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African American Living Legends Series
Event HistoryIn 1979, the Compton Library, a community library member of the County of Los Angeles Public Library, hosted an exhibit titled " The Ten Most Important Blacks in American History," as illustrated by Ebony Magazine's Art Director Herbert Temple. The exhibit was on loan to the library from Home Savings and Loan, the local exhibit sponsor.
The ten Black Americans honored through the exhibit were:
- Richard Allen
- Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune
- Frederick Douglass
- Dr. William E. B. Du Bois
- Marcus Garvey
- Dr. (Rev.) Martin Luther King
- Thurgood Marshall
- Elijah Muhammad
- Harriet Tubman
- Booker T. Washington
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As a part of the opening ceremonies for the exhibit, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, then County Supervisor for the Fourth District, presented scrolls in recognition of community service to Todd Bridges, to Robert Dekruif of Home Savings and Loan and president of the Ahmanson Foundation, and film television star Esther Rolle.
The event was well attended by the community and served as an inspiration for the development of an annual program to commemorate the contributions of Black Americans. Marcine Shaw from Supervisor Kenneth Hahn's office, then the County Supervisor for the Second District, and Winnie Jackson of the County of Los Angeles Public Library worked together to develop the first Black History Month celebratory event honoring individuals as the makers of "Living Black History." The event was held at the AC Bilbrew Library and the first honoree was Eubie Blake. This became the "African American Living Legends" Series which honored leaders and visionaries from 1980 to 2008. |
View the African American Living Legends Series Program Archive.
Living Legends Honorees, 1980 - 2008
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