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. Kenneth Hahn (1920–1997) was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for forty years, from 1952 to 1992. Hahn was on the Los Angeles City Council from 1947 to 1952. He was an ardent supporter of civil rights throughout the 1960s, and met Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1961. A. C. Bilbrew was the director of the first black choir featured in a film, 1928's Hearts of Dixie, which also happened to be the first black "talkie." She was also a pioneer in radio, becoming the first African American soloist on the radio in 1923, and later, the first African American to have and host a show in 1942. She was a cast member of the movie The Foxes of Harrow in 1947. Bilbrew was a champion of women's rights and childhood literacy; she was a community leader, musician, poet, and deputy to Kenneth Hahn (County Supervisor) A Los Angeles branch library is named after her. Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was an American educator, stateswoman, philanthropist, humanitarian and civil rights activist best known for starting a private school for African-American students in Daytona Beach, Florida. She also was appointed as a national adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of what was known as his Black Cabinet. A. C. Bilbrew, Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, and Dr. Vada Somerville (right) stand at a podium and hold a portrait of Mary McLeod Bethune at the ceremony to rename a park after Ms. Bethune. Stamped on back of photo: From Supervisor Kenneth Hahn / 23329
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b14_f10_028a.tif ark:/21198/z19s383d
Subject
African American women politicians African American civil rights workers African American musicians African American dentists African American educators Bethune, Mary McLeod, 1875-1955 Hahn, Kenneth Somerville, Vada, 1885-1972 Bilbrew, A. C. (Alice C.), 1891-1972
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