AMENDED AGENDA REGULAR MEETING HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Tuesday, May 4, 2021 6:30 P.M.

MEMBERS

Charlotte Lacey, Chair, District 7 Brandon Lamar, Vice-Chair, Mayor Theresa Robinett, District 2 Rene Gonzalez, District 3 Kevork Keushkerian, District 4 Katie Young, District 5 Sandy Greenstein, District 6 Hamed Shirmohammadi, At Large Vacant, District 1

STAFF

LaWayne Williams, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Supervisor Alexis Taylor, Program Coordinator I Tamer Sabha, Recording Secretary

Human Relations Commission meetings are held on the 1st Tuesday of each month.

Agendas and related documents are available for public review on the City website at: https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/human-relations-commission/

To request meeting materials in alternative formats or other disability-related modifications or accommodations necessary to facilitate meeting participation, please contact the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department as soon as possible at (626) 744-7295 or [email protected]. Providing at least 72-hour advance notice will help ensure availability.

Language translation services may also be requested with 72-hour advance notice by calling (626) 744-7295 or [email protected]. Habrá servicio de interpretación disponible para éstas juntas llamando (626) 744-7295. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

PURSUANT TO EXECUTIVE ORDER N-29-20 ISSUED BY GOVERNOR ON MARCH 17, 2020, THE FOLLOWING MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE SOLELY BY TELECONFERENCE/VIDEOCONFERENCE.

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC MAY PARTICIPATE ELECTRONICALLY IN THE OPEN SESSION PORTION OF THE MEETING.

ACCESS TO THE MEETING IS AS FOLLOWS:

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PUBLIC COMMENT INSTRUCTIONS

If you wish to provide comment, you may do so as follows:

1. ADVANCE CORRESPONDENCE, TO BECOME PART OF THE RECORD: Submit public comment of any length to [email protected] prior to the meeting day. Please be aware that, while these comments will be provided to the members of the body and will become part of the meeting record, they will not be read aloud.

2. COMMENTS TO BE READ ALOUD AT THE MEETING: Submit public comment of up to 200 words regarding items on the agenda to: https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/public-comment/. The body reserves the right to summarize comments if necessary for the orderly and timely flow of the meeting. All comments in their entirety will become part of the meeting record.

If you need a reasonable modification or accommodation pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act because you are unable to participate electronically as set forth above, please contact the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department as soon as possible at (626) 744-7295 or [email protected]. AMENDED AGENDA REGULAR MEETING HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Tuesday, May 4, 2021 6:30 P.M.

1. CALL TO ORDER; ROLL CALL

2. WELCOME . WELCOME TO NEW COMMISSIONER KATIE YOUNG (DISTRICT 5)

3. PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA (PLEASE FOLLOW PUBLIC COMMENT INSTRUCTIONS)

4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES . APRIL 6, 2021*

5. NEW BUSINESS ACTION ITEMS . DISCUSSION OF METHOD FOR SELECTING WINNERS FOR MULTIMEDIA HIGH SCHOOL ESSAY CONTEST

. SELECT DATE AND TIME OF ANNUAL MEETING

. ESTABLISH NOMINATING COMMITTEE FOR FY 2021-2022 COMMISSION OFFICERS

INFORMATION ITEM . DISCUSSION REGARDING EXISTING PLAQUES IN OLD PASADENA THAT REFERENCE HISTORICAL INACCURACIES FROM 1885 – (STAFF, LOLA OSBORNE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR)*

6. OLD BUSINESS INFORMATION ITEMS . CONTINUED DISCUSSION OF PASADENANS EMPOWERING PARENT PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION GOVERNANACE (PEPPEG) PRESENTATION FROM THE APRIL MEETING  DISCUSSION OF RACIAL VIOLENCE ISSUES IN SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

. DISCUSSION OF HOLDING A SPECIAL MEETING IN 2021 ON ISSUES THAT AFFECT HUMAN RELATIONS IN THE CITY OF PASADENA

ACTION ITEM . COMMISSION WORK PLAN UPDATES AND DISCUSSION*

7. COMMENTS AND UPDATES . COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS

. STAFF COMMENTS

8. SUGGESTED AGENDA ITEMS FOR FUTURE COMMISSION MEETINGS

9. ADJOURNMENT

*Attachment

POSTING STATEMENT: I HEREBY CERTIFY that this Agenda, in its entirety was posted on the City Council Chamber Bulletin Board S249, and the bulletin board in the rotunda area at City Hall, 100 North Garfield Avenue on or before the 29th day of April 2021, by 5:30 p.m. The agenda may be viewed at the City’s website at: www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/human-relations-commission.

