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Indybay Feature
Renovation and Preservation at Negro Bar California State Park
![img_4037.jpg](/uploads/2020/02/18/img_4037.jpg)
Date:
Friday, February 21, 2020
Time:
11:00 AM
-
12:30 PM
Event Type:
Press Conference
Organizer/Author:
Michael Harris
Email:
Phone:
916-346-3327
Location Details:
Negro Bar California State Park
Folsom Lake Recreational Area
Leidesdorff Adobe Home Site
Folsom, CA
Folsom Lake Recreational Area
Leidesdorff Adobe Home Site
Folsom, CA
California Governor Newsom and Bipartisan California Legislative Leaders will need to solidify a historic public/private partnership to research, document, preserve and interpret Pan African Heritage along the American River Parkway.
170 years ago the Gold Rush Mining Town was established on the land formerly owned by the "African Founding Father of California" who was instrumental in building the City of San Francisco.
Honorable William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. owned Rancho Rio De Los Americanos, over 35,500 acres along the American River Parkway.
Pan Africans in the California Gold Rush remain "Hidden Figures" of the California Mosaic.
Negro Bar, Folsom Lake State Recreation Area, continues to defy the normal course of business given past systemic institutional racism.
California State Parks will need direction to elevate the authentic legacy, building on long overdue construction of ADA accessibility.
Today, California State Parks current position.
Negro Bar, located within the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area, is historically important as the place where African American miners became the first to prospect the gravel bar in 1850.
It became one of the larger gold camps along the American River.
While African American community leaders and historians have supported the continued use of this name in the past,
California State Parks recognizes that such interpretations can change over time and welcomes continued feedback from the public.
In response to comments received in 2018, the department has undertaken a review to better understand the public’s perspective about the name and its continued relevance.
When new names are considered, California State Parks reviews the history of the area and tries to view names through the lens of thoughtfully capturing the place, its environment, and cultures and peoples associated with the area.
A primary interest in these reviews is holding broad and open discussions with scholars, visitors, activists, and families to understand perspectives and gain a wider understanding of the name’s usage and how it may impact the visitor experience and all citizens who come in contact with the name.
Soon, the authentic California Gold Rush History may be preserved for distant Californians and global Visitors.
170 years ago the Gold Rush Mining Town was established on the land formerly owned by the "African Founding Father of California" who was instrumental in building the City of San Francisco.
Honorable William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. owned Rancho Rio De Los Americanos, over 35,500 acres along the American River Parkway.
Pan Africans in the California Gold Rush remain "Hidden Figures" of the California Mosaic.
Negro Bar, Folsom Lake State Recreation Area, continues to defy the normal course of business given past systemic institutional racism.
California State Parks will need direction to elevate the authentic legacy, building on long overdue construction of ADA accessibility.
Today, California State Parks current position.
Negro Bar, located within the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area, is historically important as the place where African American miners became the first to prospect the gravel bar in 1850.
It became one of the larger gold camps along the American River.
While African American community leaders and historians have supported the continued use of this name in the past,
California State Parks recognizes that such interpretations can change over time and welcomes continued feedback from the public.
In response to comments received in 2018, the department has undertaken a review to better understand the public’s perspective about the name and its continued relevance.
When new names are considered, California State Parks reviews the history of the area and tries to view names through the lens of thoughtfully capturing the place, its environment, and cultures and peoples associated with the area.
A primary interest in these reviews is holding broad and open discussions with scholars, visitors, activists, and families to understand perspectives and gain a wider understanding of the name’s usage and how it may impact the visitor experience and all citizens who come in contact with the name.
Soon, the authentic California Gold Rush History may be preserved for distant Californians and global Visitors.
Added to the calendar on Tue, Feb 18, 2020 4:42AM
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I always had concerns over the place name Negro Bar on a State Park until I started doing historical research about the area. What I learned from my research of the gold mining regions and later development in that area was that the gravel bar on the south side of the American River, across from Big Gulch, had always been referred to as Negro Bar.
In all my research for writing two books generally focused on the region was that the term Negro Bar was never saddled with any particular animus toward African Americans who pioneered gold mining at the location.
Before there was a Granite City or Folsom, the terminus for the Sacramento Valley Railroad, under construction in the 1850s, was referred to as Negro Bar.
It was not until the 1940's did I start to encounter the racial epithet for African Americans included on USGS topographical quadrant maps. It seems our federal government helped create and reinforce a negative stereotype of African Americans who called the region home at Negro Bar and Negro Hill.
I am not advocating that the title of Negro Bar remain. If a change is to be made, I would hope that some historical background be given, lest it be lost to history.
In all my research for writing two books generally focused on the region was that the term Negro Bar was never saddled with any particular animus toward African Americans who pioneered gold mining at the location.
Before there was a Granite City or Folsom, the terminus for the Sacramento Valley Railroad, under construction in the 1850s, was referred to as Negro Bar.
It was not until the 1940's did I start to encounter the racial epithet for African Americans included on USGS topographical quadrant maps. It seems our federal government helped create and reinforce a negative stereotype of African Americans who called the region home at Negro Bar and Negro Hill.
I am not advocating that the title of Negro Bar remain. If a change is to be made, I would hope that some historical background be given, lest it be lost to history.
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