In the 1920s, Boyle Heights was a multi-racial and multi-cultural community. Photo courtesy of Pinterest        By Shirlee Smith The Rhinehart story is taken from 1988 writings by Richard and Melvin and given to Bernice Pickett Smiley. When the Rhinehart family moved; just to the next block on the same street, two of the older boys, along with a couple of cousins, acted as official movers—no need for a truck. They simply pushed their family piano down Boulder Street to their new dwelling. This action may not be a common occurrence these days, but it wasn’t out of the ordinary for folks back in Boyle Heights, because our families frequently moved just a stone’s throw away from where we’d been living. Or in the case of the Rhineharts; just a piano push away. The family patriarch, Laurie H. Rhinehart, was born in Hickory, North Carolina, in 1902 and joined the Navy during World War I. In 1920, while stationed in San Pedro, California, he met and married Fran...

By Shirlee Smit h B oyle Heights - African Americans Were There , our organization, seeks to develop a historical perspective documenting the early arrivals and the continuous influx of our elders into this vibrant and multicultural community. Through stories, pictures and more, we work to present the facts surrounding our existence. We work to restore our history. And equally as important, we work to educate the public. Please contact us (626) 296-2777 with stories or other information regarding African Americans in Boyle Heights.  The stories of Black families in Boyle Heights have a common thread—moving from Boyle Heights but coming back to the “home place,” race relations, and the unique ability to never be too far away from their local relatives. African Americans N Boyle Heights - We Were There stories focus on where they worked, where they came from, their hopes and dreams. All African Americans who lived in Boyle Heights didn’t necessarily ...

Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, a Boyle Heights legacy. Inset: Minnie J. Jackson. Photo courtesy of Pamela Davis/Andy Takajian and the Lawrence Family Archives . By Shirlee Smith In the neighborhood, the schools, the cemetery, the churches, the workplace, the political movements… we were everywhere, especially if and when being there meant being a part of building and sustaining this vibrant multi-cultural enclave. Our organization seeks to develop a historical perspective documenting the early arrivals and the continuous influx of our elders into an enclave well known for its significant place within the history of Los Angeles. Less familiar are the contributions our elders made to Boyle Heights from its earliest days onward. As members of “Boyle Heights - African Americans Were There,” an organization we are pleased to introduce within the pages of Brooklyn & Boyle , we work to present the facts surrounding our existence. We work to restore our history. And just as importantly...