Charlotte Lacey, Chair Tamer Sabha, Recording Secretary Human Relations Commission *DRAFT MINUTES*

CITY OF PASADENA HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2021 3:00 PM

COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Rene Gonzalez, Kevork Keushkerian, Charlotte Lacey, Brandon Lamar, Brenda Morales, Theresa Robinett, Hamed Shirmohammadi

COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Sandy Greenstein (unexcused)

STAFF PRESENT: LaWayne Williams, Tamer Sabha

1. CALL TO ORDER; ROLL CALL Chair Lacey called the meeting to order at 3:02 PM. Staff (Sabha) called the roll and a quorum was established for the Commission.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES, After review, it was moved (Lamar) and seconded (Keushkerian) to approve the minutes of the March 2, 2021 meeting. (Motion carried) (Abstain: Morales)

COMMISSIONER IN FAVOR ABSTAIN Lacey x Lamar x Morales x Robinett x Gonzalez x Keushkerian x Shirmohammadi x

3. NEW BUSINESS . PRESENTATION FROM PASADENANS EMPOWERING PARENT PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION GOVERNANACE (PEPPEG) ON THEIR PURPOSE AND FUNCTION – (BRETT SHEARS, CO-CHAIR) The Commission received a presentation from Pasadenans Empowering Parent Participation in Education Governance (PEPPEG) on the group's purpose and function to expand voting rights to all Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) parents regardless of their citizenship status. Questions from the Commission followed. . DISCUSSION OF RECENT VIOLENT ACTS AGAINST ASIANS The Commission discussed the recent racially motivated attacks against Asian community members in the City of Pasadena and the .

Staff (Williams) asked the Commission to think about how it can address not only racially-motivated attacks against those of Asian descent, but also anyone within the City who finds themselves in a racially-motivated incident. Staff (Williams) recommended the Commission look into Los Angeles’ anti-hate campaigns and see if there is an opportunity for collaboration and educating the public on what incidents should be reported directly to law enforcement and other incidents that can be monitored.

. DISCUSSION OF NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2021 HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION ANNUAL AWARDS The Commission discussed and decided to cancel the 2021 Human Relations Commission Annual Awards due to COVID-19 and celebrating the 2020 winners along with the 2022 winners next year.

. PROPOSED CHANGE FOR THE HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING START TIME – CHAIR LACEY After discussion, it was moved (Robinett) and seconded (Lamar) for the Human Relations Commission to resume meeting during the regular meeting time of 6:30pm, beginning in May 2021. (Motion unanimously carried)

COMMISSIONER IN FAVOR Lacey x Lamar x Morales x Robinett x Gonzalez x Keushkerian x Shirmohammadi x

4. OLD BUSINESS . DISCUSS HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MULTIMEDIA HIGH SCHOOL ESSAY CONTEST After discussion, it was moved (Lamar) and seconded (Robinett) to extend the date of the deadline for submissions for the Multimedia High School Essay Contest to Saturday, May 1, 2021. (Motion unanimously carried)

COMMISSIONER IN FAVOR Lacey x Lamar x Morales x Robinett x Gonzalez x Keushkerian x Shirmohammadi x

. DISCUSS HOLDING A SPECIAL MEETING IN 2021 ON ISSUES THAT AFFECT HUMAN RELATIONS IN THE CITY OF PASADENA Vice-Chair Lamar reported that there is no update to share today’s meeting.

. COMMISSION WORK PLAN UPDATES AND DISCUSSION After discussion, it was moved (Lamar) and seconded (Robinett) to accept work plan updates as stated. (Motion unanimously carried)

COMMISSIONER IN FAVOR Lacey x Lamar x Morales x Robinett x Gonzalez x Keushkerian x Shirmohammadi x

5. COMMENTS AND UPDATES . COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS None

. STAFF COMMENTS None

6. SUGGESTED AGENDA ITEMS FOR FUTURE COMMISSION MEETINGS - Discussion of submitting a letter to the City Council about intolerance and discrimination based on race and improving better human relations - Discussion of supporting or inviting an organization to present information about recent hate crimes - Discussion of selecting winners for the Multimedia High School Essay Contest - Follow-up discussion of the Pasadenans Empowering Parent Participation In Education Governanace (PEPPEG) presentation

7. ADJOURNMENT It was moved (Keushkerian) and seconded (Lamar) to adjourn the special meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 3:56 PM. DATE: May 4, 2021

TO: Human Relations Commission

FROM: LaWayne Williams, Recreation and Community Services Superintendent

SUBJECT: Historical Inaccuracies of Plaques in Mills Place Alley

Mills Place Alley (formerly known as Ward Alley) is a landmark in Old Pasadena that has two historical marker plaques bookending the alley on Colorado Blvd. and Green St. The two markers recognize Alexander Fraser Mills, who was a nurseryman who planted a citrus grove on the corner of Colorado Blvd. and Fair Oaks Ave. in 1878. The last sentence on the plaque reads, “In 1885, a fire at this site destroyed a laundry establishment owned by Chinese settlers.” Two Pasadena residents recently notified their City Councilmember that this description does not capture the gravity of the events connected to the fire. City Library staff located several newspaper articles from 1885 that provide a more accurate account of events leading up to and surrounding the fire. The information gathered details an unwarranted mob attack on Chinese Pasadena residents and the laundry business in Ward Alley, which resulted in more than 20 residents being forced out of the city and the laundry being burned down. The inscription on the plaques omit the racially motivated mob attack that led to the fire and fleeing of the Chinese residents from the site and Pasadena. This matter is being brought to the Human Relations Commission for recommendations on how to address the inaccuracies on the plaques. These recommendations can include, but are not limited to:

- Begin process to create new plaques solely dedicated to acknowledging this event - Host a public event to educate the public about the atrocious events from 1885 - Work with City staff to initiate a press release

The Commission will have the opportunity to further discuss and develop recommendations for action during the July meeting.

