The Finding Aid of the Preserving the History of South Los Angeles Collection 0216
Bailey Berry
Pepperdine University. Special Collections and University Archives.
2023-12-15
24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu 90263-4786
Business Number: (310) 506-4434
Fax Number: (310) 506-4117
kelsey.knox@pepperdine.edu
Contributing Institution:
Pepperdine University. Special Collections and University Archives.
Title: Preserving the History of South Los Angeles Collection
Identifier/Call Number: 0216
Physical Description:
378.39 Gigabytes
Date (inclusive): 2023-03-03-2023-12-07
Abstract: Collection consisting of recorded oral history interviews and digitized photographs from elders in the African American community
in South Los Angeles. This collection began as a grant-funded Humanities for All Grant from the California Humanities foundation.
Individuals were selected who came from a Christian tradition, especially Churches of Christ, and who had some relationship
to Pepperdine or its original campus. The project is an ongoing one and materials will continue to be added.
Language of Material:
English
.
Oral history interviews and digitized photographs created during the California Humanities grant-funded project, Preserving
the History of South Los Angeles. Interviews include a full interview file as well as the edited versions which have been
published on a dedicated website.
Materials are arranged into series based on individuals interviewed. Each series includes interview files (preservation and
access versions of video files and backup audio) as well as digitized photographs. Series 1: B.(Bertha) Ruth Allen; Series
2: Carl Baccus; Series 3: Woodrow Bailey; Series 4: Billy C. Curl; Series 5: Joan Guinses; Series 6: Bernice Pitts; Series
7: Loretta Randle; Series 8: Michael Smith
George Pepperdine College was established in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood of South Los Angeles on September 21, 1937. The
college became Pepperdine University in 1971, after opening a new campus in Malibu. Between 1937-1981, George Pepperdine College
was deeply connected to and shaped by the South Los Angeles community. George Pepperdine, the college's founder, was an elder
at Normandie Church of Christ, where Carroll Pitts (Pepperdine alumnus and faculty member, and late husband of narrator Bernice
Pitts) was a minister and one of our interviewers (and current Pepperdine faculty member), Dr. Stanley Talbert, is currently
the minister. Narrator Billy Curl was the minister of Crenshaw Church of Christ, where many Pepperdine faculty, staff, and
students attended. Los Angeles was an epicenter for national civil rights and Black liberation movements, which were active
on college campuses, including George Pepperdine College. During this time, a significant Black community was taking root
in South Los Angeles. In 1956, reflecting this shift, 10% of George Pepperdine College's student population was Black, growing
to at least 22% by 1970.
In 1968, an opportunity to expand the university emerged, made possible by a gift from the Marblehead Land Company of 138
acres of land in Malibu. In 1981, the difficult decision was made to close the original campus. Many of the interviews in
this collection touch on that decision and its repercussions in the community.
Each of the participants who have been interviewed are elders in the Black community in South Los Angeles. All participants
have been community organizers and leaders who have done work to empower and support their community in South LA. Two ministers
from the Churches of Christ tradition were interviewed, a restauranteur, a real estate broker, and an artist. Several went
to or worked with Pepperdine.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Most interviews were filmed at Normandie Church of Christ as a part of a grant-funded project. The Carl Baccus interview was
recorded using the Zoom application. Backup audio was largely recorded internally on the Rode mic clipped to the participant
- the backup audio may be different than the full interview and should not be shared publicly without review. Images were
largely scanned immediately following interviews, or digital surrogates were donated by participants via email. No physical
photographs were donated as a part of this collection.
All video files, buth full and edited, are available to access. Backup audio belonging to Joan Guinses may contain sensitive
financial information and should not be accessed by the public until 50 years after her passing. Loretta Randle's full interview
includes material about child abuse that may be triggering for some users- users should be made aware before accessing her
full interview.
Pepperdine University retains copyright of interviews and digital images
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Pepperdine University
Churches of Christ -- History
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History
Series 1: Allen, B. (Bertha) Ruth 1970-2023
Physical Description: 47.12 Gigabytes
Series includes both an interview with B. Ruth Allen and digitized image files. The series is organized into two folders,
one for audiovisual interview files and one for image files. The interview is organized into preservation (H.264, AAC) files
and compressed 2GB access files. Interview files also include a backup audio Wav file.
B. Ruth Allen was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1948 the youngest of four children. Her birth mother died when she was still
an infant and she and her siblings were adopted by their foster mother. She moved to Los Angeles after high school to pursue
an education, enabled by Education Opportunity Programs started after the Watts uprisings. She attended Cal State University
at Fullerton and was one of two students to receive a grant to participate in the World Campus Afloat Initiative through Chapman
College. She graduated in 1972 with a degree in Communications. She was an Eligibility Worker in the Foster Care System and
was a tutor and mentor who trained others to assist children in the system with literacy. She is a real estate broker and
established her own business, Rapid Action, in 1984. She also founded Ascending Voices, Inc in the early 2000's to serve a
wider network of vulnerable children and families in South Los Angeles.
