22 Facts About Biddy Mason

Biddy Mason was an African-American nurse and a Californian real estate entrepreneur and philanthropist.

Biddy Mason was one of the founders of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, California.

Biddy Mason was born into slavery reportedly on August 15,1818, in Hancock County, Georgia, but her exact birthplace and birthdate are unknown.

Biddy Mason's knowledge benefited both enslaved people and Southern enslavers.

Biddy Mason was valuable to the Smiths because of her knowledge of medicine, child care, and livestock care.

Biddy Mason had three children: Ellen, born in about 1838; Ann, born in about 1844; and Harriet, born in about 1847.

Biddy Mason was among a number of enslaved people in the San Bernardino settlement.

Biddy Mason was under the control of Robert Smith and ignorant of the laws and her rights.

Biddy Mason told his slaves that they would be free in Texas.

Biddy Mason relayed her fears of being separated from her children and remaining enslaved to two free black men: Charles Owens and Manuel Pepper.

Biddy Mason was not allowed to testify in court since California law prohibited black people from testifying against white people.

Biddy Mason worked in Los Angeles as a nurse and midwife, delivering hundreds of babies during her career.

Biddy Mason was instrumental in founding a traveler's aid center, and a school and day care center for black children, open to any child who had nowhere else to go.

In 1872, along with her son-in-law Charles Owens and other Black residents of Los Angeles, Biddy Mason was a founding member of First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles, the city's first Black church.

Biddy Mason donated the land on which the church was built.

Biddy Mason helped to establish the first elementary school for black children in Los Angeles.

Biddy Mason spoke fluent Spanish and was a well-known figure in the city.

Biddy Mason dined on occasion at the home of Pio Pico, the last governor of Alta California and a wealthy Los Angeles land owner.

Biddy Mason went on to own the Owens Block, a two-story brick building built on Broadway in the early 1890s that became the first Black-owned business building in Downtown Los Angeles.

Biddy Mason is an honoree in the California Social Work Hall of Distinction.

Biddy Mason was celebrated on Biddy Mason Day on November 16,1989.

Biddy Mason is featured in a mural by Bernard Zakheim originally installed in Toland Hall Auditorium at the University of California, San Francisco during the 1930s.