Cc: Brenda Harvey-Williams, Director, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department Lola Osborne, Deputy Director, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department

from Pasadena: Its Early Years by Henry Markham Page (1964)

\ PASADENA: Its Early Years The End of an Era

domestic use, mainly, and if eggs and chickens were sold it was merely a back door and the mob followed them, throwing anything they could sideline to the more important citrus, fruit, and agricultural pursuits of get their hands on. True to the pattem of mob action they soon tumed the ranchers. In the month that the railroad arrived in Pasadena, F. W. back and looted the buming wash house. The victims of this outrage Machin started the Oak Lawn Poultry Farm, the "largest and most fled to a nearby building where they barricaded themselves. The crowd heroic venture ever attempted in South ." This establishment threatened to bum that building down also and started yelling that every was built on Allen Avenue just south of Colorado Street. Five thousand Chinaman would either leave town that night or be hung. While some hens were housed in fifty pens. Machin had, in addition, one thousand of the group were starting to tear the frame building apart, Deputy Sher- breeders, four incubators with a capacity of two thousand eggs, and hos- iff Thomas Banbury arrived as did B. F. Ball, G. A. Geeeley, and I. N. pital facilities for sick chickens. For its day this was chicken raising on Mundell. These men soon restored order but feelings continued to an unheard of scale and was closely watched by the interested local resi- run high and a series of resolutions were passed by a gathering of Citizens dents, some of whom were pessimistic because of their lack of success who met in the real estate office of T. P. Lukins. The main point was with far fewer chickens. The gloomy outlook of these people was justi- that, then and there, the area between Orange Grove Avenue and Lake fied, for in about six months disease wiped out the twelve thousand doUar Avenue, and between California Street and Mountain Street was out of project. By way of explanation for the coUapse of the the scheme, H. A. bounds to the Chinese as far as residence was concemed, and they were Reid wrote: given a reasonable time to get out. The Ultimatum was signed by Well, nature abhors a monopoly, as well as a vacuum, and would many of the prominent Citizens. There was no further trouble arising not tolerate so much chicken life in so small a space — at any rate not in from the incident as the Chinese soon moved either clear out of the area Pasadenaland. or to other locations near to Fair Oaks Avenue south of California Street. <<<<<

The phraseology will live even though the chickens didn't. The year of 1885 also saw a development much more in keeping with the attitude of a Community that prided itself on high Standards. >>>>> The first of the very few black chapters in the history of Pasadena was written in the latter part of 1885. The disgraceful event was the Two new schools were built. The increase in the enrollment of students local manifestation of the state-wide prejudice against Chinese people. at the Central School, which had a capacity of about one hundred stu• When the overland railroad was completed in 1869 the work force, con- dents, made more classroom space essential. The average daily attend- sisting almost entirely of Chinese, was left to shift for itself and a large ance in 1884 had been one hundred fifty-five. A Special assessment was number drifted into the southem part of the State. Some found their authorized in the San Pasqual School District which provided for two way to Pasadena where they were employed building railroads when new school buildings. One was built on Monks Hill on land donated by there was one to build, picking fruit during the season, washing and iron- Painter and Ball; the other on one acre of ground at the corner of Allen ing clothes, and working in homes as servants and cooks. None of these Avenue and Colorado Street. This site had to be purchased and repre- jobs were attractive to white labor but the very fact that a foreigner was sented an outlay of one hundred seventy-five doUars. Fach of the new being paid for working became distasteful to the majority of people. This buildings was designed to accommodate eighty students and was ready was in the face of the absolutely innocuous life led by the Chinese. They for use in January, 1885, with the Ball sisters filling the teaching posi- never bothered anyone. If they had a quarrel it was with one of their tions. The new structures, which had cost four thousand three hundred own race. They worked hard and could be seen on the streets of Pasa• dollars, were considered adequate to take care of educational needs for dena dressed in their long coats, the men with their hair tied in queues, some time to come. shuffling to and from their jobs. Until 1885, the Episcopalians had held their church Services in dif- During the evening of November 6, a group of men and boys were ferent places — sometimes in the hall of the library, other times in Bar• sitting in front of the Chinese wash house on Fair Oaks Avenue just south ney Williams' Hall. Then, in that year, the Reverend Mr. Macnab en- of Colorado Street. Some of the men loafing there were transient labor• gaged the firm of Ridgeway and Ripley to design and build a chapel on ers who were busy blaming the Chinese for their inability to get a job. Colorado Street near the intersection of Euclid. The church was com• As the talk progressed feelings became more bitter and finally one of pleted in time for Easter Services. D. S. Risely, E. T. Hurlbut, J. M. the men, seeing four Chinese ironing by the light of a lamp in the wash Radebaugh, C. Schraff, W. S. Arnold, J. W. Hugus, and B. E. Ward were house, picked up a rock and threw it into the window. More stones the prominent men behind Pasadena's newest church and they were able followed the first and one hit an ironer, another hit the kerosene lamp to report that all debts were paid at a meeting held on the day foUowing which broke and set the whole place on fire. The Chinese ran out the the opening Easter Services.

