Rain on the Parade

SHE WAS NOMINATED TO BE PASADENA’S 1959 “MISS CROWN CITY,” but Joan Roberta Williams never rode a float in the Rose Parade, though that was the tradition. Because there wasn’t one. When city officials found out that the twenty-six-year-old woman who was to represent their fair city was a Black woman, they declined to enter a float in the parade

Joan had been nominated by her co-workers at City Hall, and honored in a ceremony after being chosen by the judges from the seven candidates. And then the city of Pasadena asked for her crown back. This was a woman who also happened to be the first African American hired at City Hall, in the Municipal Light and Power Department. Although, according to The Afro, this may have been “inadvertent.”  Same story, different backdrop: an apartment is for rent until the manager meets the prospective tenants and suddenly it’s been taken; a job is promised but when the African American shows up for their first day, there’s been a change in pay – or no job at all. And so on. This is a part of our American history, one that’s not getting as much airtime during this summer’s 250^th anniversary celebration.

“In her capacity as Miss Crown City 1958, she was scheduled to ride on the city’s float in the Jan. 1, 1959, Rose Parade, but was denied the honor after city officials discovered the light complexioned Williams was African American and canceled the float. Then-Pasadena Mayor Seth Miller, who had crowned Williams at a coronation ceremony, later refused to take a photo with her at the annual city employees’ picnic at Brookside Park, and she was also not allowed to cut the grand opening ribbons at Sears, J.W. Robinson and other businesses. Her City Hall coworkers and bosses ostracized her until she left the job.”

– https://afro.com/joan-williams-rose-bowl-queen/

I remember hearing this story several times, including on one of the outstanding Pasadena walking tours led by John Williams’ Center for Restorative Justice. The story was told by her son, (Robert) Adán Williams. I highly recommend signing up for the next tour. Because of the relationships the Center has nurtured, many interesting and knowledgeable community members show up to share their stories with the group. These are the kinds of stories not always available in mainstream events and publications.

So here is this woman, experiencing (probably not for the first time) the vagaries of racism and how far they will reach. A light-skinned woman – “white-presenting,” as her son Adan describes her –  Mrs. Williams probably escaped a micro-aggression here or there, but in the end she was not a white person and that came (and comes) with barriers for living one’s best life in this country. Nonetheless they are only barriers and not unscalable walls, as we see by her story and so very many other Black Angelenos’.

Joan Roberta Moore’s family arrived in Los Angeles in 1921, as part of the Great Migration. Joan Roberta was born in 1932 in LA, growing up along famed Central Avenue. She graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1950 and then attended Wolfe’s School of Costume Design by day while studying at Los Angeles City College by night. Joan Moore subsequently married to Robert (Bob) W. Williams, a Tuskegee airman. He wrote a book about his experiences and spent many years trying to get that story publicized. Finally, in 1995 The Tuskegee Airmen appeared on HBO, based largely on Williams’ work. While Mr. Williams’ story is deeply important, and probably not well enough known still, I continue to focus on women’s stories right now. Theirs are even less familiar.

Mr. and Mrs. Williams moved to Pasadena in 1957 because they were unable to purchase a home in Leimert Park, according to Mrs. Williams in the documentary, The Eastsiders. (See PBS’ The Eastsiders: History of an African-American Community (1920-1965). This may be a surprise to some who think of Leimert Park now as a historically Black community. Research shows differing years when racially restrictive covenants were finally lifted in the area; some say the 1940s, others not until the ‘50s. But one thing is sure, just because something is ruled illegal does not mean the practice magically disappears. We can look at examples from slavery to voting exclusion to see that this is true. So, no matter what various sources claim, at least one Black couple was unable to purchase a home in the once-white neighborhood of Leimert Park circa 1955.

Mrs. Williams was an incredibly engaged Pasadena resident from the start. After her time at City Hall, according to her obituary, “She was an active member of the Pasadena/Altadena chapter of Links, Incorporated for more than 30 years, where she co-founded and ran a Saturday school for underserved children. She was a founding member of the Pasadena chapter of Jack & Jill of America, Inc. She retired from Kaiser Permanente Pasadena after 32 years of service in a variety of roles, and she subsequently volunteered with the Pasadena Unified School District, and at the Pasadena AIDS Service Center.”  Links, Incorporated, by the way, is a prestigious group of African-American women whose mission is “committed to enriching, sustaining, and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other people of African ancestry,” according to their website. Some of its more famous members have included Kamala Harris, Marian Wright Edelman, and Betty Shabazz.

Also notable, Mrs. Williams was known as an advocate for and supporter of the LGBTQ community. Her home was a safe space for young people who were being turned away by friends or even family at the time. This is an especially powerful stance to take as a highly respected Black woman. While attitudes have changed, some African American communities are still slow to accept their queer brothers and sisters. This is a complicated discussion that comprises many things, but perhaps most strongly the Black Church and its history. Fortunately, there are more and more Black clergy and Christians understanding that in the end we are all God’s children.

In 2015, Mrs. Williams finally rode that parade float, just four years prior to her death. The event was deemed a case of reparations by The Afro. And this was due in large part to pressure from the local community. At first Williams wasn’t so sure she wanted to do all that. She had put the incident behind her. But, with reparations, sometimes old wounds are meant to resurface in order to move ahead. In this case, Williams chose to re-live the experience in order to facilitate healing for her community. It is not necessarily fair, but it was certainly noble on her part to step back into that story in such a public manner. It was not as if Williams saw this as some sort of post-racial event, by the way. As she said, “The fight goes on.” Oddly, KTLA never mentioned her name in their televised broadcast of the parade.

Joan Moore Williams was an extremely important person in American, African-American, and Los Angeles County history. While a few sites and activities keep her story alive, imagine if she were taught as one of the important figures in our history classrooms. And perhaps she is, somewhere, in Pasadena maybe. Perhaps there is a teacher, or principal, who knows of Joan and the ways in which this woman’s life reflects so much of our country’s history. May it be so. At any rate, now you know, too – if you did not already – about the life and times of Joan Moore Williams. Pass it along!