liberator
289:Liberator
283:'s famed
277:Liberator
181:Liberator
43:. Please
835:Library.
439:and the
113:Virginia
374:Wesson.
316:Wesson.
238:Wesson.
157:Website
104: (
550:, and
522:Family
507:, and
467:Legacy
115:, U.S.
36:orphan
34:is an
472:Death
192:Birth
111:near
332:.ââ
168:.com
120:Died
106:1852
102:1852
99:Born
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