African Americans have been part of the Vallejo mosaic since 1850, the year of the North Bay city's birth. John Grider, a Tennessee native and former slave who arrived in Vallejo in 1850, was one of the city's earliest residents and a veteran of the California Bear Flag Revolt of 1846. While many 19th-century black pioneers established homes, businesses, and schools, it was during the Great Migration period of 1910-1970s that the bulk of Vallejo's black community took firm root. During this period, black folks from throughout the South--tiny towns and big cities alike, from places like Itasca, Texas; Heidelberg, Mississippi; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Lake Wales, Florida--made their way west searching for war-industry jobs at Mare Island Naval Shipyard and lives relatively free of unrelenting racial discord. African Americans in Vallejo chronicles this proud and oftentimes complicated journey.
| Author: Sharon McGriff-Payne |
| Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Library Editions |
| Publication Date: Dec 17, 2012 |
| Number of Pages: 130 pages |
| Binding: Hardback or Cased Book |
| ISBN-10: 1531664652 |
| ISBN-13: 9781531664657 |
