Cal State University Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) will host its third annual South Bay Symposium from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 2. This year they will look at the history of the city of Compton
Titled “Compton 1969: The Changing Face of Politics, Dreams of Our Fathers,” the symposium will take place on the fifth floor of the University Library North and will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the election of Douglas F. Dollarhide, the first African-American mayor of Compton.
Focused on “untwisting the legacy of Compton’s history,” the symposium will feature remarks by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kelvin D. Filler, and USC Law Professor Jody Armour. It will also include a panel discussion about the former mayors of Compton.
“Mayor Dollarhide’s election was a pivotal point in the ascension of Black political power in Southern California,” said Robert Lee Johnson, an author and member of the Compton 125 Historical Society. “Dollarhide’s election ushered in the first Black majority city council and school board in California, which led to the first Black school superintendent, police chief, and fire chief in the state of California.”
Since 1960, Cal State Dominguez Hills has served a diverse community of learners and educators collaborating to change lives and communities for the better.
The symposium is hosted by the Gerth Archives and Special Collection at CSUDH and the Compton 125 Historical Society, in conjunction with the Sepia Artist Collective and CSUDH’s Mervyn M. Dymally African-American Political and Economic Institute.
“By commemorating the legacy of progress and Black political success in the City of Compton, we challenge the legitimacy of the negative portrayals of the City of Compton in the mass media, and in the minds of many who have no idea of the true history of the city and its legacy,” said Greg Williams, director of the Gerth Archives and Special Collections at CSUDH.
Other sessions at the symposium will focus on the Dominguez Rancho Adobe family homestead, and the Rancho San Pedro, the first Spanish land grant in California, as well as the contributions of Hispanics in South Bay. The Sepia Art Collective will present an excerpt from the upcoming film “Compton’s Finest,” by filmmaker Cle Sloan.
CSUDH is located at 1000 E. Victoria Street.
For more information, contact Greg Williams at (310) 243-3013.
