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Group portrait at the presentation of the plaque honoring Biddy Mason at the Natural History Museum, Los Angeles, 1957

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Title: Group portrait at the presentation of the plaque honoring Biddy Mason at the Natural History Museum, Los Angeles, 1957
Alternative Title: Gladys Owens Smith and Manila Owens (daughters of Robert Curry Owens)
Date Created and/or Issued: February 1957
1957-02
Contributing Institution: UCLA, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library
Collection: Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
Rights Information: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Description: Gathering for the presentation of the plaque honoring Biddy Mason at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum, including Vassie Wright (3rd from left), and Kenny Habor (holding the plaque) and Gladys Owens, great-granddaughter of Biddy Mason (3rd from right).
Biddy Mason was brought to California as a slave in a wagon train. She petitioned for her freedom, and a judge granted it to her and her family in 1856. She became a successful nurse and midwife, and gained a small fortune through real estate investments. She donated generously to charities and was instrumental in the founding of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles.
Photographer signature: A. Erris Smith
Type: image
Identifier: uclalsc_1889_b02_f04_012.tif
ark:/21198/z1jq2j1x
Subject: Harbor, Kenny
Wright, Vassie Davis, 1893-1983
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History
Smith, Gladys Mason Owens, 1895-1995
Source: Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

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