Santa Monica Mosaic: The Pico Neighborhood

Our second season of the Santa Monica Mosaic webinar series wraps with The Pico Neighborhood: The Evolution & Displacement of a Historic Mexican Community on Wednesday, June 9, from 5-6 p.m. Santa Monica College professor and Pico native Jaime Cruz will take us through the various chapters of the district’s evolution, from the early 20^th century to present day.

Learn about the history of the area’s Mexican business districts and vibrant residential neighborhoods, as well as the challenges this community has faced, including policing and gentrification. Formed by the effects of racist zoning practices of the day, the Pico Neighborhood was a rich cultural mix unique for its time, and also home to a large African American population until the 1960s, as well as to Asian Americans and whites.

Bounded by the busy Santa Monica thoroughfares of Pico, Centinela, Santa Monica and Lincoln, the neighborhood stood in stark contrast to the rampant discrimination in housing, employment, education and recreation found in the rest of the city. Yet the neighborhood became steadily less diverse in the decades following World War II, as urban redevelopment and disruption from the Santa Monica Freeway forced out thousands of families that could no longer afford to live there. By the 1970s, Santa Monica’s white majority had been sealed.

Today, the Pico Neighborhood still remains Santa Monica’s most ethnically diverse area and some heritage businesses like Gilbert’s El Indio, as well as Saint Anne Church and School, founded in 1908, continue to thrive.

This event is free for members and $10 for the general public. Donate $45 or more and you’ll receive a one-year membership and free admission to this and future Mosaic lectures.

A lifelong resident of Santa Monica’s Pico Neighborhood, history professor Jaime Cruz applies his own experiences through an academic lens to his specialty of studying urban street cultures. With B.A. and M.A. degrees from UCLA, Cruz maintains a busy professional life, currently teaching at Santa Monica College and Cal State Northridge. His courses range from U.S. and Mexican history to Ethnicity and American Culture. His research involves his commitments in the Pico Neighborhood, as well as extensive international travel. Cruz is a frequent speaker and facilitator at conferences on current issues, such as race relations among Hispanics and Blacks and bringing awareness to the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

 

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