The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to rename Pershing Square after Bridget “Biddy” Mason, who was born into slavery and went on to become a wealthy landowner and a founder of the city’s First African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the nation’s largest Black churches.
The council’s unanimous vote directs city officials to begin the process of renaming the five-acre plaza near the Biltmore Hotel as Biddy Mason Park. The Rev. Timothy E. Tyler of the First AME Church was among those urging the council to approve the change.
“In a world where histories are being erased and denied or negated, we believe that this act by the City Council will signal to the world that we in Los Angeles value those who have helped to build this city,” Tyler said.
Councilmember Ysabel Jurado said the new name is a better reflection of Los Angeles.
“When we talk about the Angeleno spirit, resilience, hope, and a refusal to let injustice define what’s impossible for us, there may be no better example of that than Biddy Mason,” said Jurado, whose district includes the park and pushed for the name change.
One of the city’s oldest parks, the downtown square between Olive and Hill streets was first dedicated in 1866 as La Plaza Abaja. It was renamed Pershing Square at the end of World War I in 1918, in honor of the general who commanded U.S. forces in Europe.
Courtland Jindra spoke at Friday’s council meeting against the name change, saying the plaza honored not just Pershing but all the soldiers and sailors who fought in World War I.
“If we take away memorials for anyone, for the military, who’s to say they’re not going to take away the L.A. Memorial Coliseum?” asked Jindra, a former co-director of the California WW1 Centennial Task Force.
The name change was also criticized by Kim Cooper, who leads historical tours of Los Angeles with her company Esotouric and considers herself a preservationist.
“Pershing lived a life of integrity, as did Biddy Mason, and they’re not in competition,” Cooper said in an interview this week.
Cooper criticized the city’s oversight of the square, which she said was a public space with historical significance. On Friday morning, trash was littered about the park, people appeared to be doing drugs, and an apparently homeless person and his belongings had set up camp on a park bench.
Kevin Waite, a professor who teaches history at the University of Texas a Dallas and wrote a biography of Mason’s life, said it was appropriate to rename the park for a local legend instead of a war commander who he said has little significance to the city.
“Black civic leaders like Biddy Mason have long struggled for their due,” said Waite, who grew up in Pasadena. While researching his book he found that Mason owned land between Olive and Grand streets right next to the park, making it an appropriate memorial location.
Biddy Mason was born into slavery in 1818 in Mississippi, but won her freedom in court and became one of the most prolific landowners in L.A., according to the National Park Service. Born without a surname, her given name was Bridget and “Biddy” became her nickname.
After being sold multiple times across state lines, her last owner, a Mississippi plantation owner named Robert Smith, moved West to begin a Mormon community in Utah.
On that 1848 trip, Mason walked 1,700 miles alongside a 300-wagon caravan over months, the Times previously reported. She cared for her owner’s children as well as her own, herding cattle and cooking meals.
A few years later, her owner again moved from Utah to San Bernardino, despite slavery being illegal in California. On that trip, Mason met free Black Americans who told her and other slaves to contest their citizenship status once they reached the golden state.
Mason eventually petitioned for her freedom in court and was freed in 1856 along with several members of her family. It was one of the first legal challenges to slavery in Los Angeles and set a precedent for freedom in California.
Biddy Mason was previously honored in 1989, a mini-park off Spring and 3rd Street was built to memorialize her on her original homestead. Waite said the spot isn’t very prominent and is hidden from the public’s view.
Cooper agreed that the current memorial “needs some love,” but doesn’t agree that the spot isn’t good enough. She believes it should be marked with additional signage so that people know it’s there, rather than renaming a WWI memorial in addition to the space.
Former Councilmember Kevin de León wanted to rename Pershing Square for Mason in 2024, but the change expired without a hearing as he fell out of political favor, amid a ground-shaking 2022 City Hall racism scandal involving him and multiple other members of the council.
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