Series 2: Baccus, Carl 1957-2023
Physical Description: 1.91 Gigabytes
Series includes both an interview with Dr. Carl C. Baccus and digitized image files. The series is organized into two folders,
one for audiovisual interview files and one for image files. The interview is organized into preservation (H.264, AAC) files
and compressed 2GB access files. Interview files also include a backup audio Wav file. The interview also includes a transcript.
vtt file.
Dr. Carl C. Baccus has been the minister of Southside Church of Christ in Los Angeles since 1956. Dr. Baccus began preaching
at an early age at teh Lawrence and Marder Church of Christ in his hometown of Dallas, Texas. He was baptised in 1948 by R.N.
Hogan, minister of Figueroa Church of Christ in Los Angeles, CA. Hogan was the one who recruited Dr. Baccus to lead a small
group of Christians in the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles, which grew into Southside Church of Christ. Dr. Baccus attended
George Pepperdine College in Los Angeles and obtained his bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees from California Graduate
School of Theology in Glendale, CA. He was married to his wife, Geraldine, for 40 years and they have three children together,
Sonia, Valerie, and Chris.
Series 3: Bailey, Woodrow 1990-2023
Physical Description: 50.67 Gigabytes
Woodrow Bailey was born in New Orleans and raised in South Los Angeles. He is one of the founders of Healing And Hope 4 Homeless,
which provides resources and empowerment to individuals in South Los Angeles. Woodrow Bailey grew up attending Normandie Church
of Christ while Caroll Pitts was the minister. He has degrees from the University of Southern California, California State
University Los Angeles, and has a Master of Fin Arts in Creative Writing from Mount Saint Mary's University. His writing has
appeared in
1619 Speaks: An Anthology of African American Poetry.
Series includes both an interview with Woodrow Bailey and digitized image files. The series is organized into two folders,
one for audiovisual interview files and one for image files. The interview is organized into preservation (H.264, AAC) files
and compressed 2GB access files. Interview files also include a backup audio Wav file.
images
Physical Description: 0216-s03-0001.jpg; 0216-s03-0002.jpg;0216-s03-0003.jpg; 0216-s03-0004.jpg; 0216-s03-0005.jpg; 0216-s03-0006.jpg; 0216-s03-0006.jpg;
0216-s03-0007.jpg; 0216-s03-0008.jpg; 0216-s03-0009.jpg; 0216-s03-0010.jpg; 0216-s03-0011.jpg; 0216-s03-0012.jpg; 0216-s03-0013.jpg;
0216-s03-0014.jpg; 0216-s03-0015.jpg; 0216-s03-0016.jpg; 0216-s03-0017.jpg
Series 4: Curl, Billy C. 1980-2023
Physical Description: 52.51 Gigabytes
Billy C. Curl is a native of Nacogdoches, Texas and graduated from E.J. Campbell High School. He graduated from Southwestern
Christian College in 1962 and was the first African American student to attend Abilene Christian University, graduating with
a degree in Speech Pathology. Curl served as a missionary and preacher in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for six years and founded
a school for the deaf there, interacting with dignitaries including the Emporer Haile-Selassie I and Queen Elizabeth II. He
was the minister at Crenshaw Church of Christ in South Los Angeles for over 40 years, retiring in 2013. He became the minister
as Pepperdine was closing its original campus. Many Pepperdine families had attended Crenshaw Christian Church, but left when
the campus was closed. Curl was responsible for rebuilding the congregation from handful of members to nearly 600. He serves
on the boards of Normandie Christian School (which was founded on Pepperdine's campus by Carroll Pitts, Calvin Bowers, and
others), Southwestern Christian College, Abilene Christian University, National Crusade for Christ, and United Christian Women's
Conference.
Series includes both an interview with Billy C. Curl and digitized image files. The series is organized into two folders,
one for audiovisual interview files and one for image files. The interview is organized into preservation (H.264, AAC) files
and compressed 2GB access files. Interview files also include a backup audio Wav file.
interview
Series 5: Guinses, Joan 1984-2023
Physical Description: 52.47 Gigabytes
Joan Guinses was born on January 10, 1949 in Los Angeles, the only child of Myrtice Johnson, a Registered Nurse and Jonathan
Johnson, a FreeMason, Medal Polisher, and Sergeant in the Army. Joan married Vernel "VG" Guinses on Cotober 1, 1966. VG was
a community activist and educator who founded "Say Yes" to deal with youth gang activity in South Los Angeles. They had three
children, Carmella Guinses Blackmon, Kathleen Myrtice Guinses, and Milton Leroy Guinses. Joan graduated from Manual Arts High
School and studied art design at West Los Angeles College. She designed and crafted musical instruments, jewelry, and prize-winning
dolls. She taught herself how to sew and play the instruments she made. She was a longtime member of Inglewood Guys and Dolls,
the largest African American square dancing group in the U.S.
