Inside the Vault: Black Land Ownership and the American Dream in the Jim Crow Era
Our children are entitled to a place in the great open spaces where they can play and have fun unrestricted by race prejudice and oppression.
—Sidney P. Dones, founder of Eureka Villa
In the 1920s, businessman Sidney P. Dones traveled to Black organization meetings across the country to promote his Eureka Villa real estate project in southern California. He promised not only sunshine and a sublime landscape but also a dream of community, agency, and leisure for Black families facing racism and discrimination under Jim Crow.
Join us on March 6, 2025, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT) when our curators discuss a 1926 pamphlet advertising homes in Eureka Villa, California, to Black families with historian Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson.
Submit your questions for Dr. Jefferson here.
Featured Documents
Related Resources
- Essay: “Jim Crow and the Great Migration” by Jonathan Holloway
- Timeline: “Fulfilling America’s Founding Principles: African American History”
- Video: “Jim Crow and the Fight for American Citizenship” by Jonathan Holloway
- Video: “The History of Race Relations in America: African American Experiences, 1878–Present” by the Gilder Lehrman Institute
I cannot attend the live program. Will it be recorded?
Yes! The program is recorded and sent in an email the following day to everyone who registers.
Future Programs
Inside the Vault: Shots Heard Around the World: Firsthand Accounts of the Battles of Lexington & Concord
Just hours after the first encounters between Massachusetts patriots and British regulars at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, Colonel Isaac Merrill sent hastily written orders to the captain of the Amesbury militia. Merrill’s call to arms demonstrates the patriots’ early military intelligence efforts and the uncertainty the colonists felt during the first major battles of the American Revolution. As part of our America 250 series, we will discuss Merrill’s account alongside reflections on the battles by poets Mercy Otis Warren and Lemuel Haynes.
Join us on April 3, 2025, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT) when our curators discuss firsthand accounts of the Battles of Lexington and Concord with independent historian Dr. Brooke Barbier.
About Inside the Vault
Inside the Vault: Highlights from the Gilder Lehrman Collection is an online program that highlights unique primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. From iconic historical treasures, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation, to personal letters that reveal the contributions of ordinary American citizens, each session will investigate primary sources and discuss their background, impact, and potential use in the classroom.