Get out Of Town

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This episode contains racial slurs and historical imagery may be upsetting to some viewers

The history of racial inequities in Glendale is more relevant than ever. Glendale fit the definition of a sundown town to a T, as an “all-white community, that excluded Blacks and other minorities through discriminatory laws, harassment, or use of violence," formally or informally keeping out people of color, a town that was "all white" on purpose.

Building on a colonial history of racism to ongoing policies of redlining and community covenants through the 1960s, Glendale compounded its racism through harassment, racial slurs and epithets, threats and vandalism to homes and businesses. This all advertised the clear lack of welcome to people of color.

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We invite you to enter the portal and discover the history of Glendale as Sundown town. Click on any of the icons in the interactive image or use the menu bar along the bottom to see photos and articles selected from Glendale Library, Arts & Culture’s History Room and other archival sources.

There are absences in the Library’s collection due to implicit and explicit bias against people of color, which has created an incomplete history of our community. This is true of the vast majority of archival collections in the United States. We urge you to use this exhibition as a starting point for your own exploration of racial inequality in Glendale and the United States.

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The image used in this episode is taken at the corner of Brand Blvd and Wilson Ave in Downtown Glendale. It is at the former location of the Glen-Deli whose Black owners left town in the 1980’s due to repeated racist attacks and vandalism.

NAZI'S In Glendale

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In 2016, at Crescenta Valley Community Regional Park, a sign was erected to commemorate the park’s history as a meeting place for the German community to celebrate their heritage, but the sign grazed an old wound. It recalled an era when Nazis in America boldly occupied the park for rallies and youth training. Swastikas were hung on flags and on the armbands of marching group members.

During the 1930s, and concurrent with the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, the German American Bund was growing more confident in the United States with chapters springing up in major American cities like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. While their local headquarters was located in Downtown Los Angeles, their point of congregation was Hindenburg Park.

The German American Bund were all but identical to the Nazi Party. They shared the same racist and fascist ideals modified to appeal to Americans, with particular praise for our first president, George Washington.

They were led nationally by Fritz Kuhn, and led locally by Herman M. Schwinn and Hans Diebel. For years the Bund spread hateful messages any way they could in hopes of indoctrinating Americans to their cause. By 1939, the party was falling apart, and with the onset of World War II the group was dismantled.

During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the American Nazi Party attempted to re-establish itself in the Southland with local leader Ralph Forbes, a Glendale resident. Forbes caused a whirlwind of social chaos when he established the party’s headquarters on Colorado Boulevard in Glendale. The party leaders were familiar with the reputation Glendale had for its racial prejudice, and they felt like they might be welcome here. They were not. The new Nazis would be met with strong opposition.

Racial Bias

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In 1985, the lawsuit Jauregui v. City of Glendale exposed systemic racism in Glendale’s police department that extended to other City officials. An investigation was ordered and the law firm of Ochoa & Sillas spent months collecting data and conducting interviews, which were published in a report in 1988. The report acknowledged Glendale’s history as a sundown town and the challenges inherent in achieving racial equity because of that history, stating, “there is an overall perception by nonresidents of the City that Blacks are not well received in Glendale.” The recommendations from the report required the City to make changes to the police department, and to consider changes elsewhere. The court case and report demonstrated that Glendale officials still needed to reckon with the city’s history of racism and take proactive measures to combat institutionalized racism. The City implemented the recommendations in the report and committed to ensure the safety of every member of the Glendale community.

Failed Revival

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The German American Bund Party dissolved in disarray after the US entered World War II, leaving little organized Nazi presence in America. However, in 1960s, the American Nazi Party re-emerged, in part in response to the Civil Rights movement. In 1964, American Nazi Party national leader George Lincoln Rockwell announced the fascist group would be establishing a West Coast chapter in Southern California, and its exact location would be an unassuming house on Colorado Boulevard in Glendale, occupied primarily by the West Coast leader, Ralph Forbes. Glendale was referred to by these men as being “a white man’s town,” because of its long-standing practices of redlining and racially restrictive covenants (See “All American City”) and other sundown town practices that kept Glendale effectively all-white for decades.

