The West Coast's oldest Black church, the Colored Conventions and a school in a parlor.
St. Andrew's
St. Andrew's African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in Sacramento in 1850, the same year California became a state, and it is the oldest African American church on the Pacific Coast. It became a center of Black life in the city, home to a school and to the state's first Black civil rights conventions.
Elizabeth Thorn Scott Flood
In May 1854, with the help of St. Andrew's, Elizabeth Thorn Scott opened a small private school for African American children in her home, the first of its kind in Sacramento. Black children were shut out of the public schools, and after she married Isaac Flood and moved to Oakland, the couple opened another school for Black children in their Oakland home by 1857.
The Colored Conventions
From November 20 to 22, 1855, St. Andrew's hosted the first California State Convention of Colored Citizens, with 49 delegates from 10 of the state's 27 counties. Black Californians were then barred by law from testifying in court against white people. The convention and those that followed fought for the right to testify, voting rights for Black men, access to public education and the end of slavery, and St. Andrew's hosted the convention again in 1856 and 1865.
Oak Park
Before the Second World War, Oak Park was redlined, as neighborhoods were in many cities. A 1937 survey recorded that Black families were concentrated between 5th and 8th Avenues on San Jose. The neighborhood's arts and entertainment centered on 35th Street, where the Victor Theater, later the Guild, stood.
Black Sacramento Today
From St. Andrew's to Oak Park, Sacramento's Black history runs back to the state's first years, and Black-owned restaurants, salons, shops and brands are part of everyday Sacramento.
Shop Black-owned businesses in Sacramento on CashBlack.
Photo Credits
The Triangle District in Oak Park. Photo: Lindseyroses1, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons