Delilah Beasley's "The Negro Trail-Blazers of California": 1919 - 2019

Join local researcher and writer Fanny Garvey for a 100^th anniversary local history lecture on The Negro Trail-Blazers of California by Delilah Beasley, a classic in the field of California black history. Written in 1919, the book presents the documented history of California black folk from the 1840s during the Gold Rush to the late 19^th century. Beasley did nine years of research at the California Archives at UC Berkeley, drawing on interviews, letters, poetry, photographs, family bibles, diaries, court proceedings, and newspaper clippings in writing this history of African-American pioneers and their descendants in California.

Beasley was the first to write the history of black people in California, and the first African-American woman to be published regularly in a major metropolitan newspaper. Her informative record of the lives of early black Californians is crucial to understanding the black presence throughout the West, and in San Diego and its environs in particular.

Registration encouraged.  Please scroll down. Refreshments served.

Fanny Garvey, M.A., is a descendant of one of San Diego’s original founding families. She holds a M.A. in Renaissance Theory and Culture from the University of Sussex and has worked as a university lecturer, literacy instructor and ESL instructor. As a creative writer, she has published short stories and had several of her play scripts put into production. San Diego’s multicultural origins and history are not only a part of her personal heritage, but has been an ongoing research interest for the past 10 years.

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Parking is underground and free with 2-hour validation. The Central Library is one block from the Park & Market stop on the Trolley Blue and Orange lines.  Bus routes 11 stops right in front of the library.