WikiExplorers Meetup: "The Concrete Eraser"

Below a WikiExplorers Meetup led by Ms. Rivers, to engage the WikiExplorers to research  the "hidden" geography and history of  Black Santa Monica.

​WikiExplorers Meetup: "The Concrete Eraser"

​Location: The 4th Street Bridge over the I-10 Freeway, Santa Monica.

Goal: Document the physical "gap" where a neighborhood once stood.

​The Scene: Standing Over the I-10

​Ms. Rivers: (Pointing down at the rushing traffic of the Santa Monica Freeway) "Look down, Explorers. You see ten lanes of concrete, but I want you to use your 'Wiki-Vision.' If we were standing here in 1955, we wouldn't be looking at cars. We’d be looking at the rooftops of 600 homes. We’d be smelling the BBQ from the Arkansas Traveler Inn and hearing the music from Broadway."

​Student (Marcus): "But Ms. Rivers, if there were 600 homes here, why does the Wikipedia page for 'Santa Monica' only have one sentence about it? It makes it sound like they just built the freeway on empty land."

​Ms. Rivers: "That’s exactly why we’re here, Marcus. In history, silence is a choice. Planners called this 'blight' so they could justify bulldozing it. Our assignment today is to find the primary sources—the names of the families and the businesses—and put them back on the map."

​The Assignment: "The Ghosts of Broadway"

​Ms. Rivers: "We’re going to split into three teams. Here is your 'Wiki-Sleuth' checklist:"

​Team A: The Business Detectives

• ​The Mission: Walk to the 1800 block of Broadway.
• ​The Task: Find the Philomathean Charity Club. It’s one of the only buildings left from the Black business district.
• ​Wiki-Goal: Take a high-resolution photo for Wikimedia Commons. Right now, the 'West Adams' article mentions the club, but the 'Santa Monica' article doesn't. We need to link them.

​Team B: The Silicon Beach Contrast Crew

• ​The Mission: Head toward the Water Garden (a massive tech complex).
• ​The Task: Document the 'Invisible Border.' On one side is the 10 Freeway; on the other are billion-dollar tech companies like Oracle.
• ​Wiki-Goal: Research the land history of the Water Garden site. Was it part of the original Pico Neighborhood? We need to add a 'Land Use History' section to the Silicon Beach Wikipedia entry.

​Team C: The "Right to Return" Researchers

• ​The Mission: Visit Historic Belmar Park.
• ​The Task: There are signs there listing the names of families the city displaced.
• ​Wiki-Goal: We are going to start a 'List of Displaced Communities in Southern California' page. Santa Monica’s Pico and Belmar neighborhoods will be our first entry.

​ "Why it Matters"

​Student (Maya): "Ms. Rivers, I found a plaque at the beach that talks about 'The Inkwell.' It says it was a 'Negro beach.' Why didn't they just call it Santa Monica Beach?"

​Ms. Rivers: "Because back then, Maya, even the sand was segregated. But look at the plaque again. Who is mentioned?"

​Maya: "Nick Gabaldón. The first Black surfer."

​Ms. Rivers: "Exactly. He would paddle 12 miles from here to Malibu because he wasn't allowed to surf in certain spots. When you update his Wikipedia page today, don't just say he was a surfer. Say he was a pioneer who reclaimed the ocean for his community. That’s how we turn a 'white town' narrative back into a shared human story."

The Red Link 

The WikiExplorers gathered in a circle around a large monitor in the Santa Monica Public Library.

 Ms. Rivers pulled up the Wikipedia article for "African American resorts."

"Look at this list," Ms. Rivers said, her voice steady and intentional. 

"You see Bruce's Beach in Manhattan Beach. You see Val Verde in the Santa Clarita Valley. 

These are the places that made it into the history books. But there is a hole in this map where Santa Monica should be."

"Is it because the building is gone?" one of the students asked.

"The building is gone," Ms. Rivers replied, "but the memory shouldn't be. Today, we aren't writing a Wikipedia article.  We are going to perform a Red Link edit. We are going to add the Ebony Beach Club to this list. By putting brackets around it, the name will turn red. It’s a signal to the whole world that a story is missing."

The Search for Truth

"But we can't just put a name there," Ms. Rivers cautioned. "On Wikipedia, if you don't have proof, your edit will be deleted in minutes. We need to find the citations that prove this wasn't just a local rumor, but a historical place."

She gave the WikiExplorers ten minutes to "raid the archives" online. The room went quiet, save for the clicking of keys.

Maya found a digitized clipping from the California Eagle from 1957, showing a photo of Silas White standing proudly in front of the club.

Marcus tracked down the 2025 City Council minutes. "Ms. Rivers! I found it! It says here they settled with the family for $350,000 because the city admitted the seizure was 'racially motivated.'"

Chloe found a record of the Silas White Street naming ceremony. "They're literally changing the street sign this month!"

Ms. Rivers watched as Maya carefully typed the words into the "California" section of the article. When she hit save, a collective "Oooooh" went up from the group.

There it was: Ebony Beach Club, glowing in bright red against the white screen.

"That red color means the page doesn't exist yet," Ms. Rivers explained. "You’ve created a 'digital ghost.' Now, every researcher who comes to this page will see that name and wonder who Silas White was. You’ve given the internet a homework assignment."

The Closing Reflection

"Most people only see Santa Monica as a place for the wealthy and the white," Ms. Rivers told them. "By adding that one link, you've started the process of decolonizing the map. You’re showing that Black joy and Black business were right there on the sand, and that the city had to use a freeway and a 'parking lot' excuse to hide them."

She closed the laptop. "Next time, we’ll be the ones to turn that red link into a Wikipedia article. But for today, you’ve made the invisible, visible."