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Here lies Los Angeles: uncovering forgotten women's history at Evergreen Cemetery

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Here lies Los Angeles: uncovering forgotten women's history at Evergreen Cemetery

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HERE LIES LOS ANGELES: UNCOVERING FORGOTTEN WOMEN’S
HISTORY AT EVERGREEN CEMETERY

By,

Katie Ahmanson

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF HERITAGE CONSERVATION

December 2023

Copyright 2023 Kathryn Ahmanson
ii

Acknowledgements
Having grown up in Los Angeles surrounded by the stories of the men who built it, I
wanted to uncover the forgotten stories of the women who lived and worked alongside them.
Although Los Angeles is often considered one of the most progressive cities in the country, it has
done little to document or preserve women’s history. History must expand to tell the whole story,
not half.
This thesis was possible because of the historians who have dedicated their careers to
promoting preservation. Resources such as Heather A. Huyck and Peg Strobel’s book, Revealing
Women’s History: Best Practices at Historic Sites, as well as Gail Lee Dubrow and Jennifer B.
Goodman’s book, Restoring Women’s History through Historic Preservation, informed the
current practices for preserving women’s history. Additionally, the dedication of the professors
and adjunct professors in the Master’s of Heritage Conservation program at the University of
Southern California’s School of Architecture inspired me to research a topic out of passion.
Finally, I would like the acknowledge my coworkers, a team of Architectural Historians,
who pushed me to finish my thesis. Over the last year, they have helped me improve my research
and writing skills and taught me the importance of our job. Preservation conveys the stories of
our past to better inform our future. Without it, all would be forgotten.

iii

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... ii
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iv
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Chapter 1: Charlotta Bass ............................................................................................................... 7
Chapter 2: Nellie Truelove............................................................................................................ 18
Chapter 3: Lela Campbell Murray ................................................................................................ 29
Chapter 4 - Analysis...................................................................................................................... 38
The Former California Eagle Office ......................................................................................... 39
The Former Truelove Home ...................................................................................................... 44
The Former Murray’s Dude Ranch ........................................................................................... 49
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 55
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 57

iv

List of Figures

Figure 1.1 - Image of Charlotta Bass (1874-1969) ........................................................................ 7
Figure 1.2 - Charlotta Bass and local businessmen ....................................................................... 9
Figure 1.3 - Charlotta Bass speaking at a rally ............................................................................ 11
Figure 1.4 - Charlotta Bass during her Vice-Presidential campaign in 1952 .............................. 14
Figure 1.5 - Charlotta Bass’s grave in Evergreen Cemetery. ....................................................... 17
Figure 2.1 - Image of Nellie Truelove (1863-1904) .................................................................... 18
Figure 2.2 - The Salvation Army flag that represents their war against sin ................................ 20
Figure 2.3 - “The Social Evil: A Crusade Against Prostitution” in The Los Angeles Times. ...... 23
Figure 2.4 - “She Wears a Star” in The Los Angeles Herald, from 4 March 1903 ...................... 25
Figure 2.5 - “Women Find Refuge in Truelove Home” in The Los Angeles Herald ................... 26
Figure 2.6 - Nellie Truelove’s grave in Evergreen Cemetery ...................................................... 28
Figure 3.1 - Image of Lela Campbell Murray (1887-1949) ......................................................... 29
Figure 3.2 – 1921 Map of the Bell Mountain Area. Source: Richard D. Thompson. .................. 31
Figure 3.3 - Lela and Nolie Murray at Murray’s Ranch .............................................................. 32
Figure 3.3 - Life Magazine photo of Joe Louis at Murray’s Ranch in 1937 ............................... 34
Figure 3.4 – Murray’s Dude Ranch listed in the 1941 edition of the Green Book ...................... 35
Figure 3.5 - Lela Campbell Murray’s grave in Evergreen Cemetery .......................................... 37
1

Abstract
While Los Angeles is known for being the city of seemingly eternal youth, nothing lasts
forever, and this is most evident in the years of forgotten women’s history in the city. Because of
their marginalization throughout much of the past, many of the most influential women in Los
Angeles have not been recognized for their achievements. In this thesis, I will highlight some of
the women who have significantly affected the history of Los Angeles in order to give them a
voice. Each of these women are buried in the historic Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights, and
have no other memorial to their accomplishments. Today, their grave sites are the only vestige of
their memory. By using the cemetery as a public history archive and examining the lives of some
of the women buried there, I intend to create a record of the important women who built this city.
Thus, allowing members of the public to better understand the lives and challenges women faced
during the creation of Los Angeles. Women have always been significant figures in history, yet
up until recently, their contributions have not been acknowledged. With greater representation of
women’s history, we can begin to create a more balanced and inclusive understanding of the
past. Each of these women used their resources to better the world around them, and in return
their success should be remembered and celebrated.

2

Introduction
On March 2, 2023, the World Bank reported that the global pace of reforms for the equal
treatment of women has “slumped to a 20-year low” and established that on average, women
experience 77% of the legal rights that men do across the world.
1
Nearly 2.4 billion adult women
worldwide still do not have the same rights as men. In 2022, gender-related legal reforms hit a
low since 2001 with only thirty-four reforms proposed across eighteen countries. However, the
World Bank suggests that it would take about 1,549 reforms to create a significant change in
gender equality throughout the world. Reform fatigue seems to have set in particularly in
developing countries where women have already inherited the right to established norms such as
owning property. Yet women in these countries are often still underrepresented in government
positions, and action to encourage equality within leadership has slowed in recent years.
2

Closing the gender gap would promote inclusive development and encourage women’s
participation in positions of authority to create a fully democratic process. Inter-Parliamentary
Union Secretary General, Martin Chungong, commented on March 3, 2023, that:
We’re seeing ongoing progress in the number of women in politics this year, which is
encouraging. However, we still have a long way to go to reach gender equality when we
see the current rates of growth. With the interlinked crises of climate change, geopolitical
tensions, economic instability, and social inequality, the world needs to better harness the
talents of women and encourage them to enter politics sooner rather than later.
3

In a world that continues to subject women to a lower standard of liberty, addressing gender
inequality and injustice matters now more than ever and it begins with inclusive representation of
women. Education on woman’s history is a way of spreading knowledge and experience in order

1 World Bank Group, “Women, Business and the Law 2023 Report,” World Bank (World Bank Group, March 2,
2023), https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2023/03/02/pace-of-reform-toward-equal-rights-for-
women-falls-to-20-year-low.
2 World Bank Group, “Women, Business and the Law 2023 Report.”
3 UN Women, “Women in Power in 2023: New Data Shows Progress but Wide Regional Gaps,” UN Women,
March 7, 2023, https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2023/03/women-in-power-in-2023-new-
data-shows-progress-but-wide-regional-gaps.
3

to change the perception of a historically patriarchal society. Despite a general increase in the
field of women’s studies over the past decade, many historic sites associated with women’s
history have not been comprehensively researched, preserved, or interpreted. Therefore, this
thesis is intended to contribute toward making the history of women in Los Angeles more
visible, by providing additional information on three influential women.
Women have significantly contributed to Los Angeles’ cultural environment for
generations, yet most of the City’s history perpetuates the idea that men have impacted its legacy
the most. It is typical that places associated with minority history are recorded less than those
associated with white/European history. Los Angeles is one of the world’s most populated cities
with an estimated population of about 3,849,297 residents in 2021, and 50.5% of its population
are women.
4
The relative lack of emphasis on women’s history is not exclusive to Los Angeles,
but in a city with as much modern day influence as Los Angeles, the continued acknowledgment
of woman’s history has the ability to affect millions of tourists visiting the city every year and
encourage further change.
This thesis investigates women’s history in Los Angeles and tells the stories of three
women who made significant contributions to the history of the city, but have no memorial to
their achievements, other than their grave sites. Each of these women are buried in the historic
Evergreen Cemetery, yet they are not widely known about today. Charlotta Bass, Nellie
Truelove, and Lela Campbell Murray were fiercely independent women who set out to make a
difference in their communities with their dedication to service and community. There is an
abundance of women’s history in the city that has been forgotten and ignored, so research in this

4
“U.S. Census Bureau Quickfacts: Los Angeles City, California,” United States Census Bureau, 2021,
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/losangelescitycalifornia.
4

thesis reveals sites associated with each of these women that have yet to be recognized as places
of historic significance.
Located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights, Evergreen Cemetery is one
of the oldest cemeteries in the city.
5
Established by the city in 1877, the site was originally
beyond the border of the city’s urban center and contained a five acre “potter’s field” where
unidentified persons were cremated and buried in a single grave each year. It was the first
cemetery to allow burials for minority groups, however it was still segregated with separate
sections for each ethnicity.
6
The various sections include established sites for African
Americans, and citizens of Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, and Armenian descent, as well as
members of the Jewish faith and a whole section for the burial of carnival people called
“Showmen’s Rest.” The site is home to an extremely rich and diverse history and includes the
graves of many prominent figures in Los Angeles, such as Biddy Mason, the Van Nuys family,
and numerous World War II heroes.
7
Evergreen Cemetery was dedicated to supporting
community members who otherwise would not have had access to burial grounds, and today it
stands as a memorial for underrepresented stories from Los Angeles’ history.
Chapter 1 will introduce the story of Charlotta Bass, who was an activist, educator,
newspaper publisher, and editor, and the first African American woman to be nominated for Vice
President of the United States. Bass left a legacy of activism and helped to pave the way for
those to come after. Seventy years later, the first female African American Vice President,
Kamala Harris, is in office and Bass’s story feels more relevant now than ever. In a New York

5
“Evergreen Cemetery,” Los Angeles Conservancy, n.d., https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/evergreen-
cemetery.
6
“Evergreen Cemetery,” Los Angeles Conservancy.
7
“Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles, California,” Find a Grave, n.d.,
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/7964/evergreen-cemetery.
5

