L.A. renames Pershing Square after Biddy Mason, founder of L.A.'s First AME Church

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Set us as preferred The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to rename Pershing Square after Bridget “Biddy” Mason, who was born into slavery and went on to become a wealthy landowner and a founder of the city’s First African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the nation’s largest Black churches.The council’s unanimous vote directs city officials to begin the process of renaming the five-acre plaza near the Biltmore Hotel as Biddy Mason Park.The Rev.

Timothy E.Tyler of the First AME Church was among those urging the council to approve the change.

“In a world where histories are being erased and denied or negated, we believe that this act by the City Council will signal to the world that we in Los Angeles value those who have helped to build this city,” Tyler said.Councilmember Ysabel Jurado said the new name is a better reflection of Los Angeles.“When we talk about the Angeleno spirit, resilience, hope, and a refusal to let injustice define what’s impossible for us, there may be no better example of that than Biddy Mason,” said Jurado, whose district includes the park and pushed for the name change.

One of the city’s oldest parks, the downtown square between Olive and Hill streets was first dedicated in 1866 as La Plaza Abaja.It was renamed Pershing Square at the end of World War I in 1918, in honor of the general who commanded U.S.

forces in Europe.Courtland Jindra spoke at Friday’s council meeting against the name change, saying the plaza honored not just Pershing but all the soldiers and sailors who fought in World War I.

“If we take away memorials for anyone, for the military, who’s to say they’re not going to take away the L.A.Memorial Coliseum?” asked Jindra, a former co-director of the California WW1 Centennial Task Force.

The name change was also criticized by Kim Cooper, who leads...