Photos & Papers from the Ralph J. Bunche Library and Media Center for African American Studies at UCLA

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Carolyne and Bill Edwards stand next to a portrait of Dr. Alfred T. Quinn The Quinn Research Center (QRC) is an archive of Black family history and Santa Monica Bay culture assembled by Dr. Alfred Quinn, a prominent educator and member of the Santa Monica community in the mid-late 20th century.  Conservancy Board Member Carolyne Edwards and her husband Bill Edwards founded the QRC in the 2000s, but the actual collecting began in the early 1930s.  While packing up the home of Dr. Alfred Quinn and Sylvia Dorothy Quinn—Carolyne’s late aunt and uncle—the collection came to light for the first time. The Edwardses discovered the wealth of information Dr. Quinn had amassed in the form of photographs, newspaper clippings, magazines, pamphlets and other items related to the history and development of the local area. They immediately realized the value of these treasures tucked away in various boxes and albums.  Stunned by the size and depth of the archive, they put the entire contents in Sterilite containers and brought them home, filling a guest bedroom to capacity; in fact they had to remove the bed to have enough room to organize it all.  Today, Dr. Quinn’s papers are housed at the The Ralph J. Bunche Library and Media Center for African American Studies at UCLA, where Santa Monica College history students helped digitize parts of the archive. Last year, 275 images became part of the Santa Monica Library’s research holdings, where they are available to the public.  The Edwardses named the center in honor of Carolyne's grandfather Rev. Alfred K. Quinn, her mother Daisy Quinn, and uncle Dr. Alfred T. Quinn, all of whom were collectors of history. Since founding the QRC, their mission has been to "collect, preserve and share the history and culture of African Americans in the Santa Monica Venice Bay Area" with others. In all of their work, they actively seek recognition of Santa Monica’s lost cultural heritage, which included a sizable and vibrant community of color that was largely displaced through eminent domain to make room for the 10 freeway and Santa Monica Civic Center.

Some of this sharing has been through various public events such as "History of Santa Monica African American Postal Employees", "African American Architects on the Westside", and "History of Garfield School" where Dr. Quinn became the first African American teacher hired in the Santa Monica School District in the 1950s. Photo: "Mr. Alfred T. Quinn's class at Garfield Elementary School." Credit: The Quinn Research Center   The Edwardses also partner with organizations like the Santa Monica Conservancy as well as researchers, students and artists to share the stories and heritage contained within the archive. No doubt readers have seen the announcement for Broadway to Freeway, an exhibition which they created with the Santa Monica History Museum. They have also been collaborating with the 18th Street Art Center for many years on projects like Culture Mapping 90404 to help identify past and present cultural assets for a community produced map of Santa Monica's Pico neighborhood as well as The Broadway Project which aims to create a Broadway Historic Cultural District through the pairing of history with public art. You can learn more about the Quinn Research Center and future projects by visiting their website or contacting them directly. To access the archive online through the Santa Monica Public Library’s Digital Archives, click here. The notice above from an email received received by yours truly from the Santa Monica Conservancy.