Times article about overlooked figures, Bass’s great-great-great niece was quoted saying, “It
gave me goose bumps to see how far we’ve come.”
8
Although this is a start, we still have more
to go as far as equality and representation. Today, only three percent of the city’s historically
designated resources are associated with African American heritage.
9
While much of the historic
African American built environment has been destroyed, the stories of those like Charlotta Bass
live on to encourage awareness of underrepresented histories, so we can better persevere African
American heritage in its richness.
Chapter 2 will discuss the impact Salvation Army officer Nellie Truelove had on Los
Angeles history from her arrival in 1895 until her death in 1904. Although she lived in the city
for only nine years, she was relentless in her mission to help women. Truelove worked for a
Salvation Army rescue home and primarily focused her efforts on rescuing women from abuse.
She did so by visiting bars and brothels to find women in need of help and bringing them back to
a rescue home. Even when pressed by authorities to refrain from placing herself in the middle of
danger, she persisted and ultimately became the first female police officer in Los Angeles. Her
courage changed the lives of many young women and children during the early days of the city
and paved the way for future female officers in in the Los Angeles Police Department.
Chapter 3 will uncover the history of the first African American dude ranch in California,
the Overall Wearing Dude Ranch, created by Lela Campbell Murry and her husband Nolie
Murray in the 1930s. During this time of segregation in Southern California, places of recreation

8
Jessica Bennett, “Overlooked No More: Before Kamala Harris, There Was Charlotta Bass,” The New York Times
(The New York Times, September 4, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/obituaries/charlotta-bass-vice-
president-overlooked.html.
9
“Resources for Visual Art and Cultural Heritage,” Getty, April 6, 2021, https://www.getty.edu/news/getty-and-
city-of-los-angeles-launch-african-american-historic-places-project/.
6

and leisure primarily restricted Black visitors.
10
Black Angelenos left the city to seek “all-Black”
communities in the Mojave Desert where they could escape discrimination and create a space
defined by Blackness rather than white racial supremacy. The Murrays saw this as an
opportunity to create a haven for Black leisure, so they constructed their dude ranch in
Victorville where the all-Black community, Bell Mountain, had already begun to form. The
popularity of their dude ranch increased throughout the 1930s and ‘40s and in 1949, it was
integrated to include white guests before the rest of the nation welcomed the idea of integration.
Lela was an early contributor to a culture of racial equality.
The Analysis Chapter compares resources associated with the women profiled in this
thesis to established eligibility criteria for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and
the California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR) in order to determine if they are eligible
as significant resources. If eligible, these resources could be preserved and designated to
continue sharing the stories of these women. While women have often been the driving force of
preservation in the United States, their contributions to the country’s history are
underrepresented. Identifying previously unpublicized places where each of these women
actively contributed to the history of Los Angeles reveals the lack of awareness of women’s
history in our city and the need to share the stories of women. In using tangible resources to
convey women’s history within the fabric of Los Angeles, the city has the ability to broaden the
focus of its culture to include the other half of its population.

10
Alison B. Hirsch, “Ritual Practice and Place Conflict: Negotiating a Contested Landscape along Jamaica Bay,”
essay, in Routledge Companion to Global Heritage Conservation, ed. Trudi Sandmeier and Vinayak Bharne (United
Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2019).
7

Chapter 1: Charlotta Bass

Figure 1.1 - Image of Charlotta Bass (1874-1969). Source: University of Southern California Digital
Library.

Born in Sumter, South Carolina in 1874, Charlotta Spears Bass was the sixth out of
eleven children in her family.
11
Little is known about her early years. As a child, she received a
public education, and even attended a semester of college at Pembroke College in Brown
University.
12
At twenty years old in 1894, she moved in with her brother in Providence, Rhode
Island, where she worked for the Black owned newspaper, Providence Watchman, selling ads
and subscriptions for ten years.
13
In 1910 she moved to Los Angeles for supposed health reasons.
During the period when Bass first moved to Los Angeles, the African American community had

11
“Charlotta Bass (U.S. National Park Service),” National Parks Service (U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d.),
https://www.nps.gov/people/charlottabass.htm
12
Rodger Streitmatter, Raising Her Voice: African-American Women Journalists Who Changed History (Lexington,
KY: Univ. Press of Kentucky, 1994).
13
Regina Freer, “L.A. Race Woman: Charlotta Bass and the Complexities of Black Political Development in Los
Angeles,” American Quarterly 56, no. 3 (2004): pp. 607-632, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40068236.
8

evolved along with influxes of migrations but was still a growing minority within the city.
14
At
first, she took a job selling subscriptions for a newspaper then known as The Owl, but later
changed to The Eagle. Founded in 1879 by John J. Neimore, formerly enslaved in Texas, the
publication was one of the oldest and longest running African American newspapers in Los
Angeles. By 1912, Neimore arranged for Bass to take control of the newspaper and its associated
printing business after his death.
15
When she succeeded him as the owner, Bass became the first
African American woman to own and operate a newspaper and changed its name from The Eagle
to The California Eagle. She took advantage of her platform to inspire reforms that would
counter police brutality, restrictive housing, and racism. When Bass first became involved with
the Eagle, she made it a point to cultivate “community consciousness” by promoting
neighborhood events, and Black businesses, as well as by reporting on civil rights causes.
16
In
1913, Joe Bass joined the paper as a reporter from the Midwest, and in 1914 he became editor
alongside Charlotta, and the two married. They worked together for twenty years until his death
in 1934 and made significant changes to the paper that garnered its success for years to come.
17

In advocating for justice and equality in their articles, The California Eagle was openly
contradicting the white owned newspapers that encouraged racial segregation. In 1920, just ten
years after Bass moved to Los Angeles, the African American community formed less than three
percent of the total population, with about 15,579 citizens.
18
However, with the population

14
SurveyLA, “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: African American History of Los
Angeles,” LA City Planning, accessed February 2018, https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/7db8747f-87fb-4c6f-
bb95-5482be050683/SurveyLA_AfricanAmericanHCS_05242019.pdf, 120.
15
SurveyLA, “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: African American History of Los
Angeles,” 122.
16
Ibid, 122.
17
“Charlotta Bass (U.S. National Park Service).”
18
SurveyLA, “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: African American History of Los
Angeles,” 19.
9

growth came an increase in discrimination. African American communities were confined to the
east side because of racial restrictions on housing.
19
Civic and social organizations helped to

Figure 1.2 - Charlotta Bass and local businessmen outside the offices of The California Eagle at 4071-75
Central Avenue in the 1930s. Source: Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research.

create roots and middle-class activists who aimed to represent the diversity of the African
American culture by encouraging community engagement.
20
The Los Angeles branch of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed in 1914 and
in 1921 the National Urban League opened a Los Angeles branch.
21
The emergence of such civil
organizations encouraged the establishment of the two African American owned newspapers, the

19
“Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California.”
20
SurveyLA, “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: African American History of Los
Angeles,” 21-22.
21 “Our History,” National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (City of Los Angeles, n.d.),
https://www.naacp-losangeles.org/.
10

California Eagle and the New Age, which provided a new avenue for communities of color to
speak out against discrimination. Along with a monthly news magazine called the Liberator,
these publications celebrated the achievements of African American citizens and promoted local
businesses and institutions to create a sense of community.
22

Bass’s goal was to champion the success of the Black community and reveal the effects
of institutionalized racism on minority communities.
23
However, not everyone agreed with her
beliefs. In an attempt to detail the crimes of the Ku Klux Klan, Bass was targeted by the group
and received death threats for her actions. In 1925, she published a letter from the head of the
local Klan that revealed a plan to eradicate local Black leaders for various crimes. Although the
Klan head, G.W. Price, sued for libel, Bass won the case. The Klan targeted Bass after the case,
sending eight Klan members to her office one night while she was alone, yet after realizing she
was carrying a pistol, the intruders left.
24
The paper became a source of inspiration as well as
information for the Black community, and strongly advocated for civil justice as well as
community engagement, with reports on local businesses, churches, clubs, and social events.
25

Additionally, her weekly column, “On the Sidewalk,” acknowledged social injustice in Los
Angeles for all minority communities and promoted reforms that would combat the derogatory
image of people of color in the mainstream media. When the D.W. Griffith movie, The Birth of a
Nation, premiered, Bass used her platform to speak out against the film’s racist image of African
Americans. Likewise, she exposed the racist hiring processes and restrictive housing covenants
in Los Angeles that excluded people of color and promoted social segregation. Regardless of the

22
Ibid., 23.
23
Mariana Brandman, “Charlotta Spears Bass (1880-1969),” National Women's History Museum, 2020,
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/charlotta-spears-bass.
24
Mariana Brandman, “Charlotta Spears Bass (1880-1969).”
25
“Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California.”
11

efforts of others to silence her, Bass and the California Eagle prevailed and became one of the
most influential African American papers on the west coast. However, she still found herself
reevaluating the scope of her work after her husband’s death, and it was around this time that she
searched for other ways to bolster the fight for justice.

Figure 1.3 - Charlotta Bass speaking at a rally when she was running for Congress in the 14th District.
Source: Security Pacific National Bank Collection/Los Angeles Public Library Collection.

As a champion of civil liberties, Bass embraced politics and civil groups to stimulate
community support. After the Great Depression led to a nationwide economic downfall, minority
communities were hit the hardest. Racially discriminatory labor policies increased, making
employment scarce for people of color, and by 1934, the African American unemployment rate
12

reached fifty percent.
26
Often, Black workers were excluded from jobs in the manufacturing and
entertainment industries, the two most stable industries in Los Angeles at the time, so they were
relegated to service positions. Further constraints, such as restrictive covenants and segregation
in public places, continued to reinforce discrimination against people of color. Bass recognized
this disparity, and during the 1930s, joined the NAACP, the Urban League, the Civil Rights
Congress, and the Universal Negro Improvement Association to encourage the presence of Black
citizens in politics. Due to the success of her political activism, Bass endeavored to campaign for
leadership positions within Los Angeles to bring her concerns to a wider audience. She ran for
Congress twice, once in 1944 and again in 1950, as well as for Los Angeles City Council in
1945.
27
Although she never won any of her campaigns, she used her platform to challenge
patriarchal leadership and created paths for Black radicalism in the media and political arena.
During the post World War II era, the population increased in Los Angeles as well as the racial
and class divisions. White residents attempted to restrict access to home ownership, leisure
space, and jobs, and resisted the idea of Black leadership. Likewise, the Voting Rights Act of
1965 had to the be established to overcome the state and local barriers that prevented African
Americans from the right to vote. While white bigotry hindered her ability to win in the polls, it
gave it her opportunity to publicly shed light discrimination within politics. In her 1952 speech
for the Progressive Party at Madison Square Garden, Bass claimed, “We want a government that
acts for people, not for profits. We want the wealth of our land used for life-not death. We want a
government that will enforce the constitutional rights of people, not destroy them”.
28
It is clear

26
Josh Sides, L.A. City Limits African American Los Angeles from the Great Depression to the Present (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2003), 296.
27
Freer, “L.A. Race Woman: Charlotta Bass and the Complexities of Black Political Development in Los Angeles,”
pp. 625-627.
28
Charlotta Bass, “Address by Mrs. Charlotta A. Bass,” American Labor Party Rally, Madison Square Garden,
October 27, 1952, Additional Box 1, Progressive Party Campaign, 1952-Speeches, Charlotta Bass Collection,
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research (SCLSSR), Los Angeles, California.
13

that she recognized the symbolism in her campaign as the first Black woman to campaign for
vice-presidency at time when African Americans did not have the right to vote in every state.
Furthermore, she continued to convey her political platform through her civil rights
activism. Bass, along with fourteen other prominent African American female figures from the
time, used her platform to create the National Sojourner for Truth and Justice Club in 1951 to
1952, to improve working conditions for Black women.
29
The group was a radical Black
women’s human rights organization that was inspired by Sojourner Truth’s activism in the
previous century. Their first rally was held in March 1951 in Washington D.C., to protest the
government’s complicity with racism. Within two weeks, one-hundred-thirty-two women from
fourteen states responded to the call.
30
They mobilized against postwar racism, critiqued foreign
policy during the Cold War, and disclosed human rights violations against African Americans.
These women used their identities as mothers and wives to appeal to the average citizen while
revealing the effects of racism.
31
Together, their mission was to uplift African American women
across the country and promote equal rights.
In 1952, Bass dared to further her political ambition and became the first African
American woman candidate to run for Vice President. Bass campaigned under the Independent
Progressive Party of California with her running mate Vincent Hallinan, using the slogan, “Win
or lose, we win by raising the issues.”
32
Although the Republican candidates, Dwight D.
Eisenhower, and Richard M. Nixon, won the presidency that year, she and Hallinan garnered

29
“Charlotta Bass (U.S. National Park Service),” National Park Service.
30
“Sojourners for Truth and Justice,” Equality Archive, October 12, 2017,
https://equalityarchive.com/history/sojourners-for-truth-and-justice/.
31
“Sojourners for Truth and Justice,” Equality Archive.
32
“Charlotta Bass (U.S. National Park Service),” National Park Service.
14

Figure 1.4 - Charlotta Bass during her Vice-Presidential campaign in 1952. Source: Security Pacific
National Bank Collection/Los Angeles Public Library Collection.

140,000 votes and used their campaign to promote issues such as civil rights, organized labor,
military budgets and universal health care.
33
Previously, she had ties to both the Democratic and
Republic parties, but chose to abandon them in favor of the Progressive party because she felt the
other parties ignored Black empowerment and women’s rights.
34
Bass and Hallinan’s
progressive platform was considered radical at the time, but they were able to bring the
conversation of social justice to wider audience. It was ten years after their candidacy that the
Voting Rights Act would pass, and two years before segregation would be abolished in schools.
To Bass, winning was not the point of running for office, she was trying to invoke a new
perspective on the political agenda. During her campaign, she was quoted saying:

33
Jessica Bennett, “Overlooked No More: Before Kamala Harris, There Was Charlotta Bass,” The New York Times
(The New York Times, September 4, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/obituaries/charlotta-bass-vice-
president-overlooked.html.
34
Jessica Portner, “The Pioneering Charlotta Bass,” Natural History Museum, n.d.,
https://nhm.org/stories/pioneering-charlotta-bass.
15

This is a historic moment in American political life. Historic for myself, for my people,
for all women. For the first time in the history of this nation, a political party has chosen a
Negro woman for the second highest office in the land. It is a great honor to be chosen as
a pioneer. And a great responsibility. But I am strengthened by thousands on thousands of
pioneers who stand by my side and look over my shoulder -- those who have led the fight
for freedom -- those who led the fight for women's rights -- those who have been in the
front line fighting for peace and justice and equality everywhere... These pioneers, the
living and the dead, men and women, black and white, give me strength and a new sense
of dedication.
35

Despite losing her bid for Vice President, Bass spent over fifty years fighting for justice and
equality, and was a steadfast fighter for justice. She retired to Elsinore, California but continued
to be active in her community and gave speeches to civic groups, before passing in 1969.
36

Yet, regardless of her contributions to the political and social fabric of Los Angeles, her
memory has not been adequately preserved, even her own burial site which is marked under her
husband’s name. There is only one existing monument to her legacy. In 1990, the house Bass
shared with her husband, Joseph, was listed in the National and California Registers. However,
the former office for The California Eagle is currently an appliance store, and has yet to be
designated. The property was first identified as a potential historic resource in 2017 in
SurveyLA’s, Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement for the African American History
of Los Angeles.
37
On June 26, 2023, the City of Los Angeles’ Office of Historic Resources
(OHR) and the Getty Conservation Institute announced that they would be nominating the
California Eagle Offices at 4071-4075 South Central Avenue for its association with Bass. The
nomination is part of the Getty’s project, African American Historic Places, Los Angeles, that
has worked to protect and celebrate the city’s African American heritage since 2005.
38

35
Jessica Portner, “The Pioneering Charlotta Bass.”
36
Mariana Brandman, “Charlotta Spears Bass (1880-1969).”
37
SurveyLA, “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: African American History of Los
Angeles,” 127.
38
“Black History Represented in Four Newly Nominated Historic-Cultural Monuments in L.A.,” Los Angeles
Sentinel , July 6, 2023, https://lasentinel.net/black-history-represented-in-four-newly-nominated-historic-cultural-
monuments-in-l-a.html.
16

Only recently is Bass being recognized as a historic figure, after being acknowledged as
the first female African American to run for Vice President. It has been seventy-one years since
Bass’s campaign, but in 2021, the United States finally elected its first female African American
Vice President, Kamala Harris. Today, Bass’s legacy is now being examined under new light,
and the conversations she began so long ago are beginning to be acknowledged. While memory
and historic documentation are the only link to her past, they are defining a revolution that has
only currently begun to take form. Her early activism, as well as the activism of others in her
community, has helped bring more awareness to gender and racial segregation in politics today.
As of January 2023, the United States has a record number of women in Congress (149) with
about twenty-eight and half percent of the seats in both the House of Representatives and the
Senate held by women, an over fifty percent increase from only a decade ago. Additionally, the
118th Congress is the most diverse in history; about a quarter of the members of the House of
Representatives and Senate are racial or ethnic minorities.
39
Although these statistics could be
better, they represent a growth in diversity through the country. Ultimately, Charlotta Spears
Bass accomplished exactly what she hoped to when she used the slogan, “Win or lose, we win by
raising the issues.” While the civil rights she fought for over seventy years ago are still
conversations that the United States still struggles with today, her impact on Los Angeles
reverberates still.

39
De Simone, Daniel. “New Records for Women in the U.S. Congress and House.” Center for American Women
and Politics. Rutger University, November 23, 2022. https://cawp.rutgers.edu/news-media/press-releases/new-
records-women-us-congress-and-house.
17

Figure 1.5 - Charlotta Bass’s grave in Evergreen Cemetery. View looking north, 4/17/2021.

18

Chapter 2: Nellie Truelove

Figure 2.1 - Image of Nellie Truelove (1863-1904). Source: The Salvation Army Florida.

Nellie Truelove was born in London, England in 1863, and traveled across England and
the United States before settling in Los Angeles. Research was unable to determine much about
Truelove’s early life. Prior to coming to America, Truelove was a nurse in the seaside town,
Eastbourne, just south of London. As a child, she was raised in the Episcopalian faith and joined
the Salvation Army in the late 1880s after attending meetings led by Evangeline Booth, the
seventh child of the founders of the Salvation Army.
40
Truelove was so inspired by Booth’s
teachings that she left her career in nursing and committed to over thirteen years as a Staff-

40
Kathy Lovin, “Nellie: The First Female Member of the LAPD.” The Salvation Army USA Central Territory. The
Salvation Army, March 1, 2017. https://centralusa.salvationarmy.org/usc/news/nellie/.
19

Captain for the Salvation Army. However, she faced criticism from her family for leaving her
job and education behind to enlist in training school for the Salvation Army.
41

The Salvation Army was founded in London in 1865 by the Methodist Reform Church
minister, William Booth, and his wife, Catherine Booth, with the intention of bringing services to
the homeless and hungry and spreading Christian teachings.
42
It was originally called the East
London Christian Mission, but the organization's name changed in 1878 after William dictated a
letter to his secretary saying, “the Christian Mission is a volunteer army” before deciding to cross
out the word “volunteer army” and replace it with “salvation army.”
43
Thus began the advent of
the Salvation Army, and their journey to rehabilitate anyone in need of help. The organization
was modeled after the military with William as the General and converts who were known as
Soldiers of Christ known or Salvationists. They wore uniforms, carried their own flag, and sang
their own hymns as they ministered throughout England. However, they were subjected to
violence from organized gangs, who often attacked their troops. Yet despite adversity, the
Salvation Army claims to have converted about 250,000 people between 1881 and 1885.
44
By
the time Truelove joined the group, training schools were in session all year round and were
entirely supported by the Salvation Army. While in training, female converts lived together in
one building where they were trained in a variety of skills such as cooking, housework, Bible
study, and the doctrines of the army. Additionally, soldiers abstained from drinking alcohol,
smoking, illegal drugs, and gambling, and were required to subscribe to the creed of the
Salvation Army known as the Soldier’s Covenant. Men and women alike were permitted to join

41
Frances Dingman, “‘His Love Is Worth It All!".” Caring Magazine. The Salvation Army, March 6, 2001.
https://caringmagazine.org/his-love-is-worth-it-all/.
42
“The History of the Salvation Army,” The Salvation Army USA (The Salvation Army, n.d.),
https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/about/.
43
“The History of the Salvation Army,” The Salvation Army USA.
44
Ibid.
20

and climb the ranks, but they were only allowed to marry other soldiers. They trained for four
months before being transferred to a corps, and after a total of sixteen months of training, they
would become officers.
45

Figure 2.2 - The Salvation Army flag that represents their war against sin. The red symbolizes the blood
of Christ, the yellow is for the Holy Spirit, and the blue is for the purity of God. Source: Wikimedia
Commons.
The Salvation Army provided opportunities for women that were not available elsewhere.
Although it was established under the Christian faith, the organization was not constrained by
traditional religious beliefs. Its intention was to develop strategies to reach the masses for Christ.
Allowing female participation and authority equal to that of a man was a technique that gained
the organization greater access to the masses so it could better spread the Christian faith. This
was unusual compared to most evangelical theologies that restricted the roles of women to
traditional positions of submission. However, it was the Salvation Army’s philosophy that by
placing trust in Christ, people could be saved from their sins and that everyone was equal in the
eyes of Christ, so practiced a revivalist faith that encouraged an anti-sectarianism nature.
Ultimately, its goal was to convert people to Christianity, through the process of treating them in