66 67 Night of Terror Posted by Pasadena Weekly Staff | Nov 5, 2015 | 0 |

The LA Times called it “a sensation which will be read of this morning from end to end of the United States.” Pasadena’s newspaper referred to it as a “Black Friday.” One-hundred and thirty years ago this month, a white mob turned Pasadena’s Chinatown into an inferno, obliterating it from the landscape, and, for many years, from the history books as well. Over the course of 24 hours, enraged racists drove Pasadena’s 60 to 100 Chinese citizens from the city in an ordeal that began with a dropped cigar and culminated in threats of a mass lynching. Roughly 100 men — nearly one-quarter of the population of Pasadena — participated in the riot, yet no one was ever arrested or charged in the case. To this day, the rioters’ names remain unknown. Though historians have long thought it to be a random act of violence perpetrated by a gang of lawless hoodlums, new evidence suggests a coordinated effort between Pasadena’s elite and its underclass. City officials may have even joined in the mayhem. It was a pivotal incident in the city’s early history, leading to the creation of its first fire department and ushering in an era of racial separation that endured for decades. Though the rioters cannot be named with certainty, those who inspired them — through inflammatory newspaper articles and anti-Chinese petitions — can. They were the city’s railroad and citrus barons, bank presidents and real estate moguls. The day after the riot, they would draft the city’s first racially restrictive zoning ordinance. The last one wouldn’t be challenged until the 1950s. Historians — and even journalists of the time — differ on minor details of what happened on the night of Nov. 6, 1885, but the overall facts are clear. The following account is drawn from city histories, photographs, firsthand recollections, fire insurance maps, and newspapers. It is a story of courage and cowardice, of resilience and renewal.

Consequently Cosmopolitan “Beautiful scenery, tasteful homes, fine drives, choice fruits and flowers, good society, and many other attractions for the tourist and emigrant.” Such was the way Lyman Allen, a local doctor, described Pasadena in 1885. Founded by eager Midwesterners, Pasadena prided itself on its modernity. It boasted prominent citizens such as Jabez Banbury, the decorated Civil War colonel who fought for the Union Army, and Abbot Kinney, the forestry pioneer who would later carve Venice out of a coastal swamp. With banks, telephone service, ice cream shops, a public library, a Wells Fargo express office, a roller skating rink, gaslit hotels, a dramatic club, and a railroad that made five daily trips to Los Angeles, Pasadena was one of the most modern towns in the San Gabriel Valley. “Materially, socially and morally,” read a tourist guidebook of the time, “its standard leads all southern cities.” Like many other towns, including San Gabriel, El Monte, Arcadia and Monrovia, it also had a small Chinese population that numbered between 60 and 100 residents. They began working in Pasadena in the 1870s — as ranch hands, orange pickers, domestic servants, houseboys and cooks. Between 1883 and 1885, they also helped build the Los Angeles & San Gabriel Valley Railroad, alongside Irish and Mexican workers. In 1875, Yuen Kee, a Chinese businessman, established a laundry on South Orange Grove Boulevard. “And so this and there was the first Chinese business started in Pasadena,” wrote historian Hiram Reid in 1895. In 1883, Yuen moved his laundry to Mills Place (then called Mills Street), in present-day Old Pasadena, where he rented a 544-square-foot building from Jacob Hisey, a trustee of the Pasadena Presbyterian Church. “This establishes a Chinese quarter of the town,” wrote the Pasadena Chronicle on Aug. 16, 1883. “And we are consequently cosmopolitan, as we understand it in California.” Others followed, including Lin Kee, a Chinese entrepreneur described in newspapers as “a bright active fellow, shrewd in business and generally popular,” who spoke English fluently and also worked as a local court interpreter. By 1885, there were at least three Chinese businesses along Mills Place: Lin Kee’s laundry, store and employment office; Yuen Kee’s laundry and employment office; and Quong Wung Chung’s “Chinee & Dry Goods” store, as it was advertised in local papers. Other Chinese settlers lived in a handful of wooden buildings across the street, which they rented from citrus grower Alexander F. Mills. According to newspaper accounts, Quong Wung Chung’s store also doubled as a gambling den. If Pasadena welcomed its “cosmopolitan” Chinatown at first, it soon succumbed to the anti-Chinese fervor of the time. In 1884, the Pasadena & Valley Union, the city’s only newspaper, began publishing anti-Chinese articles. Its editor called the Chinese “an objectionable class” whose immigration “ought to be restricted” and warned against “another flood of coolies.” With the acquisition of a new editor, Charles A. Gardner, in January 1885, the paper became a mouthpiece for some of the community’s most hateful voices. Gardner called the Chinese “the most immoral and exclusive race of people on this earth” and published an anti- immigration tirade by Stephen T. Gage, president of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which asserted that “the Asiatic civilization … will not amalgamate with ours, nor can people with our civilization live under it. We have passed the point which the framers of the Constitution had in view when they invited the oppressed to seek an asylum on our shores.”

By early October of that year, the paper claimed there was “sufficient cause” for expelling the Chinese from Pasadena. “We believe it can be done lawfully and without interfering with the property or business rights of anyone concerned,” they wrote. “Let the Chinese be assigned a place remote from the center of town. The sanitary, business and moral interests of the place demand it. Further delay in making the change suggested ought not to be thought of. Prompt action may save serious consequences.” Some citizens took the entreaty seriously. In the week leading up to Nov. 6, 1885, a petition was passed around town that enjoined the signers not to rent to Chinese, or to allow Chinese businesses near their property. It laid the groundwork for the violence that was to follow.

