The Liberator Archive
From 1900-1914 J.L. Edmonds owned and operated The Liberator newspaper. During that time, he had the foresight to save each issue of the paper and archive it in bound books. These volumes were passed down in the Edmonds family for over 100 years. Thanks to the work of Jefferson’s descendants Paul and Arianne Edmonds and with the help of the Los Angeles Public Library, this vestige of American history is available for public viewing.
The Founder Story
“I’M HERE TO TELL THE STORY OF MY FAMILY - A STORY OF AMERICA AND THE WEST.”
You could say I chose this project, but you could also say that it chose me. When I was a kid, my grandfather, Walter Chase Edmonds II, used to point to a picture in his sitting room. It was a picture of our family — his dad’s graduating class. Next to it on the wall was a framed copy of The Liberator newspaper. He would say, “One day, this is going to be very important to you.” I forgot about it for many years.....
Arianne C. Edmonds is an Los Angeles native who has been collecting, archiving and exploring the complexities of early Black Los Angeles history through the lens of genealogy for the last decade.
Upcoming Exhibitions
We are currently working on bringing a new lineup of exhibitions for 2020. Until then, check out our past exhibitions of the untold stories of the Black west.
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