45
Minnie J. Reynolds, “Soldiers of the Salvation Army.” Proquest. The New York Times, August 4, 1901.
https://www-
proquestcom.libproxy2.usc.edu/hnpnewyorktimes/docview/96068086/E3403961E3984377PQ/9?accountid=14749.
21

a Christ-like manner. Most of the female officers came from small towns where they had few
career options and religious restrictions. Although their choices to join the Salvation Army was
often considered unorthodox for the time, it allowed them to pave a path for themselves and help
other women.
46

After her training, Truelove started working in Glasgow and London to establish homes
for “fallen” women rescued off the streets. In those days, the word fallen was used to refer to
women who were unwed mothers or prostitutes. Fallen women were considered to have lost their
innocence and to have fallen from the grace of God.
47
In essence, they were associated with
transgression against the social norms of the nineteenth century. Yet, the Salvation Army was
dedicated to providing free accommodations to these women and promoted their rehabilitation
through religious and moral instruction. Soon they began to spread their efforts to America, and
it was there that Truelove made her mark as a leader of the Salvation Army.
In 1894, Truelove immigrated to the United States, where she furthered the presence of
the Salvation Army, and continued her work helping the downtrodden. She first moved to New
York, but later moved to Cleveland and then Chicago before settling in Los Angeles in 1895.
48

Most of her work consisted of entering bars and brothels to find women in need of help and
bringing them back to Salvation Army rescue homes for rehabilitation. In Los Angeles, she
worked in the “red-light district” where she rescued women from brothels and cribs.
49

Prostitution at this time had developed within a few concentrated blocks by the 1870s when the

46
Daphne Spain, How Women Saved the City (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2001), 107-108.
47
Alfred Phillipps Ryder, “Rescue of Fallen Women,” The British Library (The British Library, 1868),
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/rescue-of-fallen-women.
48
Paul R. Spitzzeri, “‘Raising the Fallen All along Life's Highway’: A Letter from The Salvation Army's Truelove
Home, Los Angeles, 11 December 1918.” The Homestead Blog. The Homestead Museum, December 11, 2020.
https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2020/12/11/raising-the-fallen-all-along-lifes-highway-a-letter-from-the-salvation-
armys-truelove-home-los-angeles-11-december-1918/.
49
“The History of the Salvation Army,” The Salvation Army USA.
22

Los Angeles Daily Star reported on, “the flood of prostitution that has, of late, come upon the
city.”
50
By 1874, the presence of brothels increased so much that the mayor created an ordinance
that prohibited “houses of ill fame and prostitution in certain parts of the city.”
51
Additionally,
anyone prosecuted for establishing a brothel was fined $200 or sentenced to sixty days in prison.
Although prostitution was legal, it was restricted between the blocks of Third and High streets in
downtown Los Angeles, a neighborhood that was referred to as the red-light district. While the
area was initially a residential neighborhood, it shifted to include mixed-use structures during the
1880s, and the establishment of brothels began in some of the statelier homes. Police raided the
first two brothels identified on Alameda Street in 1887, and within the next decade the presence
of prostitution continued to increase regardless of police raids.
52
By the time Truelove moved to
Los Angeles, prostitution was still centered in downtown along Alameda Street, however, the
culture of prostitution had changed. Police seemed to ignore prostitution, and brothels were
displaced by cribs. Cribs were easily constructed buildings that included a series of single rooms
with a door and window and were rented for a six-hour period. The prostitutes lived elsewhere
and worked on the streets to find customers to being back to their crib, whereas a brothel or
parlor house would house prostitutes and provided space for socialization with a customer before
the women engaged in a transaction.
53
Often, the women working in cribs were paid less than
those in brothels and faced poor working conditions. Likewise, crime was centered in this area,
and cribs were home to both drug abuse and physical violence.
54
Despite the threat of brutality,

50
Michael D. Meyer, Erica S. Gibson, and Julia G. Costello, “City of Angels, City of Sin: Archaeology in the Los
Angeles Red-Light District Ca. 1900,” Historical Archaeology 39, no. 1 (2005): pp. 107-125,
http://www.jstor.org.libproxy1.usc.edu/stable/25617239, 107.
51
Michael D. Meyer, Erica S. Gibson, and Julia G. Costello, “City of Angels, City of Sin: Archaeology in the Los
Angeles Red-Light District Ca. 1900.” 108.
52
Ibid., 109.
53
Ibid., 109.
54
Kristen R. Fellows, Angela Smith, and Anna M. Munns, Historical Sex Work New Contributions from History
and Archaeology (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2020).
23

Truelove was dedicated to saving these women. Los Angeles was dangerous, but her faith was
stronger than her fear and she believed in every woman she met, regardless of their
circumstances.

Figure 2.3 - “The Social Evil: A Crusade Against Prostitution” in The Los Angeles Times, from June 23,
1892. Source: ProQuest Historical Newspapers.

By 1898, the Salvation Army needed officers to run its new Los Angeles Rescue Home
located at 2670 N. Griffin Avenue in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, and
Truelove was recruited to operate it.
55
Lincoln Heights was originally a portion of the Pueblo de
Los Angeles, but subdivided in 1873, along with Boyle Heights, to become one of the city’s first
suburbs. It was known as East Los Angeles because of its location east of the Los Angeles River
and was a popular destination for working class residents during the first decade of the twentieth
century.
56
Under Truelove’s leadership, the Rescue Home became a refuge for women who
wanted to reform their lives. There was room to house up to fifty women and included a day
nursery, surgical and maternity rooms, and a maternity ward, as well as a sitting room on the

55
Kathy Lovin, “Nellie: The First Female Member of the LAPD.”
56
Historic Resources Group, “Historic Resources Survey Report Northeast Los Angeles Community Plan Area,”
Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey, February 2017, 20-21.
24

second floor for women to socialize during the evenings.
57
Truelove was passionate about
providing care for women who had been degraded and needed healing physically and spiritually.
Many of the women in her care came from troubled homes, and some were pregnant or already
had small children. Often she was called to mediate arguments between women in her care and
their clients, and was once reported to have put herself in the middle of a fight between two
drunk and troublesome women saying, “Now, I’m for both of you, so if you want to fight, you
can fight me!”
58
Truelove was so determined to rescue these women that she ignored the Los
Angeles Police Department’s plea for her to cease trespassing. Because the police realized they
could not stop her from continuing her rescue work, in March of 1903 they gave her legal
authority to do so by granting her a tin star and billy-club, making her the first female police
officer in Los Angeles.
59
This allowed her to continue her rescue work with more authority and
enabled her to communicate with the police about ongoing issues.
60
Additionally, from July
1903-1904 she placed an advertisement in the Los Angeles Herald stating, “Any girl in need of a
friend or advice, call and see Staff Captain Nellie Truelove as the Salvation Army Home 2670 N.
Griffin Ave. If you have no money, you need not stay away.”
61
Her passion for helping others
appeared as personal as it was professional, and she used every opportunity to reach out to
others. However, she died just one year after becoming an official member of the force and left

57
“Women Find Refuge in Truelove Home,” California Digital Newspaper Collection (Los Angeles Herald,
November 18, 1904), https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19041118.2.86&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1.
58
Frances Dingman, “‘His Love Is Worth It All!".”
59
“She Wears a Star,” California Digital Newspaper Collection (Los Angeles Herald, March 4, 1903),
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19030304.2.68&srpos=15&e=------190-en--20-LAH-1--txt-txIN-
She%2BWears%2Ba%2BStar-------1.
60
“Capt. Truelove Wins a Crown: Noble Salvation Woman Goes Home to Glory,” ProQuest Historical Newspapers
(Los Angeles Times, January 8, 1904), https://www-proquest-
com.libproxy2.usc.edu/docview/1492508496/fulltextPDF/C5F82E08F5514BF8PQ/1?accountid=14749
61
Nellie Truelove, “Advertisement,” Los Angeles Herald, July 16, 1903, p. 8.
25

behind forty-three women and children at the Rescue Home who, “loved her with the affection
that a child bestows a mother.”
62

Figure 2.4 - “She Wears a Star” in The Los Angeles Herald, from 4 March 1903. Source: ProQuest
Historical Newspapers.

In 1904, Truelove developed a cancerous tumor and died on January 7th with her last
words reportedly being, “take care of my girls” and, “it was worth it all.”
63
As an unmarried
Christian woman without children, she chose to forge her own path in life and resist social
boundaries that were placed on women. Even when she was pressed by the authorities to refrain
from placing herself in potentially dangerous situations, she was unrelenting in her mission to
help others. Although she did not conform to the standard social normality for a woman of her
time and had only been in Los Angeles for five years, she was a beloved figure among the
community. Thousands of people lined the streets on the day of her funeral as eight policemen
escorted her hearse to Evergreen Cemetery. When they passed through the red-light district, bar
owners and bar tenders stood outside in respect of the woman they knew and respected.
64
Even
though her achievements have not been formally recognized by the City of Los Angeles, her
peers remembered her with a great sense of appreciation for her bravery and selflessness, and

62
“Capt. Truelove Wins a Crown: Noble Salvation Woman Goes Home to Glory,” ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
63
Kathy Lovin, “Nellie: The First Female Member of the LAPD.”
64
Ibid.
26

Figure 2.5 - “Women Find Refuge in Truelove Home” in The Los Angeles Herald, from November 18,
1904. Source: ProQuest Historical Newspapers.

newspapers sang her praises. At the time of her death, Truelove was fundraising $8,000 to buy
the Rescue Home and had even launched an appeal to raise another $6,000 for a two-story
addition. By the time of Truelove’s death, 80% of the women who were under her care were
either married or no longer working as prostitutes.
65
An article from 1929 in the Los Angeles
Sentinel reported that there were twenty-four babies, all under three months of age, at the
Truelove Home saying that the Truelove Home deserves its name as, “There is no finer work the
world over than the salvaging of babyhood, of girlhood and motherhood.”
66
In honor of her
commitment, the Rescue Home was named the Truelove Home decades after her death. Decades
later, the Truelove Home was renamed the Booth Memorial Center and continued to operate for
over eighty years before closing in 1992. However, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from the years