‘A Great Nuisance’ On the morning of Nov. 6, 1885, subscribers to the Pasadena & Valley Union read a terse statement buried among the day’s headlines: “An anti-Chinese agreement has been circulated here and generally signed during the week. It pledges the signers not to lease property to Chinamen, and must be effective in driving them out if all property owners would unite in it.” The petition had been drawn up on Nov. 1 and in just six days 96 men had signed it. Two weeks later, the names of the signers would be published. They included two future mayors (M.H. Weight and T.P. Lukens), the city postmaster, the justice of the peace, the president of the Colorado Street Railroad Company, and the man who laid the cornerstone for the Castle Green. At 1:30 p.m., the smell of wood smoke began to permeate the air of Pasadena. Though not unusual in the colder months, when wood stoves warmed homes and hotels, the smell was accompanied by eerie plumes of gray smoke that rose from the city center. Soon, a roaring blaze was visible behind the Ward Block, which stood at the southwest corner of Fair Oaks and Colorado, northeast of Chinatown. A year before, the Union had warned of the potential disaster of an out-of-control blaze in a city of wood buildings. “As matters now stand in Pasadena,” wrote the paper, “we have no adequate protection from any fire that might break out in the rapidly solidifying center of business at any time. Is it not about time some measure can be taken to guard against such a calamity? … Sometime a fire will come and proper preparations should be made to meet it now.” With no formal fire department, volunteers were required to put out blazes. The bell of Pasadena’s schoolhouse served as a rudimentary siren, signaling all hands to fill their water buckets. When the school bell pealed on the afternoon of Nov. 6, a volunteer brigade rushed toward the towering columns of smoke. When they reached the Ward Block, they saw that the barn of J.H. Fleming, a local wagon trimmer, had caught fire. Nearly a ton of hay was housed in the barn, and it went up like a match on gasoline. One of Fleming’s cows barely escaped the barn, suffering severe injuries, and a house belonging to a family named Wagner or “Waggoner” next door also burned. Though the fire was soon extinguished, it had set Pasadena on edge. And a rumor began to spread that the Chinese had started it. As the city quieted down, and people began enjoying the pleasures of a Friday night, a group of white men gathered near Yuen Kee’s laundry, at the corner of Fair Oaks and Green Street. According to historian Henry Markham Page, they were mostly transient laborers who were “busy blaming the Chinese for their inability to get a job.” By 8 p.m. the group had grown, and they began “loafing, smoking, and talking ‘Chinaman’ along the street in the front of the wash-house,” in the words of historian Hiram Reid. Inside the laundry, nine or ten Chinese employees worked by the light of a kerosene lamp. The white men began to taunt the Chinese men, and all of a sudden, one of them picked a stone off the ground, took careful aim, and lobbed it through the laundry’s glass window. The stone struck one of the workers. Another followed, knocking over the lamp and starting a fire. The Chinese people inside threw a blanket over it, but the flames quickly spread. Later, there would be at least three different accounts of who threw the stones. The Chinese workers claimed it was a local thug named Charley Johnson — a baker with a longstanding grudge against them. Historian J.W. Wood attributed it to “two urchins … meandering down Fair Oaks Avenue upon a November night.” The LA Times said it was “a lawless white youth.” To this day, the stone thrower’s name remains unknown. The Chinese fled out of Yuen Kee’s laundry onto Mills Place, where they were confronted by the mob, members of which began throwing sticks, stones, and other projectiles at them. They then ran to an adjacent building, barricading themselves inside. As the fire burned, it leapt to a wood-frame restaurant north of the laundry, which soon collapsed in a flurry of embers. It then spread to William Buttner’s meat market, just south of the laundry, which was torn down to prevent further damage. As orange tongues of flame rose into the night sky, the mob swelled to 100 men. Many were intoxicated, having just patronized a local saloon, and according to two eyewitnesses, they began shouting, “Lynch the Chinks!” and “Hang the yellow devils!” Before Yuen Kee’s laundry was consumed by fire, they rushed inside, looting what hadn’t already been incinerated. Then they made for the building where the Chinese laundry workers had fled. By this time, Pasadena Deputy Sheriff Thomas Banbury, a relative of the Civil War colonel, had received word of the riot. Hastily, he loaded his pistol, grabbed city marshal I.N. Mundell and two other men — B.F. Ball and George Greeley — and headed toward Mills Place. When Banbury arrived, his eyes fell upon a chaotic scene. The white mob had surrounded the building where Chinese workers hid and were trying to pull the building apart piece by piece. Wasting no time, Banbury leapt on a barrel and addressed the crowd with a forceful plea. “What he said was backed by the unlimbering of a fine piece of pocket artillery with which [he] promised to perforate anybody performing unlawful acts,” recalled Arthur Clarke in 1923. Banbury promised to make the Chinese leave the next day if the crowd would disperse. He then formed a small council to confer with them, entered the building where they had taken refuge, and after 20 minutes’ discussion, they agreed. Banbury made no arrests that night, but in the following days he would be the only Pasadenan to lease property to the Chinese, promising to “defend his tenants with force of arms, if need be,” according to the LA Times. The next day, the Chinese moved their belongings to his South Raymond Avenue property, which became the site of Pasadena’s second Chinatown. After the riot had been quelled, Pasadena went swiftly into damage control. Anticipating a media sensation, several citizens preemptively contacted the Los Angeles Times. “The Chinese have been a great nuisance here on account of their noise and uncleanliness,” they told the paper. “There had been much feeling, and tonight’s fire was the last straw.” Some Chinese spent the night shivering in the burnt-out buildings. Others were taken in by concerned white citizens. About 20 left for Los Angeles and never returned. At midnight, another call was made to the Times: “All quiet since the Chinese agreed to leave, and no celestials visible. Seven extra watchmen are patrolling the town, and we are sleeping on our arms. We anticipate no further trouble, however.”

