A conversation with the history curator of the California African American Museum

Black residents make up a relatively small portion of California's population. But the state is so large that a significant number of people still live there: about one in 20 Black Americans live in the state, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

Since February is Black History Month, I contacted Susan D. Anderson, the history curator at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles, to learn a little more about black history in the state, dating back to colonial times.

“What I find is that every phase of black history in California is misunderstood or not well represented,” Anderson told me. “It doesn't matter if it's the 18th century or the 20th century – black history in California is just not getting its fair share.”

Here's our conversation, lightly edited.

Why do you think black history has been overlooked in California?

People assume that because California was a free state, there were no enslaved people and that slave owners did not bring enslaved people to the state. So there are only assumptions that are wrong.

But the other point is that academic historians still have not shifted their attention to the West as deeply or broadly as they have paid attention to things like the Thirteen Colonies or the South. If the West is an underdog in our historical understanding, then black history in the West, and in California, has certainly been overlooked for a long time.

What was the reality regarding this perception that there were no enslaved people here?

Although California entered the United States with a constitution that stated that slavery would not be tolerated, there were many slaveholders who still saw this as an area where they could expand slavery. They did not give up the idea even when California was a member of the Union. And plenty of them brought enslaved people with them.

California's first legislature consisted primarily of people who were slaves and who supported the enslavement of African Americans. William Gwin, the first U.S. Senator from California, had been a plantation owner and slaveholder in Mississippi. So they made up the majority of the people running the government, the legislature, the courts, and the schools, and they created laws that denied African Americans and indigenous peoples in particular their rights.

Where were some of the first black settlements in California?

Actually, black settlements were quite rare. In the early history of the state, people lived wherever they wanted. It was a largely troubled place. Sure, cities like San Francisco and Sacramento were built, but the vast majority of people lived in the Gold Country and lived in the wilderness. In places like Marysville, a huge gold mining center, it was very apparent that African Americans lived among the predominantly white and Asian residents.

There is also a perception that black people came to California as recently freed people, or looking for work after World War II.

They came to California before California was part of the United States. The first American settler in San Diego was a black man. Allen Light and Richard Freeman ran businesses, and their old clay is preserved in the old town.

Not to mention the black people who came with the Spanish. And the gold rush, when hundreds of thousands of people came to California for gold – black people were also part of that migration in 1849.

There was never a time in California where there was no black presence, when people who were not native began to settle in the state. There was always a black presence.

Tell us

LA's new Sixth Street Bridge. The Sundial Bridge in Redding. The exceptionally long San Mateo-Hayward Bridge.

Which bridge in California is your favorite, and why?

Tell us at CAtoday@nytimes.com. Please include your name and the city in which you live.

And before you go: good news

San Franciscans will have plenty of opportunities to celebrate love this month, with a variety of Valentine's Day-themed activities taking place throughout the city.

The holidays are a week away and festivities are already underway in the city, with more programs planned for the weekend and next week.

To kick off the festivities, Hearts in SF, the annual public art show and auction benefiting San Francisco General Hospital, is celebrating its twentieth anniversary with an exhibition of the signature heart-shaped sculptures on display in the Ferry Building through the end of the month . month. Other events include an outdoor festival in the Mission District on Saturday afternoon, with poetry readings, snacks and dancing; and next weekend a musical performance in Latin American and Caribbean style.