Black Redlands 1910: Making a Vibrant Community Visible

The City of Redlands often tells its history as the history of wealthy white orange grove owners. We may hear the story of one or two early Black residents, but most people know little of the vibrant early Black community that developed in the Inland Empire in California at the turn of the 20th Century. The small town of Redlands was home to the first two Black churches in the Inland Empire, the first Black newspaper, many Black homeowners and a vibrant social life that connected residents to communities in Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles. This story map tells the story of the people that built this early 20th century Black community. Over a hundred years ago, these Black citizens escaped the Jim Crow South and built institutions, opportunities and a community in Southern California. Through census data and the Colored Citizen newspaper, we can begin to see the growing Black community in Redlands in the first decade of the 20th century.

Explore this map, clicking on dots to learn more about the individuals who made up this small thriving community in 1910. Notice that key Black institutions and businesses thrived in the center of downtown Redlands and Black residents lived throughout much of the city, though few on the city's south side (except a few servants). In the first decade of the 20th century in California, African Americans did face discrimination, but many became homeowners, and they did not experience the stricter forms of racial segregation that would become common in later decades (Skinner 1983) .

Please click around on the dots throughout this story map to find out more about this small but thriving and vibrant community.

A few members of the Black community in Redlands were able to accumulate significant wealth and property, running businesses and owning citrus groves at the turn of the 20th century (Suster and Taylor 2017). A vibrant middle class grew even though many African Americans were confined to domestic or manual labor jobs. Many owned their own homes, and some built small businesses as bootblacks, painters, cooks or teamsters with their own feed wagons (Census 1910, Taylor personal communication).

Israel Beal is the most known member of the Redlands Black community and often the only Black resident that is mentioned in historical accounts of Redlands. He certainly played a key role building Black institutions, but he was embedded in a network of other community leaders both in Redlands and throughout the Inland Empire, a network that linked San Bernardino, Riverside and Redlands to Black communities in Los Angeles and throughout the state. Horace Harroll, Israel Beal (his family) and Robert Harbert were key figures in that network.

Israel Beal moved to Redlands in the 1870’s, where he worked with Myron H. Craft on his ranch for a few years and became his partner in a fruit drying company. By 1877, he built his own home on 20 acres of land he purchased on Lugonia and Texas, eventually expanding to 57 acres, where he planted citrus groves (Suster and Taylor 2017 B, Green 2018). This became the home for his wife Martha Embers, the daughter of one of the first Black settlers who came to San Bernardino with the Mormons, and their seven children.

For the next few decades, he moved homes and graded some of the first tracts in Redlands and the original Big Bear Dam. He planned a 160-acre vineyard, on land that is now part of the University of Redlands (Beal interview 1927). He also helped build the A.M.E. Church and helped sustain many of other community institutions (Skinner 1983, p.80 ).

Israel Beal is now recognized with a city park in his name, but Israel Beal did not build the Black community alone. His brother Henry Beal and sons Harry Beal and Charles Arthur Beal were active members of the Redlands community, as were many other families and individuals who worked to build institutions and vibrant Black community life in the city (Colored Citizen). 

Horace and Rachel Harroll were an integral part of Redlands Black community, though for many years they lived in Crafton. In fall 1905, Harroll was able to buy a $12,000 citrus ranch near Crafton. The Colored Citizen reported that "he earned enough profit to pay off his mortgage in just one year," and used his wealth to fund the first Black-owned newspaper in the area, The Colored Citizen (Suster and Taylor 2017, p. 11, Colored Citizen Sept 1906).

He and his wife Rachel Carroll became an integral part of Redlands' Black society life. They were early members of the A.M.E. church. Horace Harroll was also president of the Afro American League in Redlands, working alongside the Beals, R. H. Harbert and others, to support the Republican party ticket (Colored Citizen Oct 1906, p. 7). In 1911, he built a home down Texas Street from Israel Beal at 620 W. Colton (Suster and Taylor 2017).

Robert H. Harbert and his wife A.C. Harbert lived at the northern edge of Redlands on Delaware ave, west of Washington Street right near Lugonia school with their son and two daughters. Robert worked as a music teacher and led the Harbert Orchestra, which performed at numerous events around the Inland Empire. He also helped found the A.M.E. church first located on State street and was active in the Afro American League.

