Plaque commemorating Black history of a stretch of California coastline is stolen
A plaque commemorating the Black family who owned a patch of California beach that was seized in 1924 by segregationist government officials has been stolen, authorities in Manhattan Beach said this week.
The copper plaque at Bruce's Beach Park was dedicated last year after family heirs sold the land back to the government for $20 million.
"The Manhattan Beach Police Department immediately opened an investigation to identify, locate, and apprehend those responsible for this unfortunate incident," the department said.
There are no leads in the case, city spokesperson Alexandra Latragna said.
"There hasn’t been any evidence uncovered that this was related to a hate crime," she said.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who championed returning Bruce's Beach to the family that originally owned the land, said Tuesday that the plaque was stolen from Bruce's Beach Park, which is next to the historic Bruce family parcels but occupies land the family never owned.
Hahn said the theft may open "old wounds" but expressed hope that the crime was targeted because of its material and not because of what it recognizes.
"I hope that the plaque’s theft is unrelated to the painful history of Bruce’s Beach and my decision to return the property to the Bruce family, and more related to the string of recent bronze thefts we have seen," she said in a statement.
The Bruce’s Beach Park plaque is made of bronze, which is roughly 88% copper and 12% tin. The park is operated by the city of Manhattan Beach.
The plaque was installed in February 2023 and dedicated the next month. "The stolen plaque held significant historical and cultural value," the Manhattan Beach Police Department said.
The plaque notes that the Bruces settled on the Strand in Manhattan Beach after they were turned away from other coastal communities. It says the process of seizing their property also ensnared the property of neighboring Black families, as well as that of several white families who had plans to develop their parcels.
"The city's actions at the time were racially motivated and wrong," the plaque says.
It expresses hope for a future that includes "respect and inclusion."
The county has its own plaque atop the former Bruce's Beach parcels, and it remained there this week, Hahn said.
County government took over the Bruces' contiguous, beachside parcels in 1995 in a series of transactions involving the city and the state. Charles and Willa Bruce purchased the land in 1912 and 1920 and developed the property into Bruce's Lodge, which attracted Black tourists, as well as Black homeowners who wanted to live or vacation near the attraction.
Some white neighbors responded with hostility, racism and legislation. The City Council moved to take the property in 1924 under the guise of building a park. By 1927, the Bruces, who had arrived as a vanguard in the Western wing of the Great Migration away from the Jim Crow South, had moved away.
The park that the City Council said would be built when it moved to take the property in 1924 remained unbuilt until 1956.
In 2022, the county returned the property to Bruce family heirs. The next year, the family sold it back to the county for $20 million, sparking discussion about reparations and the value of a gilded stretch of coast shouldered with heavy history.
At the time, Hahn was happy to see the Bruces' heirs take the money.
"The seizure of Bruce’s Beach nearly a century ago was an injustice inflicted upon not just Willa and Charles Bruce but generations of their descendants who almost certainly would have been millionaires," she said last year.
Latragna, the city spokesperson, said the investigation into the theft continues.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
