Heritage Parkscape: Biddy Mason Park

Born a slave in Mississippi in 1818, Biddy Mason walked behind her owner’s wagon, first to Utah then to Los Angeles. A federal judge freed her in 1856, before the United States Supreme Court held that slaves were not people protected by the United States Constitution in the Dred Scott case. Ms. Mason became a midwife, entrepreneur, landowner and philanthropist on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles, and a founder of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, a major Black church. The Park is a best practice for the Heritage Parkscape of public art reviving the forgotten history of Los Angeles.

Learn more about Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy.

Visit the Heritage Parkscape online and on flickr.