Pepperdine Libraries and Weisman Museum to Host Lecture from Alison Rose Jefferson

On Wednesday, March 16, 2022, from 12:30 to 1:30 PM, Pepperdine Libraries and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art will present a lecture by historian Alison Rose Jefferson. The lecture, entitled “Black Leaders of Leisure at California Beaches in the Struggle for Freedom during the Jim Crow Era: The Implications of their Stories for Our Lives Today,” will be held in the Surfboard Room of Payson Library and be available on livestream. 

Jefferson, whose research demonstrates how the African American struggle for leisure and public space also reshaped the freedom rights movement, will explore the overlooked stories in the “collective memory of Southern California beach culture heritage, particularly in Santa Monica, Venice, and Manhattan Beach. She will highlight stories of African Americans who faced discrimination and their contestation responses during the Jim Crow era. She will also review the current innovative public programming forged in new partnerships with colleagues in ocean stewardship, the history industry, local government, and ocean aquatics that are facilitating pathways to broader audiences connecting to these more diverse stories of our collective history and heritage. 

The lecture will feature some material from Jefferson’s recent book, Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era, which presents new directions in Black Western Studies and ways history public programming is being used to empower people with useful knowledge to be a force for civic engagement, justice, and equality while facilitating individual and community pride. 

The lecture is free to attend, but advanced registration is required as seating is limited. To learn more and register to attend, visit the event’s registration page.