65
“Capt. Truelove Wins a Crown: Noble Salvation Woman Goes Home to Glory.”
66
“Truelove Home Deserves Name,” ProQuest Historical Newspapers (Los Angeles Times, March 3, 1929),
https://www-proquest-
com.libproxy2.usc.edu/docview/1492508496/fulltextPDF/C5F82E08F5514BF8PQ/1?accountid=14749.
27

1906, 1920, and 1951 reveal that the original Truelove Home from 1899 was demolished and
replaced with the building that exists today.
67
An original building permit for the property could
not be located. According to Zimas, a web-based mapping tool developed by City Planning that
provides zoning information for properties located in Los Angeles, the current building at 2670
N. Griffin Avenue was constructed in 1926.
68
Additionally, historic newspaper research indicates
that in 1962 a hospital wing was added to the north elevation.
69
Although the original building
where Truelove worked no longer exists, the extant building appears to represent an association
with the Salvation Army that can interpret Truelove’s story through the preservation of the
Salvation Army’s.
Today, the building is home to the Los Angeles Leadership Academy and no longer bears
any visible association with Truelove and her rescue work. Although she only worked in Los
Angeles for five years, her courage changed the lives of many young women and children during
the early days of the city. There are no longer any monuments to her contribution, but in the
words of one Los Angeles Herald author in 1904 she is acknowledged for her influence, saying:
In the good she did Captain Truelove erected and left behind a nobler monument than money
could buy, and one that will live when others less bravely won will have crumbled into dust. For,
even when the name of Nellie Truelove shall have been forgotten, the influence of her life work
will live in the hearts of others and be a help and an inspiration to them.
70

67
"Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps". Sanborn Map Company. Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, from the
years 1906, 1920, and 1951. Accessed August 2023. https://digitalsanbornmaps-proquest-
com.ezproxy.lapl.org/browse_maps/5/655?accountid=6749.
68
“2670 N Griffin Ave,” ZIMAS, accessed August 2023, https://zimas.lacity.org/.
69
“Construction Starts on Booth Hospital Unit,” Lincoln Heights Bulletin-News, May 24, 1962, 1.
70
“She Did What She Could,” California Digital Newspaper Collection (The Los Angeles Herald, January 9, 1904),
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19040109.2.132&srpos=1&e=------190-en--20--1--txt-txIN-Nellie%2BTruelove-
ARTICLE---1904---1.
28

Without her passion and dedication to her faith and beliefs, many women would have
become victims of the violent culture of prostitution. Even if she is not remembered, her legacy
was carried on in the lives of those she rescued, and she still deserves to be celebrated for her
commitment to the women of Los Angeles.

Figure 2.6 - Nellie Truelove’s grave in Evergreen Cemetery with a quote reading, “It is worth it all.
Underneath are the everlasting arms.” View looking north, 4/17/2021.

29

Chapter 3: Lela Campbell Murray

Figure 3.1 - Image of Lela Campbell Murray (1887-1949). Source: the California Eagle Photograph
Collection, Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, Los Angeles.

Lela Campbell Murray was born Lela O. Campbell in Hopkinsville, Kentucky in 1887,
and was the eldest of three children of the formerly enslaved Isaac and Susie Campbell. Her
parents were teachers at a segregated Christian school, and in 1889, the family moved to San
Diego, California.
71
Unfortunately, they endured several family tragedies after the move.
Murray’s father suffered a stroke that resulted in partial paralysis and left him susceptible to
mood swings, and in 1903, her brother, Newton Campbell, fell ill with pneumonia and passed
away Christmas morning.
72
Isaac and Susie’s marriage collapsed after the loss of their son, and
this led to a bitter divorce that drove Isaac to shoot Susie in 1904, in front of Murray and her

71
Jennifer L. Thornton, Kendra T. Field, and Catherine Gudis, “Remembering Bell Mountain: African American
Landownership and Leisure in California's High Desert during the Jim Crow Era,” ProQuest Dissertations and
Theses (2018), p. 62-69.
72
“U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current, Newton H. Campbell,” Ancestry.com, 1903,
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/70449229:60525.
30

sister, Vivian Campbell.
73
Three years earlier, Isaac had been arrested for insanity, thus he
pleaded insanity during his murder trial, but was found guilty and sentenced to life at San
Quentin State Prison, where he died seven years later.
74
The sisters then moved to Utah to live
with distant relatives. Murray helped pay the bills by playing the piano and even managed to
finish high school. By 1907, the girls moved to Los Angeles with their aunt, Maud Stallings, a
widower who took them into her home.
75
Although she experienced a tumultuous childhood,
Murray found success in Los Angeles and made her legacy there as a successful entrepreneur.
In 1905, the sisters moved to Los Angeles and worked hard to establish themselves in the
city.
76
Murray worked as a maid for a private family and joined multiple clubs and organizations
such as, the Philips Temple Colored Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, the Young Women’s
Christian Association (YWCA).
77
Her aunt’s social connections allowed Murray to leave her
tragic past behind and start fresh. By 1913, Murray married Nolie Murray, who had made a name
for himself as the “King of the Bootblacks,” after founding a successful chain of shoeshine
stands. Likewise, he created another business, Murray’s Pocket Billiard Emporium and Cigar
Stand on the corner of Central Avenue and 9th Street and was a founding member of the Colored
Workingmen’s Club as well as the Golden West Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks.
78
Within six years, the couple owned a house in the west-side of Los Angeles, which
was known as a well-to-do area. By the 1920s, both were lucrative business owners in downtown

73
“Dead Woman Gets Divorce.: San Diego Court so Orders for Mrs. Campbell. Coroner's Jury Holds Widower
Responsible for Her Death and He Will Plead Insanity--Woman Accuser of Mollard Tells Her Story. u. s. Grant, Jr.,
Resigns. Mollard Preliminary. Bay Town Ripples.,” Los Angeles Times (1886-1922), October 11, 1904, p. 6.
74
Jennifer L. Thornton, Kendra T. Field, and Catherine Gudis, “Remembering Bell Mountain: African American
Landownership and Leisure in California's High Desert during the Jim Crow Era,” ProQuest Dissertations and
Theses (2018), p. 131.
75
Ibid., 131-132.
76
“U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995,” Ancestry.com, 1910,
https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/28724892?h=43727a.
77
Jennifer L. Thornton, Kendra T. Field, and Catherine Gudis, “Remembering Bell Mountain: African American
Landownership and Leisure in California's High Desert during the Jim Crow Era,” 131.
78
Ibid., 129-130.
31

Los Angeles; Nolie was a co-proprietor of a bail bond business and Lela owned a clothing and
dry goods store, and they had become prominent figures in the Black Angeleno community.
However, Lela began to experience respiratory problems, so the couple sought to join the
growing African American community in the desert at Bell Mountain near Victorville,
California.
79

Figure 3.2 – 1921 Map of the Bell Mountain Area. Source: Richard D. Thompson.

Most of the landowners at Bell Mountain were migrants from Los Angeles who had built
themselves up during a time of rising Black nationalism amongst racial restrictions. Although
they had built lives for themselves in Los Angeles, they were facing growing efforts to separate
Black and white culture within the city. Racial restrictions were fueled by increasing racial
violence and constrained the growth of Black and minority populations in the city to allocated
Black areas. Interest in “all-Black” communities began to spread amongst Black Angelenos, and

79
Jennifer L. Thornton, Kendra T. Field, and Catherine Gudis, “Remembering Bell Mountain: African American
Landownership and Leisure in California's High Desert during the Jim Crow Era,” 133.
32

many chose to move to the Mojave Desert to create homesteads to escape the growing
segregation of the city.
80
Real estate options were limited in cities, but in Bell Mountain there
were vast opportunities to create a space defined by Blackness. Thus, African Americans began
to reshape the urban and rural environments of the desert to escape discrimination, and the
Murrays followed suit.

Figure 3.3 - Lela and Nolie Murray at Murray’s Ranch, with the caption at the bottom reading, “Only
Negro Dude Ranch in the World.” Source: the Miriam Matthews Photography Collection, UCLA Library
Special Collection, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

In 1928, they purchased a forty-acre cattle ranch and set out to create The Overall
Wearing Dude Ranch (also known as Murray’s Dude Ranch), an oasis away from the racism of
the city and its segregation. The ranch was located at the northwest corner of what is now the
intersection between Waalew Road and Dale Evans Parkway in Apple Valley.
81
Initially, Lela
ran a small chicken ranch on the property while Nolie stayed in Los Angeles where he managed

80
“Black Super-Achievers Driven by Challenges,” Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-), January 28, 1988, p. 1.
81
Mark Landis, “How ‘Murray’s Overall Wearing Dude Ranch’ Came to Be in the High Desert,” The Sun, March
12, 2018.
33

a social club. However, it was not long before Nolie left his position to work full time on the
ranch with Lela, so they could create a facility for underprivileged Black children. The couple
took in children sent by parents in need of help, as well as children with disabilities.
82
However,
during Great Depression the Murrays were unable to sustain their youth home. Inspired by the
rise in dude ranches in the state, they converted the property to a dude ranch and became the only
dude ranch available to African Americans in California. Upon enter the property, a sign above
the entrance announced, “"There are only two places in the world to go, Murray's Dude Ranch
and Paris, France."
83

The Overall Wearing/Murray’s Dude Ranch became a popular vacation spot for Black
families and gained further notoriety as a film set for Black western movies. By 1937, the
Murrays’ connections in Los Angeles enticed celebrity guest to visit the ranch, and it broke
headlines when Joe Louis, a heavyweight boxing champ, vacationed at the property. Life
Magazine published photographs of the boxer on his vacation, and business began to rapidly
increase.
84
One guest referred to the notoriety of the ranch, saying, “All of the colored celebrities
would spend their vacations on Murray’s Dude Ranch… If they wanted to go to a dude ranch
they went to Murray’s Ranch.”
85
Such publicity caught the attention of African American movie
producers who sought the ranch as a filming location. All four of Herbert Jeffries’ Black western
films were set on the ranch as well as films such as “Harlem on the Prairie” from 1937, “Two-
Gun Man from Harlem” from 1938, “The Bronze Buckaroo” from 1939, and “Harlem Rides the

82
Mark Landis, “How ‘Murray’s Overall Wearing Dude Ranch’ Came to Be in the High Desert.”
83
“Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California.”
84
Cecilia Rasmussen, “L.A. THEN AND NOW; In Prejudiced Era, Ranch Welcomed Dudes of All Colors: [HOME
EDITION],” Los Angeles Times, February 22, 2004.
85
Jennifer L. Thornton, Kendra T. Field, and Catherine Gudis, “Remembering Bell Mountain: African American
Landownership and Leisure in California's High Desert during the Jim Crow Era,” 206.
34

Range” from 1939. The success of the dude ranch allowed the Murrays to expand the compound,
and by the late 1930s, the ranch boasted twenty buildings,

Figure 3.3 - Life magazine photo of Joe Louis at Murray’s Ranch in 1937. Source: Richard D. Thompson.

including a dining hall and recreational facilities such as tennis courts, a swimming pool, horse
stables, and a baseball field. Additionally, African American celebrities such as Bill “Bojangles”
Robinson, Hattie McDaniel, Nina Mai McKinney, and Lena Horne began to frequent the ranch.
86

The luxury accommodations of the ranch within a rural setting appealed to a sense of nostalgia
for the American West and promoted a sense of respite from the racial discrimination of the city.
Likewise, it satisfied a need for recreational activities among middle-class African Americans
who were often restricted from public places of leisure at the time.
Murray’s Ranch is significant for its association with the Black community’s ability to
overcome institutional racism as a place of leisure during segregation in California. At this time,
Jim Crow segregation fueled the culture of leisure as an activity exclusive to white families.