The American Man’s Ultimatum The day after the fire, the Chinese returned to survey the wreckage. Here, they witnessed a grim sight: during the night, a crude, scarecrow-like effigy of a Chinese man had been lynched from a telegraph pole across the street. The overall loss of property totaled roughly $2,000, though the figure may have been much higher. Adjusted for inflation, it would top $45,000 in today’s dollars. Unbeknownst to the Chinese residents, the business tycoons of Pasadena were at that very moment drafting the city’s first racial zoning ordinance. In the notary public office of T.P. Lukens — a real estate baron who would be elected Pasadena mayor twice — they drafted a hurried resolution. “Resolved,” it read, “that it is the sentiment of this community that no Chinese quarters be allowed within the following limits of Pasadena: Orange Grove and Lake avenues, California St. and Mountain Avenue.” When delivered to the Chinese, it included a grim proviso: if they failed to leave within 24 hours, the bell of Pasadena’s schoolhouse would “call out the crowd, and they would run the Chinese out by force.” By midafternoon, Pasadena’s Chinese residents had left. Within days, D.C. Ehrenfeld, one of the signatories, had leased part of his property for a “white laundry” which employed Caucasians only. “He will do all kinds of laundrying, with white labor, at reasonable rates,” wrote the Union on Nov. 13. “Give him a call and encourage the enterprise with your patronage.” William Peirce, another signer, would soon run ads for his Marengo Avenue hotel that read: “Fine sunny rooms, cheerful parlors and dining room … No Chinese employed.” A total of 35 men signed the ordinance, which was published in the Pasadena & Valley Union a week later. They included a city trustee and a bank president. According to an eyewitness, some of these men may have also participated in the riot. On Nov. 11, 1885, Ezra S. Carr, former state education superintendent and a friend of John Muir and Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote a furious letter to the LA Times, singling out the riot’s instigators by profession. “The acts of arson and pillage on Friday evening, November 6, [were] perpetrated by a gang of miscreants whose names are known, and whose courage was manufactured in a neighboring whisky saloon, aided by darkness and the silent approval of respectable citizens,” he wrote. Among them, he counted “one clergyman, one school principal, one school trustee, one justice of the peace, one road overseer and president of a water company, [and] an indefinite number of real estate and other business men.” Days later, Carr witnessed the same men convening outside the city Post Office. “No formal resolutions were passed by the meeting against arson, robbery, or whisky saloons,” Carr noted. “The unvoiced opinion seemed to be — ‘the Chinese must go, but whisky halls and gambling sharps must be protected.” Other Pasadenans interviewed by the LA Times on Nov. 7 reported “a strong feeling of regret at the violent occurrences of Friday night” and a feeling that “the good name of Pasadena has suffered in the eyes of the world in consequence of what was done.” By Nov. 11, news of the riot had appeared in newspapers from San Francisco to Bangor, Maine. That same day, a journalist from the Sacramento Record Union interviewed California Gov. , a former Union general turned anti-Reconstruction Democrat who owned property in San Marino and, according to one newspaper account, staunchly refused to hire Chinese, “even in the lowest menial work about him.” He asserted that, if anything, Pasadena hadn’t gone far enough. “[Stoneman] said the citizens of Pasadena, instead of ridding themselves of the heathen, had actually accomplished nothing,” the journalist wrote. “On the contrary, [they] had placed themselves in a worse condition relative to the Chinamen than they were before John’s expulsion from within the city limits.” Despite the adversity they faced, Pasadena’s Chinese rebuilt on the outskirts of the city. Along South Arroyo Parkway and South Raymond and South Fair Oaks avenues Lin Kee, Yuen Kee and others opened new laundries. In 1888, Lin Kee became the first Chinese man to get married in the city of Pasadena. Two years later, the city’s first fire department was created, and in 1889, the first fire station was built directly across the street from where Yuen Kee’s laundry stood. (The building still stands today between Green and Dayton streets as Firehouse Recording Studios.) Other changes followed. By the 1930s, entire sections of the city were off-limits to all but white residents. De facto segregation continued in the city until the 1970s. Pasadena’s original Chinatown remained invisible on the landscape for more than 100 years, but in the mid-1990s, two identical plaques were installed along Mills Place as part of a larger city plan to identify historic alleyways. Their text reads: “Mills Place: named for Alexander Fraser Mills, a nurseryman who planted a citrus grove on 7 ½ acres at the northwest corner of Colorado Boulevard and Fair Oaks Avenue in 1878. … In 1885, a fire at this site destroyed a laundry owned by Chinese settlers.” Tell and Retell Today, in the spots where Yuen Kee, Lin Kee, and Quong Wung Hung hung out their signs 130 years ago, many new Asian businesses have taken their place. As a result, some Asian-American historians think the time is right for a revision of the plaques — one that tells the true story of the riot and recognizes contributions of the Chinese community to Pasadena. “One of our ethical obligations to accurately portray history should be to revisit many of these plaques to try not to rewrite, but to correct the history,” says Eugene Moy, former president of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California. “It doesn’t have to say, ‘Well, the city should be ashamed,’ but I think a revision of the plaques would be helpful, because Chinatown was a significant economic force in the community and was unfortunately driven out.” Susie H. Ling, associate professor of history and Asian-American studies at Pasadena City College, shares this view. “The contributions of our Chinese pioneers should be acknowledged in a multitude of ways in the communities they helped build,” Ling says. “How wonderful it would be if we celebrated the Chinese who built Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena, the San Gabriel Winery in Alhambra and the many orchards of early Pasadena. A corrected plaque at Mills Place should only be one of many community markers.” The Mills Place plaques and others around Old Pasadena were installed in the 1990s “to provide a sense of place and reinforce the alley names as places,” according to Robert Montano, business concierge for Pasadena’s Economic Development Division. Montano doesn’t think revised plaques would turn off visitors, and says he’d support efforts to alter them if the funds could be raised. “But that is just one opinion offered without any consideration of the practical matter of getting it done,” he adds, “and attempting to draw the line on where we should stop in the telling of the historic record. Pasadena has a long history, some of it dark, that affected many, many more people than just the Chinese community.” Sue Mossman, director of Pasadena Heritage, helped write the plaques along with the Pasadena Museum of History and the city’s cultural heritage staff. Mossman says it was lack of space rather than oversight that prevented a more comprehensive telling of Pasadena’s Chinese expulsion. “The story of the Chinese laundry fire and how the Chinese residents were treated at the time is an incredibly sad chapter in the history of this community and one that has not been widely publicized,” she says. “Obviously only a brief mention of the history of each alley could be included on the plaques as they were created.” Bill McCurdy, who funded the Mills Place plaques, says he was unaware of the history of the riot. Jean Pfaelzer, a historian who mentions Pasadena’s Chinese expulsion in her book, “Driven Out: The Forgotten War against Chinese Americans,” thinks revised plaques may not be sufficient. “A plaque can disappear,” she says. “It becomes a brick. The plaque needs to become part of new ways of making textbooks, and new annual celebrations and holidays. Lunar New Years in Pasadena should be marked as an important holiday. And at that time, like Passover, the story of the riot should be told and retold.” n

