Exploration and Colonization (1949)

Charles Alston, South Los Angeles, Oil on canvas, 10’ x 20’

This interior mural adorned the original headquarters of the Golden State Mutual Insurance Company. Approximately covering the years 1527-1850, it portrays African Americans who played a significant role in California's early period after the arrival of Europeans. Among the distinguished African Americans pictured are ex-slave/philanthropist Biddy Mason, explorer James Beckwourth, government official William Leidesdorff, and U.S Consul Thomas O. Larkin. In 1925, a small Black-owned company, which later became Golden State Mutual, began business as an upstairs storefront operation on South Central Avenue near downtown LA. Its sole purpose was to provide local African Americans with insurance because no other financial institution would. Today Golden State is licensed in 22 states, plus the District of Columbia. In Fall 1996, the original headquarters building was restored and converted into an apartment complex with a daycare center and retail stores.

(Photo: ©Robin Dunitz)