Stories of Sugar Hill

Ignited by residents’ desire to celebrate and preserve the cultural history of their neighborhood, Stories of Sugar Hill is an on-going research project, a series of public events, and an advocacy campaign championed by Architecture + Advocacy student-leaders.

Stories of Sugar Hill
Community Engagement Event Video by Austin Beatty

Sugar Hill's History with Spatial Injustice

Sugar Hill (Los Angeles, CA)—a neighborhood once known as a hub for Black artists, activists, and entrepreneurs—is one of the lowest-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles today. The neighborhood is located within West Adams in Los Angeles, CA. The residents of Sugar Hill, the majority of whom are Black or Hispanic, face an alarming rate of displacement along with one of the highest pollution burdens in the country.

In the 1940s, Sugar Hill was home to many influential Black artists, musicians, and filmmakers, including Hattie McDaniel and Norman O. Houston. These Black homeowners won landmark civil rights cases against restrictive covenants–clauses in real-estate contracts that prevent non-whites from owning or renting property. Their victories paved the way to abolishing housing discrimination based on race across the US.

Though Sugar Hill contains many large homes of architectural significance, as white residents moved away in the 1940s and 1950s, the neighborhood was redlined and subject to urban blight. In 1954 the Santa Monica Freeway was built through the heart of Sugar Hill. Its construction destroyed homes, displaced families, and effectively collapsed the thriving Black economy in the neighborhood. Today, this planning decision is a primary cause of on-going displacement and air pollution.

“In Los Angeles, routing of the Santa Monica Freeway in 1954 destroyed the city’s most prosperous black middle-class area, Sugar Hill. [...]African American leaders pleaded that the freeway be shifted slightly north, but the city engineer dismissed their concerns...”
– Richard Rothstein, Color of Law

Learning From Residents

This past spring, a team of Architecture + Advocacy student-leaders engaged in community-based research to document the social histories, cultural assets, memories, stories, and future visions of the Sugar Hill neighborhood.

During this initial phase, student-leaders canvassed Sugar Hill to learn about the history of spatial injustice in the neighborhood, experience the impact of unjust planning, and listen to the stories of current residents. Students identified active community organizations in the area and cultivated connections with current residents, activists, and business owners.

A+A co-hosted a series of public events with the local non-profit the Amazing Grace Conservatory (AGC) to connect residents with free resources. One event taught mindfulness and meditation. Another taught attendees how to engage in Neighborhood Planning processes. Throughout the event series, A+A volunteers engaged residents in conversation about what it was like to live in the area. 

By listening, student-leaders uncovered the rich cultural history of the neighborhood. As residents shared stories of their experiences with A+A volunteers, and with each other, they became increasingly energized to celebrate and preserve their rich history–especially in the face of oncoming gentrification that threatens to erase it. 

Architecture + Advocacy student-leaders canvassing Sugar Hill

Reviving a Legacy of Black Culture and Entrepreneurship

Residents’ excitement for celebrating and preserving Sugar Hill’s history soon took on a life of its own. In response, On May 6th, 2023, A+A leaders organized a walking-tour of the Sugar Hill neighborhood that ended in a barbecue and celebration of existing community-based resources. The event featured speeches from a local historian, presentations from A+A on the research gathered from residents and online sources, and slam poetry sessions led by the local non-profit Street Poets. Over 80 people–from AGC, Sugar Hill, and surrounding areas–gathered to hear the stories.

The walking tour of Sugar Hill visited 16 architectural sites, including an overlook of the Santa Monica Freeway; the home of Hattie McDaniel; and a church designed by the first Black Architect to join the AIA, Paul R. Williams. One attendee recounted her experience living in the neighborhood when the freeway was built, when she was just six years old. The event was a reminder that architecture is not just about pretty buildings, but the people, history, and ways of life contained within them.

Stories of Sugar Hill Walking Tour Event Photos (Clyde Gillett, A+A Student Volunteers)

Take Your Own Tour of Sugar Hill

Download your copy of the walk guide we created for the Stories of Sugar Hill event and take your own tour of the neighborhood. Learn about the history of spatial injustice in the area, visit some important architectural sites, and reflect on the impact of the Santa Monica Freeway.

Special thanks to USC Center for City Design, First AME Church, Los Angeles 10th District Council, Amazing Grace Conservatory and Street Poets Inc. for supporting this initiative.

Stories of Sugar Hill Walk Guide
by Reily Gibson

What’s next?

With the data collected and connections formed at the event, the research team is in the process of creating a mini documentary series (in partnership with FORT:LA) that highlights some of the historic properties in the neighborhood. We look forward to continuing to engage with the community in Sugar Hill.