86
Hadley Meares, “The 1930s California Dude Ranch That Broke Racial Barriers,” Curbed LA (Curbed LA, May
27, 2015), https://la.curbed.com/2015/5/27/9956904/murrays-dude-ranch.
35

Public parks, beach and even National Parks practiced racial segregation to exclude African
Americans from their parks.
87
So, after gaining publicity in the 1930s as the only dude ranch
available to African Americans, Murray’s Dude Ranch was included in the 1941 edition of the
Greenbook as a “Tourist Home” welcoming to people of color.
88
Throughout the 1940s, the dude
ranch was known for its racial integration with friends of the Murrays noting that, "The ranch has
its own fair employment practice policy and hires cooks, pantrymen, yardmen, stable attendants
and maids for their ability, not their color. There are three white employees, four colored and one

Figure 3.4 – Murray’s Dude Ranch listed in the 1941 edition of the Green Book. Source: Schomburg
Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York
Public Library.
Japanese."
89
While white locals began visiting the ranches amenities in the early 1940s, white
guests did not spend the night until 1949 when the ranch was profiled in the Workers Union
newspaper. After the article, Lela received inquiries from people of every race interested in
staying at the ranch, so it became integrated even before the rest of the nation began practicing
integration.
90

Unfortunately, Lela fell ill in 1949 and died on March 18. Her obituary in the California
Eagle stated, “There was seldom a movement initiated for the advancement of the Negro in Los

87 Antoinette T. Jackson, Heritage, Tourism, and Race: The Other Side of Leisure. New York, NY: Routledge,
2020.
88
Victor H. Green, “The Negro Motorist Green-Book: 1941,” NYPL Digital Collections (New York Public
Library), accessed November 1, 2022, https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/cc8306a0-83c4-0132-cc93-
58d385a7bbd0.
89
Hadley Meares, “The 1930s California Dude Ranch That Broke Racial Barriers.”
90
Ibid.
36

Angeles that did not claim her active interest.”
91
As someone who was active within social
justice at the time, it is on no surprise Lela went on the establish an iconic place among the Black
community of Southern California. Nolie continued to run the ranch and remarried, but the
ranches popularity decreased during the 1950s as recreational opportunities in California became
less segregated.
92
In 1955, Nolie sold the ranch to singer and actress Pearl Bailey, who renamed
the ranch The Lazy B and renovated the buildings on the property. Nolie kept five acres of the
property for his own motel, the Desert Heart Motel, and remained until his death in 1958. Bailey
continued to run the ranch until the late 1980s when she decided to sell the ranch because of
work obligations as an entertainer. However, by 1988, the ranch had been abandoned and an
infestation of brown recluse spiders prompted the Apple Valley Fire Department to burn down
the buildings.
93

Today, the physical remnants of Murray’s Ranch no longer remain, its memory is slowly
fading out of the public memory. The Murrays created a place of peace and solitude away from
prejudice and discrimination that promoted integration during a time of segregation Southern
California. As the first African American dude ranch it encouraged leisure and recreation for
families that would otherwise not have had the opportunity to seek such accommodations.
Although the Murray Ranch has a history of progress, there is little documentation of the history
at the site. Places have the ability to portray the emotions and beliefs of society throughout time
and retain remnants of the past even when the physical elements no longer remain. The
whitewashing of the history of recreation in Southern California tells its own story of

91
“Pioneer Business Woman and Dude Ranch Owner Succumbs After Illness,” California Eagle, March 24, 1949,
pp. 1-5.
92
Ibid.
93
Chris Clarke, “African-Americans Shaping the California Desert: Murray's Ranch,” KCET (Public Media Group
of Southern California, January 19, 2021), https://www.kcet.org/socal-focus/african-americans-shaping-the-
california-desert-murrays-ranch.
37

discrimination and censorship that is important to recognize to fully understand the history of the
state. In acknowledging the history of the Murray Ranch and the progressive culture Lela
established at the site, her story can continue to raise awareness of the history of social injustice
in Southern California.

Figure 3.5 - Lela Campbell Murray’s grave in Evergreen Cemetery. View looking south, 4/17/2021.

38

Chapter 4 - Analysis
This chapter will analyze the eligibility of sites associated with each of the women
profiled in this thesis to preserve their legacies in Los Angeles. With no other physical
memorials to their achievements, their stories will continue to fade over time, unless efforts are
made to recognize their contributions to the fabric of the city. This thesis is only a start,
acknowledging existing places that will reflect the significance of these women and maintain
their legacies for years to come. The former California Eagle Offices at 4071-75 Central Avenue
in Los Angeles, the former Truelove Home at 2670 N. Griffin Avenue in Lincoln Heights, and
the land that formerly hosted Murray’s Dude Ranch at the intersection between Waalew Road
and Dale Evans Parkway in Apple Valley, are still places today that bear an association with the
significance of Charlotta Bass, Nellie Truelove, and Lela Campbell Murray respectively, and if
preserved, could continue to share their stories. Significance of each site will be based on
established eligibility criteria for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and the
California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR). Local criteria for the City of Los Angeles
were not used in the evaluation due to the location of Murray’s Dude Ranch in the City of
Victorville. To be considered a significant resource in the NRHP and CRHR, a resource must
meet at least one of the following criteria:
Criterion A/1. That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution
to the broad patterns of our history;
Criterion B/2. That are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past;
Criterion C/3. That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or
39

that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack
individual distinction; or
Criterion D/4. That have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in
prehistory or history.
94

The Former California Eagle Office
Today, the building that once housed The Eagle headquarters is still standing, but it is now
an appliance store. In 2017, the building was noted as a potential resource in SurveyLA’s, Los
Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement for the African American History of Los Angeles,
and as of June 2023, it has been nominated for Historic Cultural Monument designation, but it has
yet to designated. As a result of the evaluation below, the property at 4071-75 Central Avenue
appears eligible for listing in the NRHP or CRHR under designation criteria A/1 and Criterion B/2.
The property was found eligible for its association with “Social History” in the City of Los
Angeles, and its association with the noted figure, Charlotta Bass, as demonstrated below.

Figure 4.1 – A comparison of the 4071-75 Central Avenue from the 1930s and 2022. Sources: Southern
California Library for Social Studies and Research, and Google Maps.

94
“California Register Criteria,” California State Parks (Office of Historic Preservation, n.d.); “National Register
Bulletin,” National Parks Service (Secretary of the Interior, n.d.).
40

Criterion A/1. That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history;
To be eligible for listing under Criterion A/1, a property must have a direct association
with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. The
period of significance for this property reflects its association with the California Eagle and
Charlotta Bass, who was the publisher of the newspaper at the property from 1912 to 1951.
The building at 4071-75 Central Avenue in Los Angeles was home to the newspaper, The
Eagle, founded in 1879 by John J. Neimore. After his death in 1912, Charlotta Bass took control
of the paper, changing the name to The California Eagle. From 1915 to 1970, Los Angeles
imposed deed restrictions and segregation because of institutional racism at the time. During this
period, Bass used The California Eagle to speak out against police brutality, restrictive housing,
and racism. By 1925, The California Eagle had become the largest African American newspaper
in California. Although Bass sold the property in 1951, the newspaper continued to run until
1964. The property is known to be directly associated with events that have made a significant
contribution to the history of African American newspapers and racial activism in Los Angeles,
therefore, the property does appear eligible under NRHP Criterion A or CRHR Criterion 1.
Criterion B/2. That are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past;
To be found eligible under Criterion B/2 the property must be directly tied to an
important person and the place where that individual conducted or produced the work for which
he or she is known.
In, 1912, Charlotta Bass became the first African American woman owner and newspaper
publisher in California. The paper became a source of inspiration as well as information, and
strongly advocated for civil justice as well as community engagement. Additionally, her weekly
41

column, “On the Sidewalk,” acknowledged social injustice in Los Angeles for all minority
communities and promoted reforms that would combat the derogatory image of people of color
in the mainstream media. By using her platform to expose racial injustice, she became a leader
within the Black community of Los Angeles and her passion for activism led her to a career in
political activism. She joined the NAACP, the Urban League, the Civil Rights Congress, and the
Universal Negro Improvement Association in the 1930s to encourage the presence of Black
citizens in politics. In 1944 and again in 1950, she ran for Congress and in 1945 she ran for Los
Angeles City Council. Bass continued to run the California Eagle during her political
engagements and used the paper to report on her political activism to further the spread of her
activism. She maintained ownership of the paper until 1951, just before her campaign as the first
African American woman Vice Presidential candidate in 1952. The building at 4071-75 Central
Avenue was the center of her significance during her life, therefore, the property appears eligible
under NRHP Criterion B or CRHR Criterion 2.
Integrity Discussion
To qualify for listing in the NRHP or CRHR, a property must possess both significance and
integrity. As such, below is an integrity assessment for the former California Eagle Office at 4071-
75 Central Avenue.
Location: The extant building is sited on the original location of construction in its original
orientation, and therefore retains its integrity of location.
Design: The property at 4071-75 Central Avenue has diminished integrity of design. The
property’s original conception and planning has been retained. The property retains its original
visual cohesion and arrangement on the property. However, many of its original materials and
42

openings have been altered. Therefore, the property at 4071-75 Central Avenue has diminished
integrity of design.
Setting: The property at 4071-75 Central Avenue retains integrity of setting. Research indicates
that the setting has remained largely the same over the years. The earliest available historic aerial
photography of the property during its period of significance are from 1948 and 1952, and they
reveal that the surrounding area contains primarily residential properties with some commercial
and institutional.
95
Over time, some of the residential properties have been replaced with
commercial and institutional development but the area remains largely residential. As such, the
property at 4071-75 Central Avenue retains its integrity of setting.
Materials: The building at 4071-75 Central Avenue retains integrity of materials. Building permits
for the property prior to 1999 could not be obtained, but the building appears to have undergone
alterations including window replacements, added metal security doors, and added metal security
rails to the first-floor windows. Although these changes have diminished the property’s overall
integrity of materials from its period of significance, they are minimal alterations ; therefore, the
retains integrity of materials.
Workmanship: The building 4071-75 Central Avenue has diminished integrity of workmanship.
Buildings that retain their integrity of workmanship retain the evidence of the builder that
constructed the building and the methods of construction and original finishes. Because the
building’s original materials have been altered, the physical evidence of the building’s

