Settlement and Development (1949)

Hale Woodruff, 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 1850-1949, it depicts African Americans as gold miners, Boulder Dam construction workers, and Pony Express riders (among others), without focusing on individual heroes. 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. The mural was restored in 1985 by Richard Wyatt, because the paint was cracking.

Photo: ©Robin Dunitz