February 2025

January 2025

Glendale was a Sundown Town Before Carol

-   Summary thanks to Sharon Jarrett   -

The 1619 Project Discussion Group met on February 19th.  There were 27 attendees.  After an introduction by Dick Myers, the group heard a presentation by Carol McGrath.  Ms. McGrath is a resident of Glendale who attends Coming to the Table, a discussion group, meeting at La Pintoresca Library.

Over approximately 35 years, Ms. McGrath researched, discussed and disseminated information regarding the "sundown laws" in Glendale. These laws were a curfew applied to African American citizens requiring them to be off the streets if residents, or out of the city if doing business by sundown.  Ms. McGrath described the experiences and encounters she had in researching and eventually nullifying these laws. In addition to the nullification of the laws by Resolution of the City Council of Glendale, the Council issued an official apology to those affected over the years by the laws.

A video of this presentation can be viewed from this link, Sundown Town Apology.

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Footnote:
Subsequent to Carol's presentation, we learned about a video from Glendale referencing Carol's action in getting the sundown regulations removed and receiving an apology from the town. There are several videos at this location which will be of interest to all who want to know more about sundown towns and Glendale in particular. Click on Reckoning: Racism and Resistance in Glendale  to see the first video in the series and view the list of additional videos.