L.A. City Council unanimously votes to rename Pershing Square after Biddy Mason

More than a century after Biddy Mason became one of Los Angeles’ earliest Black landowners and philanthropists, a prominent piece of Downtown will soon carry her name. The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved the five-acre space, formerly known as Pershing Square, to be renamed Biddy Mason Park on Friday, Sept. 4.

Bridget “Biddy” Mason, a formerly enslaved woman who became a trailblazing Black landowner and philanthropist, will soon have her name memorialized just blocks away from where she once owned property. Mason herself was sold multiple times before she petitioned for her freedom in 1856. She was never reunited with her biological family. The hardships she experienced as an enslaved woman shaped her lifelong commitment to education and advocacy for young children.

Mason was one of the first Black women in the city’s history to own land. After working as a nurse and a midwife, she saved her earnings and purchased her first property in 1866, where the Biddy Mason Memorial Park, erected in 1989, now stands. Mason is best remembered as the co-founder of Los Angeles’ First African Methodist Episcopal Church, also known as First A.M.E. Church, now one of the largest and oldest Black churches in the United States.

For Jackie Broxton, president and founder of the Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation, Mason’s story is not simply a piece of Los Angeles history. It is one of many she believes deserves greater recognition, particularly in the city’s schools. “In elementary and middle school, I was always really frustrated that more emphasis was not put on early Los Angeles history and the people who lived here,” Broxton said.

Broxton herself was instrumental in bringing the name change to fruition. When Mason’s story was brought to former Councilmember Kevin De León’s attention, the initial proposal to rename Pershing Square emerged amid plans for renovations to the space in 2024.

The push to rename the park has also sparked discussion about how to commemorate Mason’s legacy. While Mason already has a memorial site marking her first property purchase, proponents like Broxton emphasize Mason’s direct connection to the land where Pershing Square stands today. This connection is distinct from that of WWI hero General John J. Pershing, whose name the square has carried since 1918.

In fact, this isn’t the first time the park has been renamed. First named “La Plaza Abaja,” in 1866, it was later known as St. Vincent’s Park in 1867, Los Angeles Park in 1870, 6th Street Park in 1886 and Central Park in the early 1890s before being renamed Pershing Square in 1918.

For Broxton, the latest name change is an opportunity to make the park reflect Los Angeles’s broader early history. “It’s important for people to understand that Los Angeles had a very interesting and dynamic early history,” Broxton said. “In part, because of the gold rush… Second, after the Mexican-American War, property ownership changed dramatically, which brought a lot of people to this area. I don’t think that has ever, in my opinion, been addressed.”

“Adjacent to Pershing [Square] on 6th Street between Grand and Olive, Biddy [Mason] owned that entire block,” Broxton said. “Pershing, while his military career is very distinguished, I would never want to take anything away from that … he never lived in L.A., and he wasn’t a resident.”

Broxton hopes the name change will inspire young people who may not always see themselves reflected in the history they are taught. By honoring the stories of figures like Mason, young Angelenos may better recognize Black History as an inextricable part of Los Angeles history. For Broxton, this sense of representation can shape how young people understand their own place in their country and their communities.

“At our facility in West Adams, we have a lot of historical information there. One day, one of the kids was looking at a photograph [we] have of enslaved Black people building the Capitol. She asked me, I didn’t realize that enslaved people built the Capitol… I guess I have a right to be an American. I said, ‘Yes, you do. Broxton said.

“That’s what I would like people to see — their part in the greater American story, as well as the parts of others, and how that all comes together,” Broxton said.

Today, the BMCF continues Mason’s legacy through its work with youth and families of Los Angeles County.

With L.A. County having the largest foster population in the nation, the work done at the BMCF focuses on “creating a safe space for current and former foster youth,” according to its website. Since 2018,  the scholarship program has awarded about $700,000 to over 500 students. Additionally, they provide support for kinship parents of foster children and host Mothers Mingle, a program for women who were in the foster care system and are now mothers.

As Biddy Mason Park prepares to take its place on the Downtown map, Broxton, like many others, hopes Mason’s story will no longer be one that Angelenos have to search for, but one that people of all walks of life can learn from.