Robert Harbert was the editor and manager of the first Black owned newspaper in the Inland Empire, The Colored Citizen. His son, Robert Jr., worked as the assistant manager of the paper and worked also at Sun Drug Company on 208 Orange Ave (1910 Redlands Directory). Charles Arthur Beal, son of Israel Beal, also worked as a subscription agent for the paper.

The Colored Citizen was published from July 1905 until December 1906. Funded by Horace Harroll and edited by R. H. Harbert, the newspaper was located in the heart of downtown on Orange Street (Suster and Taylor). The newspaper described itself as "an organ, wherein the accomplishments and efforts of the Negro for his own uplifting could be chronicled by men of his own race." It called for "A square deal and a fair chance - No More No Less" and linked itself to the Republican party the "great party of Lincoln" (Colored Citizen July 1905).

This newspaper provided a voice to the Black community in the Inland Empire, chronicling the lives, society and institutions Black people built in Redlands, San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles. Its coverage provided an important counter-narrative to the news coverage in White-owned newspapers which alternated between ignoring black residents and promoting dehumanizing stereotypes. Over one hundred years later, the Colored Citizen allowed us to bring some of the stories and places of this community back to life.

The black community in Redlands built many institutions in the growing commercial center of the city. Fraternal hall, on State Street, was the center of community and religious gatherings and the home to service clubs like Odd Fellows and the Household of Ruth. Both the Second Baptist and A.M.E. churches were also initially located on State Street before relocating to the Stuart Street neighborhood by the 1920s.

On Orange Street, we would have found the office of the Colored Citizen. Across the street in the McAbee block, R.H. Harbert also managed the Eureka Employment Agency, which often advertised in the Colored Citizen. This same McAbee Block would also briefly serve as the home of a "colored political club" and a club organized by young community members "with music as one of its chief pursuits" (Colored Citizen, Feb 1906, p 8.

Theophilus Ford, after he retired as the longtime steward at the Country Club, also became a restaurant entrepreneur in downtown Redlands.

The Colored Citizen reported that he first rented the Elk's Café, above the post office, where he worked as a caterer serving local businessmen (The Colored Citizen, July 1905, page 11). By 1910 he owned and ran the restaurant Café Manhattan also in the heart of downtown at 18 W. State Street (1910 Redlands Directory).

He could have walked from his business to meetings of a new black political club, which he and H.D Baker organized or to perform with R.H. Harbert's Brass Band, where he played alongside Eddie Carter, A. Jackson, C.A. Beal in frequent concerts at the Fraternal hall (Feb 1906, p. 6).

The two Black churches in downtown Redlands, were centers of the community, hosting concerts, fundraisers and weekly literary evenings. For example, Alameda Baker, Ms. Lipe and Viola Edinburgh organized an A.M.E. concert held at the fraternal hall in order to raise money to benefit the church. The Colored Citizen praised their event as "a pleasing success... The exercises by the little people were properly applauded. The supper part was in the hands of Mrs. Israel Beal and right well did she perform it. The Harbert Orchestra discoursed music and all enjoyed a delightful evening. Pastor Bynum was highly pleased" (Colored Citizen, Dec. 1906, p. 8). Church events like this played a major role in knitting the community together.

Second Baptist was the first Black church in the Inland Empire, existing already by 1891. Initially located on State street, Reverend Sebron Lee was the first pastor of the church in 1889 with founding trustees, W.J. Henderson, J.G. Edinburg, Fate Fraley, P.P. Mattox and Turner Berry (Second Baptist Church 95th Jubilee, Skinner 1983, p. 80).

In the fall of 1905, The Colored Citizen discussed the congregation's enthusiastic welcome of Pastor W.W. Townsend. "For some time past this particular flock has been crestfallen on account of no one of their faith to tell them ‘the Baptist truth.’ Coming from Indiana full of spiritual life, Pastor Townsend will find an eager crowd to feast upon the word at all of his services. The Citizen rejoices with the faithful ladies who struggled so hard to have Mr. Townsend return" (Colored Citizen Sept 1905, p. 1).

In 1905, some of the families who remained active in Second Baptist include Mr. and Mrs. Henderson, the Crowders and the Hughes family all of whom can be found on our maps. The congregation remains vibrant today in a church built on the corner of Stuart and 9th, where it moved after 1925 (Second Baptist 95th Church Anniversary Jubilee).

Redlands A.M.E. Church was founded just down the street from Second Baptist in 1894 with Reverend C.T. Hubbard as pastor. The families that were frequently mentioned as members of the A.M.E. church in 1905 included the Harrolls, the Beals, and the Edinburghs.

The A.M.E. church began to organize to build a new church in 1906. The Colored Citizen reported that "H.A. Harroll, one of its members," had secured "a most desirable site for its church home. While no definite plans can be spoken to at this time, the members hope to be able to build a neat little modern church in the near future" (Dec 6, p. 4). By 1907, the A.M.E. church moved to Stuart Street and 6th just north of downtown (Atchley ND, p. 2, 1915 Sanborn Map).

In 1910, Rev Hubbard brought a Negro baseball team, the Los Angeles Giants to play in Redlands which inspired the Black community to form its own team, the Mulvihills, with Harry Beal as coach, and Eddie Carter and Arthur Beal playing. Their team drew large crowds when it played a White team from Riverside (McCall 2012).

In 1919, Israel Beal, famous for his skill moving buildings, moved the church one block to 6th and High (Atchley, ND, p. 2, 1925 Sanborn Map). The building still stands today, though the congregation is no longer active.

The Fraternal Hall was a center of community life, often referenced in the Colored Citizen as a meeting place for organizations, concerts, church fundraisers and youth groups. In August 1906, the Colored Citizen reported that Mrs. Rice hosted a "grab social... at Fraternal Hall last Thursday night for the benefit of Pastor, Reverend J.P. Haywood, who is soon to go to his annual conference at Oakland, CA. It was largely attended by the friends of the Pastor and netted quite a few dollars for his help." The Grand United Order of the Odd Fellows along with the Household of Ruth both held their meetings at the Fraternal Hall.

Young people from Redlands' Black society often held social events at the Fraternal hall too. Just as in any community, the elders some times had reservations about their love of music. As the Colored Citizen noted, "Our young people should not insist on dancing at everything given at the Hall. Especially things given by sanction of the Church should not be expected to encourage dancing. In deference to the Pastor, his wife, and strict church people, usually older people, these young people should desist from pleasures which, from principle, these people are not in harmony with. This is but just and it is hoped in future such a course will prevail against them" (August 1906, p. 7)

The G.U.O.F. was an African American fraternal order with membership throughout the United States. Meeting in Fraternal hall, prominent members of the Black community would come to gather and host events with the goal of empowering Black people in the area. This national organization allowed the Black citizens of Redlands to connect with organizations across California and the country.

The Colored Citizen often chronicled G.U.O.F. events in their publications. In 1905, Redlands hosted a state wide "Grande Lodge" meeting with representatives from LA, Sacramento, and Kern Valley. They reported that there were "15 Lodges, 580 members in the state and that they had paid $2,437.50 to the sick and owned property of $33,760" with cash in the bank of $10,511.23 (Sept 1905 p. 10). The Colored Citizen also reported about a visit to Redlands by the Grand Master S.P. Johnson, of the Odd Fellows in Los Angeles, where he shared "great hopes of the future welfare of the Negroes of Los Angeles. They as a rule are reliable help and the contractors were always willing to place them on the pay rolls when they could get them" (Colored Citizen, August 1906).

The Household of Ruth was the women's auxiliary of the Grand United Order of the Odd Fellows. Their mission is to "enlarge the active interests and cooperation of the families of Odd Fellows on behalf of the Order, to fully participate and show the value of their fruitful labor and services by admitting them to membership, and to unite them with their sons, brothers, fathers, and husbands in one great, happy, and prosperous family" (House of Ruth History). Mrs. Sophia Henderson, who lived on 23 Tribune Street, was Redlands' delegate at the Grand Lodge meeting in Pasadena (Colored Citizen, August 1906, p.7).

This map shows the Black residents listed in the 1910 census in San Bernardino and Redlands. You can zoom in to explore the more detailed maps and the people who lived there. These communities were densely connected, as were Riverside and Los Angeles, linked through marriage, religious networks, social clubs and political organizing. For example, Israel Beal of Redlands married Martha Embers of San Bernardino, and the A.M.E. church of Redlands supported San Bernardino residents as they developed their own A.M.E. church. The Colored Citizen reported on frequent social visits back and forth from Riverside, San Bernardino and Redlands (Colored Citizen Nov 1906, p.12).

