While I look for Kickass Women all over the world, I admit to being partial to stories from my home state of California. This month, I want to introduce you to Biddy Mason, a woman who fought successfully for her freedom and went on to purchase land all over Los Angeles, leaving a lasting legacy for her family and community.
Bridget “Biddy” Mason was born in Mississippi in 1818. Born into slavery, she was forced to work in Georgia, South Carolina, and again in Mississippi before being sold to a Mormon who wanted to relocate to Salt Lake City, Utah. She walked 1,700 miles to Utah, caring for her three children and being a midwife, cook, and cattle herder for the wagon train.
Biddy’s life changed when the slaver took her to California, where slavery was illegal. During the journey she met Charles H. and Elizabeth Flake Rowan, a free Black couple, who told her that slavery was illegal in California and to go to court.
It took five years, but Biddy was finally able to sue for release along with her family. Her slaver tried to force her to move with him to Texas, but Biddy’s free Black friends told the court and she was taken into protective custody. Under California Law, Black people were not allowed to testify against White people in a court of law, so the judge held a hearing in his home, where she was allowed to testify on her own behalf.
According to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center:
On January 21, 1856, in the case of Mason v. Smith, Los Angeles District Judge approved Mason’s petition. The ruling freed Mason and thirteen members of her extended family. This was the first ruling of its kind in California and set a precedent for future cases that came before California courts.
Biddy was a healer and midwife who was fluent in Spanish. She moved to Los Angeles where she started her own business and used her earnings to invest in land, making her the equivalent of a multimillionaire today. This video talks about how she changed the landscape of Los Angeles through a combination of savvy business sense and generosity:
Biddy was a philanthropist known as “The Grandmother of Los Angeles.” The National Park Service says:
She continued working as a midwife and nurse, saving her money and using it to purchase land in what is now the heart of downtown L.A. There she organized First A.M.E. Church, the oldest African American Church in the city. Mason used her wealth, estimated to be about $3 million, to become a philanthropist to the entire L.A. community. She donated to numerous charities, fed and sheltered the poor, and visited prisoners. Mason was instrumental in founding a traveler’s aid center and an elementary school for black children.
Biddy Mason died in 1891 at the age of 75. Today the Biddy Mason Memorial Park stands on the first land that she purchased. The park’s main feature is an 80-foot-concrete wall designed by Sheila Levrant de Bretteville that describes Biddy Mason’s life.
Biddy leaves us with these words:
“If you hold your hand closed, nothing good can come in. The open hand is blessed, for it gives in abundance, even as it receives.”
Additional resources:
What a fascinating story and woman, Carrie. Thank you for introducing me to Biddy Mason!
I’ve never heard of her before, her story is amazing!
What an amazing woman.
Thank you Carrie for introducing me to this accomplished woman. I feel my history was painfully deficient because I’d never heard of her and I’m a fellow Californian and college Angelino. The video really speaks to her impact AND continued relevance.
I actually lived in L.A. in the early 1990s and don’t recall hearing about her (maybe I missed the dedication on the news), but this is an inspiring story.
(Also, since there were already 2 Karens, I feel I have to add mine to the list. Don’t ask why, I’m just weird that way.)
Some aspiring Hollywood screenwriter/director/producer needs to make a movie about her. I had heard her story before, but like the Tulsa Race Massacre and other stories, its a hidden part of U.S. history that needs light shed on it. I certainly did not learn about her in school. She lived an amazing life and did so much for her community.
P.S. I guess I make three Karens.
Plus a Karin!
Karen/Karin variants for the win!
That wall tribute is across from Grand Central Market. It’s amazing to walk around and find history in the hidden corners of Los Angeles.
Not a Karen or variant, but still happy to learn about Biddy Mason. She was a kickass woaman,indeed!
Historical tangent:
The Dred Scott decision came down in 1857, a year after Biddy Mason’s case. (Had to look it up; I thought it was a few years earlier.) Lucky for Biddy Mason she got there first, or the local court may have been forced to rule differently.
About a century later, Brown v. Board of Education was decided, with precedents including a California Supreme Court case similarly banning school segregation (in California it was about Mexican-American students). What goes around, comes around.