Collaborators
Amazing Grace Conservancy, West Adams Heritage Association, Street Poets, First AME Church, USC Center for City Design, Los Angeles 10th District Council

Project Type
Community Organizing

Location
West Adams, Los Angeles

Audience
Public

Project Leads
Reily Gibson, Madeline Dailey, Ellie Selzer

Date
May 2023

To celebrate the history of Black artists and entrepreneurs in the Sugar Hill neighborhood, we brought together community-based organizations, current and former residents, and local historians for an all-in-one architectural tour, slam poetry session, and backyard barbecue.

In the 1940s, Sugar Hill was home to many influential Black artists, musicians, and filmmakers, including Hattie McDaniel. These Black homeowners won landmark civil rights cases that paved the way to abolishing housing discrimination based on race across the US.

Today, however, that history is almost forgotten. Once known as a hub for Black artists, activists, and entrepreneurs, Sugar Hill is now one of the lowest-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Residents today, 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.

This reversal did not happen by chance. In the 1960s, 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.
Yet there are still residents who remember this time, and community-based organizations that fight to preserve this history and culture in the face of oncoming gentrification. We brought them together to celebrate this history and ignite inspiration for creative new ways to work together and honor the legacy of Sugar Hill.
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 volunteers 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 West Adams, 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 Map
Researched and Designed by Reily Gibson

Local leaders carry on the legacy of Sugar Hill, giving architectural landmarks new life

Listen to Community Stories

Beckett Mansion + the Enduring Legacy
of Black Performers + Storytellers

Researched and Recorded by Madelene Dailey, with Interview by Wendy Raquel Robison

First A.M.E. Church: Carrying on the Legacy of Biddy Mason

Researched and Recorded by Madelene Dailey, with Interview by Pastor Judy

The Caribbean-American Credit Union

Researched and Recorded by Madelene Dailey, with Interview by Carrie Yutzy + Ned Wilson