While it seemed like the German-American Bund of the 1930s had little opposition until the onset of World War II, the new Nazis had Glendale residents, civic leaders, journalists and protestors fighting them every inch.

Rent Racism

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The history and drivers of racial inequities in Glendale’s housing market are more relevant than ever. The racial disparities in access to stable, affordable, and healthy housing were produced through a lengthy history of exclusion, displacement, and state-sponsored discrimination and violence against communities of color.

Since the colonization of the state, begun by the Spanish and then accelerated by settlers in the early 1800s, real estate speculation, segregation, and the serial disposability of communities of color have defined California land use.

By 1940, roughly 80 percent of Los Angeles real estate carried covenants that banned Black families—segregating and concentrating them in just a few neighborhoods. The ongoing policies of redlining and community covenants through the 1960s were compounded by harassment, racial slurs and epithets, threats and vandalism. These policies helped to establish racial disparities into our landscape reinforcing deep patterns of racial segregation.

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Known as the American Führer, German-born Fritz Kuhn was the national leader of the German-American Bund Party. With local chapters opening across the country in major cities, Kuhn was rallying support for nationalism, both for Americans and Germans in America. The group hid their racist, fascist views behind the guise of patriotism, and would quote or reference George Washington often. The Bund would take the national stage in February of 1939 at their largest rally: Madison Square Garden with some 20,000 attendees. It was a startling revelation to the country that there was a Nazi problem in America.

Here in Glendale at Hindenburg Park in La Crescenta, rallies were being held with strong support. Fritz Kuhn, Hans Diebel and Herman Schwinn would take the stage there.

Glen-deli

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In 1986, the Glen-Deli on the 200 block of Brand Boulevard was defaced with racist graffiti aimed at the owner Laurette Yates, who also had to suffer through racial slurs and threats from passersby in the Glendale community. The graffiti went on frequently for several months, and was part of an uptick in racially motivated harassment and vandalism in the area. This rise in racist crimes lead to the reformation of the Glendale Human Rights Council, that was originally formed in 1963 in support of the Civil Rights Movement.

Bigots UnWelcome

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Opposition to Ralph Forbes and the American Nazi Party came from the City of Glendale, residents, and many local veteran’s and religious organizations. Hollywood also became involved when the actor Ronald Reagan spoke along with the Reverend Paul Peterson and commander of the Glendale-Burbank Jewish War Veterans Dr. Jess Nathan at an anti-Nazi rally held on May 7, 1965 in Glendale. The event deliberately coincided with the 20th anniversary of Victory Day in Europe, which marked the defeat of Germany and the end of World War II.

Glendale Music Association

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Between 1910 and 1940, during what became known as the First Great Migration, hundreds of thousands of African Americans left the Southern United States to escape segregationist laws, lack of opportunity, and economic inequality. While the influx of African Americans resulted in a cultural renaissance that led to the explosion of jazz, the First Great Migration coincided with the The Great Depression. In 1932, 50% of Black workers were unemployed, compared to half as many white workers. Despite the disparate impact of the Depression on Black people, the economic concerns of white people would become wrapped up with racism and resentment.

In 1931, at the height of the Depression, the affluent Glendale Music Association hosted many nationally recognized musicians and performers, including some African Americans. Local residents petitioned the City Council claiming that Black performers in Glendale should not be supported with public funding because their presence in the city added no value to the community and deprived white performers of employment.

HIndenBurg Park

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Hindenburg Park, now Crescenta Valley Community Regional Park, was known as a cultural center for German Americans and recent German immigrants to Los Angeles. By 1936, a pro-Nazi organization backed by Germany called the German-American Bund had formed and frequently held rallies in the park and even organized a summer camp. Crescenta Valley Park’s history and name has been controversial as recently as 2016 when a sign was purchased and installed that welcomed visitors in English and German to “Hindenburg Park.”

