By Susie Ling
A note from Oliver Beckwith: Susie Ling is a well known oral historian in Monrovia who volunteers with the Monrovia Historical Society. She has conducted more than 200 oral histories of local African American, Asian American, and Mexican American people. Because of segregation, these were the people who lived along Route 66 as it traversed through Monrovia on Huntington Drive. Here are some of their stories.
Rosalie Cardiel Garcia lived on Monrovia’s Route 66 in the 1930s, "We used to live on Huntington Drive... When I drive down Huntington [today], I would remember when my brother and I would lie down on that street. There wasn't that much traffic [then]. We would be lying there, and my brother would say, 'Oh, there's the light of a car way down there...' So we would then get up to let the car pass. Then we would lie on the street again. We played hopscotch on Route 66. There was an airport next to us. When it was really foggy, they would blow a horn. Then the men would all go to the airport with their cars and turn their headlights on for the incoming plane." Rosalie married Louis Garcia, grandson of Lucinda Garcia. This Garcia family traces their legacy on this land to before the Spaniards built the San Gabriel Mission in 1771.
From Henry Olivas: This circa 1925 photo shows my Great-Grandmother Lucinda Garcia (far right) along with her husband (far left), my Great-Grandfather Louis and most of their children, (back row L-R) Louis Jr., Dora, Grace, an unidentified man and Josefa, (front row L-R) Florence (Vivi), Alex, an unidentified girl and youngest daughter Clara (my grandmother). Not shown are additional siblings Manuel and Ernest (possibly cropped from the picture. They're posing in front of their Monrovia home, where I now reside.
I remember seeing this photo as a child, and for decades considered it lost. I was overjoyed to discover it yesterday among a slew of pictures my late mother, Rosalind Olivas, had stored away.
While many came west on this “Main Street” linking Chicago to Santa Monica, there were others who were already here and watched Monrovia grow and change. A large group of African Americans settled in Monrovia as early as January of 1886. They were families named Adams, Graham, Hollins, McClain, McCoy, McQueen, Moore, Morris, and Shaw that had migrated from Bennettsville, South Carolina. By 1892, they had built Shiloh AME Zion Church - on the corner of Canyon and Huntington Drive - with its door facing eastward, ready to greet new visitors.
Tsuneishi’s Roadside Fruit Stand in 1934. Satoru Tsuneishi came east to Monrovia in 1907 at the age of 19. He came to attend Monrovia-Arcadia-Duarte High before pursuing farming and raising a family. The Tsuneishis had a fruit and vegetable stand on Route 66 that welcomed travelers. It is appropriate that there’s a park named after Mr. Tsuneishi on the west end of Huntington Drive now. After their unjust internment during World War II, part of the Tsuneishi family returned to Monrovia and lived next door to Lucinda and Louis Garcia’s family.
Jessica’s mother with her Oldsmobile near 1936. Photo courtesy of Jessica Valentine. Jessica Blount Springfield Valentine came west to Monrovia on Route 66 in 1936, when she was 9. She had picked cotton in Prentiss, Mississippi before coming west. "Mama, Daddy, Louis Mikell (who helped with the driving)" were in the front seat of their Oldsmobile and "Aunt Mat and four of us children" were in the back. "We took turns sleeping on the floor (of the car), but there was no complaining because we were so overwhelmed about some of the sights that we had never seen before, and some that we had never even heard of. Daddy went out of his way to stop at the Grand Canyon. Today, after all the years that have come and gone, if I close my eyes, I can envision the formations of the Canyon rocks, the variety of colors, and the vastness of the natural structure..."
Jessica mentioned that her parents contacted George Oatis of the Mississippi Negro Network that helped friends and neighbors to venture westward. Many Monrovian families came from the Prentiss area - including Larry Spicer’s family. In the 1950s, Larry’s dad would drive his California family eastward on Route 66 to visit relatives in Mississippi. Larry remembers how his daddy had to worry about the safety of the children when they stopped at gas stations in the segregated south. Larry saw what he now realizes was a cross burning. At the time, his daddy didn't want to explain it.
Jessica mentioned that her parents contacted George Oatis of the Mississippi Negro Network that helped friends and neighbors to venture westward. Many Monrovian families came from the Prentiss area - including Larry Spicer’s family. In the 1950s, Larry’s dad would drive his California family eastward on Route 66 to visit relatives in Mississippi. Larry remembers how his daddy had to worry about the safety of the children when they stopped at gas stations in the segregated south. Larry saw what he now realizes was a cross burning. At the time, his daddy didn't want to explain it.
In 1933, Julius Parker had come to Monrovia on Route 66 with his sister and mother from Guthrie, Oklahoma. When he turned 18 in 1942, Julius Parker took Route 66 eastward to Fort Huachuca in Arizona - the largest military installation for African American soldiers. He returned home from the service in 1946, and lived just south of Huntington Drive.
Happy 100th birthday, Route 66!
Happy 100th birthday, Route 66!
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