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James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

La Habra

California

Basic Information

Type of Place
Independent City or Town
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Unions, Organized Labor?

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Probable
Was there an ordinance?
Don't Know
Sign?
Don’t Know
Year of Greatest Interest
Still Sundown?
Surely Not

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930 2273 6
1940 2499 6
1950 2961 6
1960 25136 4
1970
1980
1990
2000 58974 37153 926 3498 564 28922 13953
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

La Habra now has a large Hispanic population.

About Town: La Habra
State: CA
Message 01/07/2008:

My dad grew up in one of the Mexican barrios outside of La Habra (barrio Alta Vista) and attended the segregated “Mexican School.” It was, just outside the city limits until the early 1960s.
My dad lived down the street from the black family. City leaders argued that the school was needed in order to teach kids to speak English. But in the 1940s when a black family moved to town, the Williams family could only live in the barrio. And their kids had to attend the Mexican School. Every Mexican kid in the barrio knew the Williams kids. My best guess is that they came to La Habra in the 40s or early 50s. The family had a house in barrio Alta Vista until the 1970s. In class photos from Wilson School – the “Mexican” school – they are easy to find. They didn’t have a language issue, but learned fluent Spanish.