Claudell Kendrick Jr. has been living at the Dunbar Village, an apartment complex for seniors, for six years and never had the slightest clue of its rich Black history.
The complex was once the centerpiece of Black Los Angeles. On any given night at the Dunbar Hotel, you could catch Billie Holiday, Lena Horne or Duke Ellington performing for crowds who needed the escape from being Black in America and living under the oppression of segregation and Jim Crow.
“Once I got in and was accepted here, I saw all the history,” Kendrick said. “I enjoyed it and it just kept me mesmerized.”
What is now considered historic South Central would not be what it is today if it were not for the Dunbar Hotel. The success of the hotel allowed other nightclubs and speakeasies to flourish on Central Avenue, creating a vibrant nightlife district in Los Angeles — sometimes called the “Little Harlem” of LA — that welcomed everyone.
“The Dunbar is significant. It’s a part of history. This is where we had refuge. Not only Black Americans but Latinos too. We all were together then,” London Carter, who some call the “Mayor of the Dunbar,” told The LA Local. “Everyday, I’m saying ‘Wow, I stay where Red Foxx lived. Was it in this room?’ So, it’s very precious to me.”
Today, the Dunbar has been transformed into a 42-unit senior apartment building with a restaurant below, Delicious at The Dunbar.
Carter was one of the first residents to move into Dunbar Village in 2013. The LA native said he heard stories about the hotel growing up and now he volunteers to give historical tours to visitors.
The hotel was built with a civil rights foundation
John and Vada Somerville, a prominent Black couple in LA known for their devotion to civil rights, built the hotel at the corner of Central Avenue and 42nd Place in 1928 with the original name of Hotel Somerville.
It was built for the first West Coast convention of the NAACP, providing “first-class accommodations for African Americans in segregated Los Angeles, who were denied comparable lodging elsewhere,” according to the Los Angeles Conservancy.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation states the hotel was an immediate attraction, hosting some of the most prestigious Black entertainers and leaders of the time.
“The Dunbar Hotel hearkens back to the spirit of making something out of nothing,” said Manuel Pastor, author of “South Central Dreams” and a professor at USC.
Because of segregation at the time, Black artists were often not allowed to perform in white-only establishments, as reported by the Hennepin History Museum.
“This is a place that became a major destination for staying and playing for jazz musicians who were frozen out of other places,” Pastor said.
It was renamed the Dunbar Hotel after poet Paul Laurence Dunbar in 1929 when new owner Lucius Lomax, another prominent Black Angeleno, bought the hotel. The Somervilles lost the hotel after the stock market crashed, according to the historic preservation trust.
The Dunbar has had its share of ups and downs, changing ownership multiple times over the years. The end of segregation in the 1960s, meant Black people had the option to move to other parts of the city.
Erin Aubry Kaplan is a writer and columnist who traces her family’s roots to South Central LA and told The LA Local “that was sorta the end of Central Ave. It’s tortuous. Black people fought for the right to locate where they want, move where they want.”
“When they broke out of that, they lost the neighborhoods they had. We got what we wanted, but we lost what we had,” Kaplan said.
South Central LA’s changing demographics from Black to predominantly Latino as well as jazz music becoming less popular, left the hotel struggling to attract guests. It was closed from 1974 to 1990, as documented by historic preservationists.
The Dunbar is still at max capacity
After decades of struggling to keep the hotel open, former LA City Councilmember Jan Perry pushed to get the Dunbar redeveloped in 2008 and partnered with the Coalition for Responsible Community Development and Thomas Safran and Associates, historic preservationists said.
Five years later, the $30 million hotel renovation became a part of Dunbar Village, a mixed-use apartment complex that includes two buildings for families, the Somerville Apartments, named in honor of the original hotel owners.
Remnants of the hotel’s heyday can still be seen on its walls today. In the lobby, you’ll find a few photos of major Black jazz entertainers.
Even though it’s not a jazz club anymore, the Dunbar is still a packed house. If you’re at least 55 and thinking about living there, you may be out of luck. The complex has a waitlist of about 500 people, according to Sandy Robleto, Dunbar Village property manager.
“This was the first building I was actually interested in (managing) because I like the feel of it,” Robleto said. “The old style is just everything.”
Isaiah Murtaugh contributed reporting.