June 1st is Nick Gabaldon Day in Santa Monica. Free surf lessons for all!
I'm not making that up.
The Black Surfers Collective will be at the Santa Monica beach from noon to midnight on June 1st, along with Heal the Bay and other groups. At the Inkwell, free surf lessons from 10 am to 1 pm (you must reserve in advance!)
Other activities are planned in the area and at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium to celebrate the life and legacy of the man considered to be the first African American surfer, Nick Gabaldon.
He died in 1951, but before that was a fixture of Santa Monica's Inkwell--the only area of beach open to African Americans back then.
Gabaldon went to SMHS and was killed while surfing--while doing what he loved, iow. He was 24 years old.
Here's an earlier post about him and the Inkwell.
Also--there'll be a screening of a new documentary on Gabaldan that day.
I was beginning to think that the California Historical Society had abandoned the Southland, deciding that real California History could not exist south of San Francisco. Fortunately, this is not the case.
Other events for next month:
A preview of Western Art at the Autry Museum, all day on June 14th. Members of the Autry or the CHS get to see "Art of the West" before it opens to the public.
A special performance on the life of Chief Justice David S. Terry, June 25 at 5:30, at the Reagan State Office Building, 300 S. Spring. More details here.
David Terry was California's Chief Justice in the late 1850s. While holding that position, he stabbed one Sterling Hopkins in the neck with a bowie knife. Hopkins lived and Terry was acquitted of charges. He later killed a State Senator in a duel outside of San Francisco--I think he was still a judge then too. He left California to fight on the side of the Confederacy in the Civil War.
Should be an interesting evening.
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