Series includes both an interview with Joan Guinses and digitized image files. The series is organized into two folders, one
for audiovisual interview files and one for image files. The interview is organized into preservation (H.264, AAC) files and
compressed 2GB access files. Interview files also include a backup audio Wav file.
Series 6: Pitts, Bernice 1949-2023
Bernice Pitts was born Bernice Carr on May 21, 1928 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. With her parents, she became baptized by a Church
of Christ minister in Phoenix, AZ in 1936. After Bernice finished high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1945, she moved to California
to enroll at George Pepperdine College. Bernice graduated from Pepperdine in 1949 with a degree in Secretarial Science. She
met Carroll Pitts at her church in Oklahoma and they were married in 1947, after Carroll finished his service in the Navy.
Carroll worked with A.L. Cassius in Los Angeles and enrolled at Pepperdine to pursue a degree in theology in 1949. Carroll
and Bernice Pitts were the first Black couple to live in Normandie Village, Pepperdine's married and family housing. Carroll
began his work as a minister at a Church of Christ in Bakersfield, CA in 1955. In 1962, R.N. Hogan and Calvin Bowers recruited
Carroll to become the minister at Normandie Church of Christ in South Los Angeles, where he preached until he passed away
in 1987. Carroll was also hired as a professor of religion at George Pepperdine College in 1968. Bernice actively supported
Carroll's work by speaking at Church of Christ events, working with United Christian Women ministry, and working with the
Associated Women for Pepperdine. Bernice and Carroll adopted two children, Pamela and Phillip.
Series includes both an interview with Bernice Pitts and digitized image files. The series is organized into two folders,
one for audiovisual interview files and one for image files. The interview is organized into preservation (H.264, AAC) files
and compressed 2GB access files. Interview files also include a backup audio Wav file.
Series 7: Randle, Loretta 1970-2023
Physical Description: 61.69 Gigabytes
Series includes both an interview with Loretta Randle and digitized image files. The series is organized into two folders,
one for audiovisual interview files and one for image files. The interview is organized into preservation (H.264, AAC) files
and compressed 2GB access files. Interview files also include a backup audio Wav file.
Loretta B. Randle moved to Los Angeles from the Bay area in the 1970's, as a single mother. From 1973-1993, she served as
Executive Director of Teen Post Youth Information Center in South Los Angeles and Associate Director of United Way of Greater
Los Angeles-Kellogg Training Program. This led to her participation in the Women in Management Exchange with the former Soviet
Union. She became the Associate Director of a World Vision International Youth Summit which sparked the formation of the 2008
Children's Prayer Initiative Prayer Summit in Los Angeles. She participated in the United Nations Ambassadors Prayer Breakfast
the following year. She completed her M.A. in Global Urban Leadership with Bakke Graduate University at agae 67 and published
her first book,
Reflections of a Radical Servant Leader at age 75. She organized When 1000 Grandmothers Pray in 2010 and has served as a volunteer foster grandparent with Pepperdine
University Foster GrandparentProgram since 2012.
Series 8: Smith, Michael 1976-2023
Physical Description: 45.84 Gigabytes
Series includes both an interview with Michael Smith and digitized image files. The series is organized into two folders,
one for audiovisual interview files and one for image files. The interview is organized into preservation (H.264, AAC) files
and compressed 2GB access files. Interview files also include a backup audio Wav file.
Michael Dalton Smith was born on September 18, 1958 in Los Angeles, CA. He was placed in foster care along withhis younger
brother, Patrick, by age 5. He was Student Body Vice President at Horace Mann Jr. High and attended Crenshaw High School where
he was senior class president. Michael was one of the first students to enroll at Pepperdine University's Malibu Campus and
attended for two years. During his senior year, he began working at the Forum Arena, working his way up to the management
level over the next 18 years. He helped open Magic Johnson's TGI Friday's before becoming a partner at the Bayou Grille restaurant
in Inglewood where he has been in business for 25 years and is currently the sole owner. Michael is married to Kathy Smith.
He has several children and step-children, including his step-child, rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle. Michael began attending
Normandie Church of Christ while his uncle, Carroll Pitts, was the minister.