History Talk

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In this history talk video, scholars, historians and activists Tara Peterson, Tasha Jenkins Morgan, Dr. Christopher West and Gary Keyes talk about Glendale as a sundown town, historically as well as through personal experience.

Part 1 of 3

Dr. Christopher West is on the faculty of Pasadena City College. A graduate of UC Berkeley and USC, Dr. West was the first African American man to earn a Ph. D. in History from USC. An expert in Humanities, Dr. West previously worked as curator of history for the California African American Museum in Los Angeles where he originated and designed exhibitions that traveled nationally.

Professor Gary Keyes is a Southern California native and a retired educator having taught at Glendale Community College, Pasadena City College, and Crescenta Valley High School for over 40 years. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Los Angeles, he is the co-author of two books: Wicked Crescenta Valley and Murder and Mayhem in the Crescenta Valley.

Tara Peterson is the CEO and Executive Director of the YWCA Glendale. She has championed local women and girls by expanding programs at the YWCA to eliminate racism, empower women and drive conversation around domestic violence in Glendale and surrounding communities. She is a recognized expert in the field of Violence Against Women, encompassing the intersection of domestic violence and communities of color.

Tasha Jenkins Morgan is a community activist and co-founder of Black in Glendale (BIG). BIG's mission is to promote awareness and respect for Black culture through events that honor the heritage, creativity and contributions of Black people and builds community among Glendale neighbors and friends.

History Talk

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In this history talk video, scholars, historians and activists Tara Peterson, Dr. Christopher West and Gary Keyes talk about Glendale as a sundown town, historically as well as through personal experience.

Part 2 of 3

Tara Peterson is the CEO of the YWCA Glendale. She has championed local women and girls by expanding programs at the YWCA to eliminate racism, empower women and drive conversation around domestic violence in Glendale and surrounding communities. She is a recognized expert in the field of Violence Against Women, encompassing the intersection of domestic violence and communities of color.

Scholars Speak

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In this video, scholars and historians Steven J. Ross, Christopher West and Gary Keyes talk about the rise of Nazism in the United States as well as Nazi presence and activities near and in Glendale.

Professor Steven J. Ross of University of Southern California is an acclaimed historian, scholar, educator, and author of many books, including Hitler in Los Angeles: How the Jews Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America.

Dr. Christopher West is on the faculty of Pasadena City College. A graduate of UC Berkeley and USC, Dr. West was the first African American man to earn a Ph.D. in History from USC. An expert in Humanities, Dr. West previously worked as curator of history for the California African American Museum in Los Angeles where he originated and designed exhibitions that traveled nationally.

Professor Gary Keyes is a Southern California native and a retired educator having taught at Glendale Community College (GCC), Pasadena City College, and Crescenta Valley High School for over 40 years. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Los Angeles, he is the co-author of two books: Wicked Crescenta Valley and Murder and Mayhem in the Crescenta Valley.

Ph.D. History, Princeton University

M.A. History, Princeton University

M.A. History, Oxford University

B.A. History/Political Theory, Columbia University

SunDown Town

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In June of 2020, Black Lives Matter, a decentralized collective aimed at eradicating white supremacy and promoting justice, protested across the country in response to the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department. In solidarity with the movement, a group called the Coalition for an Anti-Racist Glendale proposed an initiative to make Glendale a more equitable community for people of color. In response, the City, in collaboration with library staff, presented a report to Glendale City Council that outlined Glendale's historical contributions to racism. The report called for the adoption of a resolution apologizing for that history, acknowledging that Glendale was once a “sundown town,” and condemning its discriminatory past.

History Talk

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In this history talk video, scholars, historians and activists Tanita Harris-Ligons, Dr. Christopher West and Gary Keyes talk about Glendale as a sundown town, historically as well as through personal experience.

Part 3 of 3

Tanita Harris-Ligons is a community organizer and activist and co-founder of Black in Glendale (BIG). BIG's mission is to promote awareness of the creativity and contributions of Black people and build community among Glendale neighbors and friends.