95
“4071 S Central Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90011,” NETRonline: Historic Aerials, n.d.,
https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer.
43

craftsmanship from the period of significance has been diminished. Therefore, the property at
4071-75 Central Avenue has diminished integrity of workmanship.
Feeling: The property at 4071-75 Central Avenue has diminished integrity of feeling. Because the
property retains its integrity of location, setting, and materials and only has diminished integrity
of workmanship, it is stille able to convey a sense of a particular period during which the Charlotta
Bass occupied the property. Therefore, the property at 4071-75 Central Avenue retains integrity
of feeling.
Association: The property at 4071-75 Central Avenue does not retain its integrity of association.
The building is no longer occupied by the California Eagle and its use has changed throughout the
years. Therefore, the property at 4071-75 Central Avenue does not retain sufficient integrity of
association to convey its significance under Criterion A/1.
Summary of Evaluation Findings
The subject property was evaluated in consideration of NRHP and CRHR designation criteria
and integrity requirements. As a result of the evaluation, the property retains integrity in locatio,
setting, materials, and felling, but has diminished integrity of workmanship, and does not retain
integrity of materials or association. The National Register Criteria for Evaluation states that for
a property eligibility under Criterion A or B, “Integrity of design and workmanship, however,
might not be as important to the significance.”
96
Therefore, it appears to retain sufficient
integrity. Additionally, it’s significance as a resource eligible under both Criteria A and B proves
it retains exceptional importance. Additionally, it is more closely associated to Bass than her

96
U.S. Department of the Interior, How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation (Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register, History and Education, 2002),
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB-15_web508.pdf, 48.
44

former home because it was the place of Bass’ productive life. It is where she achieved her
success as publisher, writer, and business owners, and is associated with her political campaign.
Therefore, the property appears eligible under Criterion A for its association with the “Social
History” of Los Angeles, and Criterion B/2 for its association with Charlotta Bass. It is a rare
example of Bass’ legacy in Los Angeles and is recommended eligible for inclusion in the NRHP
and CRHR.

The Former Truelove Home
Today, the property that was the site of the former Truelove Home at 2670 N. Griffin
Avenue is home to the Los Angeles Leadership Academy. Although it is listed as a contributor in
the Lincoln Heights HPOZ, it has yet to be evaluated for individual significance.
97
As a result of
the evaluation below, the property at 2670 N. Griffin Avenue appears eligible for listing in the
NRHP or CRHR under designation Criteria A/1 for its association with “Social History” connected
to the history of the Salvation Army and women’s rights in Los Angeles, as demonstrated below.

Figure 4.2 – A comparison of the 2670 N. Griffin Avenue from 1924 and 2022. Sources: The Salvation
Army Museum of the West and Google Maps.

97
“Salvation Army- Booth Memorial Center,” Historic Places LA, accessed August 2023,
http://www.historicplacesla.org/reports/a427fb86-a49f-4bfb-9c9a-9eef01c9947c.
45

Criterion A/1. That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history;
To be eligible for listing under Criterion A/1, a property must have a direct association
with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. The
historic context statement for Women’s Rights in Los Angeles explains that the period during
which the Rescue Home first opened reflects a period known as “The Progressive Era:
Temperance, Suffrage and Civic Reform” that last from 1890 to 1911. This period saw the
beginning of women’s organizations and activism in Los Angeles.
98
The period of significance for
this property from 1926 to 1992 reflects its association with the Salvation Army, who occupied
the property from the head of the rescue home from 1898 to 1992. The property meets Criteria
Consideration G as a property that continued to achieve significance into a period of less than 50
years before recommendation for its exceptional significance as one of the foremost social
institutions in Los Angeles. Although the original building was demolished and replaced in 1926,
the site remained the host of the organization for 94 years.
The property at 2670 N. Griffin Avenue was the site of Salvation Army Rescue Home from
the late 1890s that primarily catered to women and children in need of help. Many of the women
who were cared for at the Rescue Home were victims of abuse or exploitation. With the rise of
prostitution in downtown Los Angeles during this period, women faced greater threats of violence
as the culture of prostitution shifted from brothels, that give women more authority in their
transactions, to cribs where they were more prone to attacks. Philanthropic and civic organizations
expanded during the 1890s to focus on issues of women’s suffrage and bring attention to the need

98
SurveyLA, “Women's Rights in Los Angeles, 1850-1980,” Los Angeles City Planning (Office of Historic
Resources, October 2018), https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/5782cf57-db18-4097-88c8-
94571f241051/Womens%20Rights%20in%20Los%20Angeles_1850-1980.pdf.
46

for reform, and the Rescue Home was established to offer rehabilitation to women in need.
99
It
was a response to the violence against women and provided a safe space for women to gain
independence and recover. Because of this, many of the women who entered through its doors left
to find better lives for themselves and their children. While the culture of the city was beginning
to recognize a need for women’s rights reforms, the Rescue Home facilitated the change by
actively addressing the needs of women at the times. Therefore, the property does appear eligible
under NRHP Criterion A or CRHR Criterion 1.
Integrity Discussion
To qualify for listing in the NRHP or CRHR, a property must possess both significance and
integrity. As such, below is an integrity assessment for the former Truelove Rescue Home at 2670
N. Griffin Avenue.
Location: The extant building is sited on the original location of construction in its original
orientation, and therefore retains its integrity of location.
Design: The property at 2670 N. Griffin Avenue retains its integrity of design. The 1926 property
was altered between during the 1960s to enhance its functionality as a Rescue Home. Likewise,
the property’s alterations were made during the property’s period of significance and have acquired
their own design importance. Therefore, the design of the Rescue Home from the period of
significance, remains largely intact and the property retains sufficient integrity of design to convey
its significance under Criterion A/1.
Setting: The property at 2670 N. Griffin Avenue retains integrity of setting. Research indicates
that the setting has remained largely the same over the years. Lincoln Heights was developed as a

99
SurveyLA, “Women's Rights in Los Angeles, 1850-1980.”
47

residential suburb in 1873 and the area has continued to remain primarily residential. Research
was unable to locate historic aerial photography or maps from the building’s period of significance.
However, historic topographic map of the property from 1898, 1900, 1904, 1907, 1908, and 1910
indicate that the surrounding area maintains its original street grids and plan.
100
Although, some
of the residential properties appear to have been replaced, the area remains largely residential. As
such, the property at 2670 N. Griffin Avenue retains its integrity of setting.
Materials: The building at 2670 N. Griffin Avenue retains its integrity of materials. Although the
building has undergone various alterations since its construction in 1926, such alterations occurred
within the property’s period of significance. Thus, the building on the property retains key exterior
materials from its period of significance, and sufficient integrity of materials to convey its
significance under Criterion A/1.
Workmanship: The building 2670 N. Griffin Avenue was constructed in 1926 and altered
between during the 1960s for functional and efficiency purposes. Buildings that retain their
integrity of workmanship retain the evidence of the builder that constructed the building and the
methods of construction and original finishes. Although the building’s original materials have been
altered, physical evidence of the building’s craftsmanship from the period of significance has been
retained. Therefore, the property at 2670 N. Griffin Avenue retains sufficient integrity of
workmanship to convey its significance under Criterion A/1.
Feeling: The property at 2670 N. Griffin Avenue retains its integrity of feeling. Although
alterations have changed the buildings appearance, the property retains its integrity of location,

100
“2670 N Griffin Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90031,” NETRonline: Historic Aerials, accessed May 2023,
https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer.
48

setting, and workmanship, thus it retains the presence of physical features from its period of
significance that continue to convey a sense of that particular period. Therefore, the property at
2670 N. Griffin Avenue retains sufficient integrity of feeling to convey its significance under
Criterion A/1.
Association: The property at 2670 N. Griffin Avenue does not retain its integrity of association.
The building was converted to an elementary school in 2010 and no longer functions as a rescue
home. Likewise, the interior of the property was remodeled to reflect its change in use and does
not contain a physical association with the building’s past function.
101
Therefore, the property at
2670 N. Griffin Avenue does not retain sufficient integrity of association to convey its significance
under Criterion A/1.
Summary of Evaluation Findings
The subject property was evaluated in consideration of NRHP and CRHR designation criteria
and integrity requirements. As a result of the evaluation, the property appears eligible under
Criterion A for its association with the “Social History” of Los Angeles. Additionally, it retains
integrity in location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and feeling, but does not retain
integrity of association. Therefore, it is recommended eligible for inclusion in the NRHP and
CRHR. Through interpretation of the Salvation Army’s history at the site, Truelove’s story can
be preserved and shared. Signage or exhibitions can act as educational tool to teach the history of
the site in a way that can’t be understood through documentation alone.

101
“Permit Information for 2670 N. Griffin Avenue,” Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (City of Los
Angeles, n.d.), https://www.ladbsservices2.lacity.org/OnlineServices/.
49

The Former Murray’s Dude Ranch
Although Murray’s Dude Ranch no longer exists, it had a history spanning over thirty years
on the site between Waalew Road and Dale Evans Parkway in Apple Valley where there was the
only dude ranch available to African Americans during racial segregation in California. As a result
of the evaluation below, the former Murray’s Dude Ranch property appears eligible for listing in
the NRHP or CRHR under designation criteria A/1, B/2, and D/4. The property was found eligible
for its association with “Social History” in the City of Los Angeles, its association with the noted
figure, Lela Campbell Murray, and its ability to likely to yield information important in history, as
demonstrated below.

Figure 4.3 – A comparison of the land hosted the Murray Dude Ranch from 1924 and 2022. Sources:
Mapping “The Green Book” and Google Maps.