CITY OF PASADENA HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION WORK PLAN: 08/01/2020-06/30/2021

MISSION (as stated in Charter/Ordinance):

The purpose of the Human Relations Commission is to aid the city in achieving better human relations in city government, and to provide assistance to private persons and groups in promoting good will and better relations among all people. The Human Relations Commission is an advisory body.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To advise City Council on Human Relations issues of public, local and national concerns with regular updates to provide an opportunity to review and understand issues for the decision making process. ______Work Plan Updates:

August 2020: The Commission established a draft of the FY20-21 work plan.

September 2020: The Commission approved the work plan for FY 20-21.

October 2020: No update was provided.

November 2020: No update was provided.

December 2020: No update was provided.

January 2021: The Commission approved submitting a public comment to the City Council about recognizing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday.

February 2021: Chair Lacey submitted a public comment on behalf of the Commission recognizing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday for the City Council meeting on Monday, January 11.

March 2021: No update was provided.

April 2021: No update was provided.

HRC Work Plan FY 20-21. Approved September 1, 2020 Page 1 of 5

2. To present public forums, panels, and programs on issues that affect human relations in the City of Pasadena.

Lacey, Lamar, Gonzalez

Rekindling the Light of Peace ad hoc: Lacey (Lead), Gonzalez, Shirmohammadi

Action Items:  Rekindling the Light of Peace  Multimedia High School Essay Contest  Human Relations Commission Annual Awards Ceremony  Investigate alternatives to in-person forums, panels, and programs

______

Work Plan Updates:

August 2020: The Commission established a draft of the FY20-21 work plan.

September 2020:  Chair Nehdar appointed Commissioners Nehdar, Lacey, Greenstein, and Gonzalez to the Rekindling the Light of Peace ad hoc committee.  Chair Nehdar appointed Commissioners Greenstein (lead), Lamar, Nehdar, and Robinett to an ad hoc committee to discuss meeting regarding social justice.

October 2020: The ad hoc committee decided and approved holding the Rekindling the Light of Peace event through Zoom on Saturday, January 9, 2021.

November 2020:  The ad hoc committee confirmed the Rekindling the Light of Peace virtual event will take place on Saturday, January 9, 2021 from 10:00am-11:30am on Zoom.  Vice-Chair Lacey will contact potential speakers for the event and select the keynote speaker.  Chair Nehdar confirmed a musical performance and the Commission discussed the logistics of pre-recording portions of the event.  The Commission requested Staff (Williams) look into the possibility of recognizing the 2020 Human Relations Commission Annual Award winners at a future City Council meeting.