Events in Redlands often attracted visitors from surrounding cities, as when “a merry crowd of Riversiders took buggies for Redlands to enjoy entertainment at Fraternal hall” hosted by Harry Beal and Eddie Carter on Jan 25, 1906 (Feb 1906 Colored Citizen, p. 8 & 10). When the Literary club of San Bernardino hosted a concert on Sept 7, 1906 at the Ingraham home on the city’s west side, Redlands residents "from the younger set" attended, including Misses Lola and Rosa Harbert , Mattie Lipe, Viola and Effe Edinburgh, Eddie Carter, Robert Harbert and James Lewis (Colored Citizen Sept 1906, p. 7). The Harbert Orchestra also traveled around the region, performing at the Riverside Emancipation Day, as did the Colored Band with C.A. Beal and Theophilus Ford (Colored Citizen, Feb. 1906).

These inland communities were closely connected to LA as well through the Odd Fellows and other political and religious networks. The Colored Citizen reported in Sept 1905 that Robert C. Owens, “LA’s wealthiest colored citizen” who had built "a 5 story brick block on Spring St.," “paid Redlands a visit with his wife during the Odd Fellows Grand Lodge" (Oct 1905, p. 6). The Colored Citizen frequently reported on the political activities of the Afro American Congress which held meetings throughout California. R.H. Harbert was the treasurer, and H.A. Harroll was on the statewide executive committee (Sept. 1906).

Redlands also sent a number of residents to the Baptist Union Picnic held at Terminal Island on Friday, July 20 1906. The Colored Citizen described it as "decidedly a grand affair, unmarred by any incidents which would interfere in any way with the pleasures of the day. Fully 3,000 people were conveyed to the Island over the Salt Lake on two special trains, one leaving at 8:30 and the other at 10 o’clock, both being crowded to the utmost. A small number from Riverside and Redlands were in attendance. Those from Redlands were, Mr. B. Owens, Miss Earl, Mr. R.H. Harbert Jr., Mr. Arthur Beal, Mrs. Turner, Mr. J.B. Thomas and Mr. H.A. Harroll” (Colored Citizen, August 1906, Page 12).

Redlands in the early 20th century was a growing community that attracted all kinds of people to settle and start new lives. East Stuart Avenue just north of downtown was an area where many people including African Americans were able to find land and build their own homes. This area was not segregated, but black homeowners (burgundy dots) lived alongside many white homeowners (pink dots), a few Mexican homeowners (blue dots), with many Japanese residents living nearby in more segregated tenements. We mapped all the residents along Stuart St between 7th and 11th to capture the racial diversity of this space.

The Colored Citizen often covered this expanding community, highlighting especially the quest of Black citizens to buy homes and build businesses (Suster & Taylor 2017). For example, Leslie Abney was described as being so delighted with Redlands after visiting her parents that she decided to purchase a cottage on the corner of 5th Street and Stuart Avenue. We can see her home in the map below on the far left just across the street from where the A.M.E. church moved in 1907.

Taking a walk down East Stuart Avenue you would find many other Black homeowners who were active in the community. The 1910 census listed many as confined to jobs as laborers, janitors or cooks, but the Colored Citizen shows a more complex picture of professions and the leadership roles people took in Black society life. For example, at 612 E Stuart Avenue on the far right of the map, Oliver C. Crowdor, who was employed as a janitor, lived with his family in a home they owned. He and his wife were leaders in the A.M.E. church and hosted a dinner fundraiser for the church (Colored Citizen Dec. 1906) Their next door neighbor William Hawkins owned his home and worked as a bookkeeper.

A few houses down lived James and Sue Reid at 404 East Stuart Avenue. James immigrated from the West Indies, worked as a janitor in the Post Office, and was a prominent delegate of the Odd Fellows Society in Redlands. In 1906, he and his wife celebrated their ten year wedding anniversary with a gathering at their home with the Harberts, Harrolls and many other prominent families in attendance. The Colored Citizen reported that "The fatted calf’ was killed again, with smaller birds of good reputation, and all that company of pastries which appetite could call for. The home was beautifully decorated and had the air of being used for the first time with a brand new couple" ( Dec. 1906, p. 1). 

