Rationale

Despite the integral role played by millions of African Americans in the growth and development of the United States, the history of Black people, their experiences and contributions, has been systematically erased.

This can be witnessed on a smaller scale in the story of London Nelson, after whom our initiative is named. London Nelson was a Black man who was trafficked to California by slaveholder Matthew Nelson to work a gold claim in 1850-1851. Upon purchasing his freedom, he settled in Santa Cruz, later bequeathing his estate to the local school district. Years later, when his wooden headstone was replaced with subsequent marble ones, his first name was misspelled “Louden” on the latest incarnation, an error that has been perpetrated widely for nearly 100 years. The repercussions are significant —not the least of which is the fact that his final resting place has been rendered impossible for living descendants to locate.

In 2020, Brittnii Potter of Santa Cruz spearheaded a movement to correct the spelling of London Nelson’s name on local buildings, public spaces, and monuments. What was once the “Louden Nelson Community Center” has been renamed as of 2021, as has London Nelson Plaza. During the research phase, however, the renaming committee learned that six Black residents of early Santa Cruz were also buried in Evergreen Cemetery—in plots 6 and 7, a potter’s field of burial places that lack identification—with subsequent research revealing at least five more.

This type of historical erasure victimizes Black Americans, who continue to struggle with the burdens of systemic racism to this day. To begin the process of healing, and to ensure that Black people feel at home, safe, and acknowledged for their contributions and legacies in our communities, government and historical institutions now have to do the opposite— to recover these lost histories, in Santa Cruz and nationwide, and cement them in our collective memory. Everyone deserves to have a headstone, and no one deserves to be lost to antiquity.

“The underpinnings of erasure and inequality in legislation, statistics, income disparities, and home ownership are rooted in historical erasure. Restorative justice in historical research is about excavating the stories of Black and Brown communities from the margins of historical records, and revealing our stories in the tapestry of time.” —Luna HighJohn-Bey, Project Lead & Lead Researcher, London Nelson Legacy Initiative