Things You Didn’t Know Were Invented by Black Women
In the mid-1800s, Mason was forced to walk more than 2,000 miles with her enslavers to California while caring for her three young children.
After she won her and her family’s freedom in what the ACLU of Northern California calls a “landmark court case,” she went on to become one of the first Black landowners — and one of the richest women — in Los Angeles.
With a fortune equal to $7.5 million in today’s money, she became a renowned philanthropist in the area. She co-founded and financed the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, which is now the oldest church founded by African Americans in Los Angeles.
She also established a daycare for working parents and opened an account where families who lost their homes to floods could get supplies.
At a wreath-laying ceremony for Mason in February 2022, Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León called her “one of the greatest angels our city has ever had,” CBS reports.
“We are here to remember her bravery, her hard work, civic-mindedness — and her unparalleled generosity to her fellow Angelenos,” he said. “Without question, she is a pillar in the history of our great city.”