HRC Work Plan FY 20-21. Approved September 1, 2020 Page 2 of 5

 Commissioners discussed requesting certificates of appreciation for the 2020 Human Relations Commission Annual Award winners from Senator Anthony Portantino and Assembly member Chris Holden.

December 2020:  Chair Nehdar shared that the Multimedia High School Essay Contest will be postponed due to COVID-19.  Chair Nehdar contacted Pasadena Media (KPAS) to participate in the Rekindling the Light of Peace event and will be emailing invitations, selecting a speaker, and finding a performer for the national anthem.

January 2021:  The Commission discussed cancelling the Rekindling the Light of Peace event due to COVID-19.  The Commission requested Staff (Williams) to confirm that the scholarship money for the essay contest was deposited with the Pasadena Recreation and Parks Foundation. Staff confirmed that funds for the Multimedia High School Essay Contest have been deposited.

February 2021:  The Commission resumed their discussion about the Multimedia High School Essay Contest and decided to hold the contest and accept virtual submissions with a deadline of Friday, April 16.  The Commission discussed postponing the Human Relations Commission Annual Awards Ceremony due to COVID-19, selecting award winners for 2021 during this fiscal year, and recognizing three years of award winners (2020-2022) in person next year.

March 2021:  Chair Lacey provided an update that the draft flyer for the Human Relations Commission Multimedia High School Essay Contest was submitted to Staff (Williams) for review and the revised flyer was submitted to the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department for review and approval.  The Commission discussed recognizing the 2020 Human Relations Commission Annual Award winners and asked Staff (Sabha) to send a list of the 2020 award winners, along with winners from previous years.

April 2021: . The Commission voted to extend the deadline for submissions for the Human Relations Commission Multimedia High School Essay contest to Saturday, May 1, to give time to distribute the contest flyer and receive submissions. . The Commission discussed that the Commission meeting in May will include a discussion of a method for selecting the award winners with the winners decided by Saturday, June 1.

HRC Work Plan FY 20-21. Approved September 1, 2020 Page 3 of 5

. The Commission decided to cancel the 2021 Human Relations Commission Annual Awards due to COVID-19 and celebrating the 2020 winners along with the 2022 winners next year.

3. To identify and bring attention to collaborations existing within the City of Pasadena that provide assistance to private persons and groups, and/or promote goodwill and better relations among all people.

Greenstein (Lead), Robinett, Lamar, Morales

Action Items:  Assessment of local collaborations o Pasadena Ministerial Alliance o Nonprofit social service organizations  Social justice meeting ______Work Plan Updates:

August 2020: The Commission established a draft of the FY20-21 work plan.

September 2020: Commission ad hoc will identify specific social organizations to discuss at next meeting.

October 2020:  Chair Nehdar dissolved the ad hoc committee regarding the social justice meeting and added the item into work plan objective #3.  Commissioner Greenstein updated the Commission in that the ad hoc committee met on Tuesday, September 15 and discussed: o Developments with the Pasadena Community Police Oversight Commission. o Hosting a Zoom job and resource fair for formerly incarcerated residents. o Holding a forum to bridge the gap between the various sections in Pasadena. o Community Bill of Rights released by the NAACP and NDLON (National Day Laborer Organization Network) that was released in June 2020. o The Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department Commission work plans for FY 2020-2021 to see how they relate to the work of the Human Relations Commission.

November 2020: The Commission discussed holding a virtual public forum and inviting local community based organizations to present about what they are working on.

HRC Work Plan FY 20-21. Approved September 1, 2020 Page 4 of 5

December 2020: Commissioner Greenstein shared a recommendation for the program name, format, and potential speakers for the social justice meeting:  Event Name: Human Relations Commission Public Forum on Social Justice in Pasadena  Content: A curated group of representatives from each Council District will be panel presenters and discussants.  Potential Presenters: NAACP Pasadena, NDLON, Flintridge Foundation, Community Pastors Coalition, Pasadena Ministerial Alliance, Hood Liberation

January 2021:  The Commission continued their discussion of holding a virtual public forum on issues that affect human relations in Pasadena. o Commissioner Gonzalez suggested inviting the group, Pasadenans Empowering Parent Participation in Education Governance (PEPPEG) as a potential presenter for the virtual forum, and will bring information about the group to the next Commission meeting in February.

February 2021:  The Commission continued their discussion of holding a special meeting on human relations issues that affect human relations in Pasadena.  The Commission requested that staff (Williams) contact the City Attorney’s office for guidance on naming the special meeting item.

March 2021:  The Commission continued their discussion on holding a special meeting on human relations issues that affect human relations in Pasadena with a targeted meeting date during Fall 2021 or Spring 2022, and decided to schedule brief presentations on social justice issues from local organizations beginning in April 2021.

April 2021: . The Commission received a presentation from Pasadenans Empowering Parent Participation in Education Governance (PEPPEG) on the group's purpose and function to expand voting rights to all Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) parents regardless of their citizenship status. . The Commission discussed recent racially motivated attacks against Asian community members and how they might be able to collaborate with local organizations and educate the public about these types of incidents and how to report them.

NOTE: Objectives are subject to change with approval by the Commission.

HRC Work Plan FY 20-21. Approved September 1, 2020 Page 5 of 5