The Reid's home also frequently hosted James A. Sommerville, "one of Redlands brightest men" when he was home from dental college. He had immigrated to California from Jamaica in 1902, eventually moving to Redlands where he worked odd jobs as a young man. After he went to USC for dental school, he still socialized with other elite young black Redlands residents like Arthur and Harry Beal (Oct. 1905, p. 5). He was the first black graduate from USC in 1906 and established a thriving practice in Los Angeles, serving mostly whites until the black population of the city expanded. Frustrated by his personal experience of discrimination seeking accommodation in hotels, he built the Sommerville hotel in Los Angeles which became a luxury destination for black travelers. Los Angeles' NAACP was founded in his living room in Los Angeles in 1914 (Dummet 1989, Frank Taylor personal communication).

These stories provide us with a snapshot in time of the Black community of Redlands from 1905-1910. We need further research to find out how this community developed in the years after the Colored Citizen stopped publishing. We know the churches continued to serve the community in the decades that would follow and that new Black residents and businesses would develop in the city. But as time progressed, Black community life and institutions seem to move away from the center of downtown and begin to consolidate in the area around Stuart Avenue.

The Redlands Black community did not grow as much as San Bernardino or Riverside would in the 1940s and 60s, but we don't yet know the full story of why. We know more exclusionary housing and segregation practices developed in the 1920s throughout southern California, and we need further research into how these affected the black community in Redlands (Rothstein 2017). The rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s may have also played a role in making Redlands less hospitable for Black residents, with KKK Rallies and parades taking place in downtown Redlands (Redlands Historical Society Storymap). More research is needed to understand the development and transformation of Redlands' Black communities in the early 20th century.

Special thanks to Megan Suster, Frank E. Taylor, Tom Atchley and Nathan Gonzalez at A.K. Smiley Library, and to former Assembly member Cheryl Brown for sharing their historical and personal archives and knowledge with our class. Thanks to the A.K. Smiley Library & San Bernardino County Museum for their photo collections. We could not have done this project without them.

1905 Redlands City Directory, A.K. Smiley Library Heritage Room.

1910 Redlands City Directory, A.K. Smiley Library Heritage Room.

1910 Census (accessed from Family Search raw census records)

Atchley, Tom. ND. Black History of Redlands. (shared with author)

Dummet, Clifton. 1989. Medical History: a Historical Perspective of Thirteen Unheralded Contributors to Mericodental Progress. Journal of the National Medical Association 81(3): 307-320  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2571621/pdf/jnma00264-0103.pdf .

Everitt Collection, San Bernardino County Museum.  http://www.sbcounty.gov/museum/ 

Grand Order of Odd Fellows History  https://guoofamerica.com/oddfellows_natl/Home.html 

Green, Bishop Jackie. Who was Israel Doc Beal? City News Group June 14, 2018.  https://www.citynewsgroup.com/articles/who-was-israel-doc-beal 

House of Ruth History  https://guoof.org/household-of-ruth/history/household-now/ 

McCall, Joan. 2012. Redlands Remembered. History Press.

Redlands Historical Timeline Storymap. Access at  https://rahs65.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=0df22a7eebdb485882e89536308e6e36# 

Rothstein, Richard. 2017. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. Liverlight Publisher.

Second Baptist Church 95th Church Anniversary Jubilee. 1987. A.K. Smiley Library Heritage Room.

Singer, Donald. A glimpse at The Colored Citizen, an early Redlands newspaper. San Bernardino Sun August 6, 2013.  https://www.sbsun.com/2013/06/08/a-glimpse-at-the-colored-citizen-an-early-redlands-newspaper/ 

Skinner, Byron. 1983. Origins of the Black Inland Empire. Attic Press

Suster, Megan, June 11, 2017, “African American Citrus Growers in the Inland Empire,” California State Parks Relevancy and History Project, Sweet N Sour Website:  http://sweet-sour-citrus.org/essays/african-americans-citrus-growers-in-the-inland-empire/ 

Suster, Megan & Frank E. Taylor, June 11, 2017, “Budding Landscapes: African Americans in Citrus” (Presentation, courtesy of authors).

Suster, Megan & Frank E. Taylor, June 11, 2017. American Participation in Southern California’s Citrus Industry

The Colored Citizen (Redlands, California), courtesy of A.K. Smiley Library Heritage Room.