Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations. Exterior view of the Hotel Somerville, after it was renamed the Dunbar Hotel, located at 4225 S. Central Ave. Dr. John Somerville, born in Jamaica, was the first black graduate of USC School of Dentistry (1907). He married Vada Jetmore Watson (1912), who also became a dentist. He built the Somerville Hotel (1928), was instrumental in the founding of the Los Angeles chapter of NAACP (1914), and served on the Police Commission 1949-1953. The Somerville Hotel opened on June 23, 1928. It was built by Drs. John and Vada Somerville for the first West Coast convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The hotel provided first-class accommodations in segregated Los Angeles for African Americans who were denied comparable lodging elsewhere. After the Stock Market crash in 1929, Somerville sold the hotel to lawyer Lucius Lomax, who renamed it after poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Caption: 115 Rooms -- 75 rooms with bath. Rates $1.00 per day and up. Weekly rates $5.00 and up.
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b14_f06_006a.tif ark:/21198/z13f66rx
Subject
Hotels Somerville, John Alexander, 1881-1973 Dunbar Hotel (Los Angeles, Calif.) Somerville, Vada, 1885-1972
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