Criterion A/1. That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history;
To be eligible for listing under Criterion A/1, a property must have a direct association
with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. The
period of significance for this property reflects its association with the Murray Dude Ranch and
Lela Campbell Murray from circa 1930 to 1950, after Murray’s death and the decline of the ranch’s
50

popularity. Additionally, it is related to the theme of “Deed Restriction and Segregation.”
102
At
this time, when segregation fueled the culture of leisure, public parks and beaches practiced racial
segregation to exclude African Americans. Murray’s Ranch was the only dude ranch available to
African Americans and was a symbol of their community’s ability to overcome institutional racism
as a place for Black leisure during segregation in California.
The site at the intersection of between Waalew Road and Dale Evans Parkway was home
to the first African American dude ranch, the Overall Wearing Dude Ranch (also known at
Murray’s Dude Ranch) in the 1930s. It was established to offer a place of leisure to African
Americans during a time of segregation in Southern California that prohibited integration in
many public spaces. Lela and Nollie Murray located the ranch in the desert where Black
communities were forming away from the city and creating spaces defined by their own culture.
The dude ranch gained notoriety after it was used as a filming location for several prominent
Black western films and celebrities began frequenting the ranch. Likewise, it was featured in
many articles throughout the 1930s and 40s and was identified in the Greenbook from 1941 to
1949. By 1949, the ranch began to allow white guests to stay the night and became one of the
first integrated establishments at the time. Murray’s Dude Ranch was the first of its kind and
progressed the cultural of inclusion and equality at a time when discrimination against people of
color was rampant. The site has the potential to yield information about the history of this period
and the cultural of the community that prevailed here. While the buildings no longer exist, the
memory of the ranch and the effects it had on the Black experience inspired progression during a
time of civil and racial injustice against African Americans. The history of Black leisure has a
long pattern of erasure in public history and memory. Recognition of the achievements of social

102
SurveyLA, “Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Context: African American History of Los
Angeles,” 164.
51

progression at this site and contribute to the preservation of Black stories in Southern California.
Therefore, the property does appear eligible under NRHP Criterion A or CRHR Criterion 1.
Criterion B/2. That are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past;
To be found eligible under Criterion B/2 the property must be directly tied to an
important person and the place where that individual conducted or produced the work for which
he or she is known.
In, 1928, Lela and Nolie Murry purchased a cattle ranch where Lela ran a small chicken
ranch while Nolie stayed in Los Angeles where he managed a social club. Soon, Nolie left his
position to work full time on the ranch with Lela, so they could create a facility for
underprivileged Black children. Lela was very active within social justice and her was dedicated
to the advancement of African American rights. As an advocate for change, she ran the youth
home, until the Great Depression, when the Murrays were no longer able to sustain the property.
However, Lela strove to provide a place of comfort for the Black community. Inspired by the rise
in dude ranches in the state, they converted the property to a dude ranch and became the only
dude ranch available to African Americans in California. The Overall Wearing/Murray’s Dude
Ranch became a popular vacation spot for Black families and gained further notoriety as a film
set for Black western movies. Additionally, Lela established a progressive culture at the ranch
that defied segregation and allowed families that would otherwise not have had the opportunity
for leisure to have a place of their own. Murray’s Dude Ranch would not have been the safe
haven it was if it were not for the ambition of Lela Campbell Murray. Therefore, the property
appears eligible under NRHP Criterion B or CRHR Criterion 2.
Criterion D/4. That have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory
or history.
52

To be eligible for listing under Criterion D/4, a property must have yielded, or may be
likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. The history of the site is association
with the historic context of African American leisure and recreation in Los Angeles and is related
to the themes of “Social History” and “Deed Restriction and Segregation”. Because the site appears
eligible under Criteria A/1 and B/2, it is likely that it may contain information important to history
of Murray’s Dude Ranch.
The site at the intersection of between Waalew Road and Dale Evans Parkway has the
potential to yield information about the history of this period and the cultural of the community
that prevailed here. While the buildings no longer exist, the memory of the ranch and the effects it
had on the Black experience inspired progression during a time of civil and racial injustice against
African Americans. The history of Black leisure has a long pattern of erasure in public history and
memory. Recognition of the achievements of social progression at this site and contribute to the
preservation of Black stories in Southern California. Therefore, this site has the potential to yield
information important to history and does appear eligible under NRHP Criterion D or CRHR
Criterion 4.
Integrity Discussion
To qualify for listing in the NRHP or CRHR, a property must possess both significance and
integrity. However, because the site appears to be eligible under Criterion D for its ability to yield
archeological information, material integrity does exist and therefor is irrelevant to the site’s
significance. As such, below is an integrity assessment for the former Murray’s Dude Ranch.
Location: Although the building no longer exists, the site has remained undeveloped since its
demolition, thus is it likely to contain archeological information about the former property.
53

Therefore, the property retains sufficient integrity of location to convey its significance under
Criterion D/4.
Design: The site does not retain its integrity of design. Murray’s Dude Ranch was constructed
circa 1930 and demolished in 1988. Therefore, the site does not retain its integrity of design.
Setting: The site retains integrity of setting. Research indicates that the setting has remained
largely the same over the years. The earliest available historic aerial photography of the property
from 1952, reveals the surrounding area was primarily undeveloped.
103
Although there has been
some residential development in the area since, the site continues to remain mostly undeveloped.
As such, the site retains its integrity of setting.
Materials: The site does not retain its integrity of materials. Murray’s Dude Ranch no longer exists
on the site. Therefore, there are no materials pertaining to the original building, so site does not
retain its integrity of materials.
Workmanship: The site does not retain its integrity of workmanship. Buildings that retain their
integrity of workmanship retain the evidence of the builder that constructed the building and the
methods of construction and original finishes. Murray’s Dudek Ranch no longer exists, therefore,
the site does not retain its integrity of workmanship.
Feeling: The site retains its integrity of feeling. Because the property no longer exists, feeling is
represented through its retention of integrity of location and setting that continues to convey a rural

103
“16801 Dale Evans Pkwy, Apple Valley, CA 92307,” NETRonline: Historic Aerials, accessed May 2023,
https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer.
54

identity similar to when the property was extant. Therefore, the site retains sufficient integrity of
feeling to convey its significance under Criterion D/4.
Association: The site retains its integrity of association. Given that the site retains integrity of
location, setting, and feeling under Criterion D/4, it continues to bear an association to its rural
past. Therefore, the site retains sufficient integrity of association to convey its significance under
Criterion D/4.
Summary of Evaluation Findings
The subject property was evaluated in consideration of NRHP and CRHR designation criteria
and integrity requirements. As a result of the evaluation, the property retains integrity in location,
setting, feeling, and association, but does not retain integrity of design, materials, or
workmanship. Additionally, the property appears eligible under Criterion D or its ability to likely
to yield information important to the African American history of leisure and recreation during
segregation in California. Therefore, it is recommended eligible for inclusion in the NRHP and
CRHR.

55

Conclusion
As a result, each of the properties above appear to retain enough significance and
integrity to be eligible for designation as historic resources. In preserving places with forgotten
histories, we can honor the legacies of those that made a difference but were never recognized
for it. Often the people that become lost in history are those that belong to marginalized
communities. Women have been activists, leaders, trailblazers, and more, yet only a fraction of
the city’s cultural heritage represent the achievements of women, and most have been forgotten.
The women profiled in this thesis are examples of the stories that have been suppressed
beneath the stories of men. Charlotta Bass worked her entire life to bring awareness to the causes
that mattered most to her by using her platform with the California Eagle and her political
campaigns. Even when she lost her political campaigns, what mattered to her most was that she
was able to bring attention to the reality of social justice in American. At a time when minority
communities were discriminated in society, Charlotta inspired change and equality. Additionally,
Nellie Truelove disregarded her own safety to prioritize the safety of other women. Her selfless
acts of empathy saved the lives of many of the women and children in early Los Angeles who
were faced with abuse or destitute. Although she lived in the city for a short time, her legacy
remained in the lives of the women she saved and the rescue home that continued to care for
those in need. Similarly, Lela Campbell Murray moved to Victorville to create a haven for those
who had nowhere else to go. During a time of segregation in Southern California, she sought to
provide African American citizens with a place of leisure to escape the discrimination of the city.
The Overall Wearing Dude ranch encouraged integration before it became legal across the
United States and revealed the need for spaces of Black leisure. Each of these women had a
significant impact during their life and deserve to be remembered for their achievements.
56

Although neglect of the city’s female heritage has continued, awareness of it has
increased over the last few years. Without sites of women’s history, the city only represents one
half of its population. In acknowledging their stories, we can inspire support for the preservation
of places that represent forgotten histories to create a more inclusive representation of the city’s
history, and in doing so, embolden those today that see themselves reflected in those histories.

57

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Abstract (if available)

Abstract While Los Angeles is known for being the city of seemingly eternal youth, nothing lasts forever, and this is most evident in the years of forgotten women’s history in the city. Because of their marginalization throughout much of the past, many of the most influential women in Los Angeles have not been recognized for their achievements. In this thesis, I will highlight some of the women who have significantly affected the history of Los Angeles in order to give them a voice. Each of these women are buried in the historic Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights, and have no other memorial to their accomplishments. Today, their grave sites are the only vestige of their memory. By using the cemetery as a public history archive and examining the lives of some of the women buried there, I intend to create a record of the important women who built this city. Thus, allowing members of the public to better understand the lives and challenges women faced during the creation of Los Angeles. Women have always been significant figures in history, yet up until recently, their contributions have not been acknowledged. With greater representation of women’s history, we can begin to create a more balanced and inclusive understanding of the past. Each of these women used their resources to better the world around them, and in return their success should be remembered and celebrated.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Ahmanson, Katie (author)

Core Title Here lies Los Angeles: uncovering forgotten women's history at Evergreen Cemetery

School School of Architecture

Degree Master of Heritage Conservation

Degree Program Heritage Conservation

Degree Conferral Date 2023-12

Publication Date 09/01/2023

Defense Date 08/30/2023

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Heritage Conservation,los angeles,OAI-PMH Harvest,preservation,women's history

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Sandmeier, Trudi G. (committee chair), Ghirardo, Diane (committee member), Ringhoff, Mary (committee member)

Creator Email ahmankat@gmail.com,kahmanson@dudek.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113302892

Unique identifier UC113302892

Identifier etd-AhmansonKa-12300.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-AhmansonKa-12300

Document Type Thesis

Format theses (aat)

Rights Ahmanson, Katie

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20230901-usctheses-batch-1089 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu