Odessa Cox
Odessa Cox | |
|---|---|
| Born | Odessa Brown June 8, 1922 Whatley, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | October 27, 2001 (aged 79) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Businesswoman, activist, pacifist |
| Known for | Founder, Los Angeles Southwest College |
Odessa Brown Cox (June 8, 1922 – October 27, 2001) was an American businesswoman and activist based in Watts, Los Angeles. She was a founder of Los Angeles Southwest College (LASC).
Early life
Brown was born in Whatley, Alabama,[1] the daughter of Chester Lee Brown and Alma Burroughs Brown. Her father was a labor organizer.[2]
Career
Educational activism in Watts
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Cox and her husband ran a dry cleaning business in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles for almost fifty years.[3][4] She was a parent activist in Watts, working to build a junior high school and improve Black representation in California textbooks. She was part of the campaign to establish a California State University campus near South Central Los Angeles, which became California State University, Dominguez Hills.[5]
As chair of the Southwest Junior College committee,[6][7] she was recognized as "principal founder"[5] of Los Angeles Southwest College when it opened in 1967.[3][4] The first permanent campus building was named for her in 1973.[8] "I didn't do this alone," she later recalled. "I might have conceived the idea, but from the beginning to end it took a lot of dedicated souls to bring the physical property you see today from an idea to reality."[4]
Peace and politics
Cox was active in California Democratic and Progressive party politics, and in the Los Angeles chapter of the World Peace Council. In 1960, she toured Cuba with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee; "I wanted to see for myself if there is any place under the sun where there isn't discrimination," she told a newspaper about that trip.[9] She signed the Fair Play for Cuba Committee's "A Declaration of Conscience by Afro-Americans", published in newspapers in 1961.[10]
Cox ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Los Angeles City Junior College District board in 1969.[11][12] She represented Los Angeles as a delegate to a meeting of the World Assembly of Builders of Peace in Poland in 1977. She chaired the United Front for Justice in South Africa, and was active in the American Association of Afro-American Relations. She was an organizer of the Southeast Interracial Council. The Los Angeles Sentinel named her Mother of the Year in 2001.[5]
Personal life and legacy
Brown married Raymond Cox in 1941, and the couple moved to Los Angeles in 1943.[1] They had three daughters. She used a wheelchair in her last years, after surviving a stroke. Her husband died in 1994, and she died in 2001, at the age of 79.[5] LASC holds an annual Odessa Cox Forum.[13]
References
- ^ a b Sides, Josh (2003). L.A. City Limits: African American Los Angeles from the Great Depression to the Present. University of California Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-520-24830-4.
- ^ Johnson, Marcia (2016-04-17). "Odessa Cox (1922–2001)". BlackPast.org. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
- ^ a b Johnson, Robert Lee (2017-01-23). Notable Southern Californians in Black History. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 98–101. ISBN 978-1-62619-581-3.
- ^ a b c "History: Learn Our Incredible Story!". Los Angeles Southwest College. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
- ^ a b c d Oliver, Myrna (2001-11-06). "Odessa B. Cox, 79; Helped Found Southwest College". The Los Angeles Times. p. 83. Retrieved 2026-02-09 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "14 Candidates Seek Los Angeles Junior College Board Positions May 27". The Van Nuys News. 1969-05-20. p. 6. Retrieved 2026-02-09 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "College committee sets community meet; Board member will address dinner session". Southwest Topics-Wave. 1965-08-05. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-02-09 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Merl, Jean (1990-01-19). "School Celebrates Its Roots and Growth". The Los Angeles Times. pp. B1, B12. Retrieved 2026-02-09 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Simons, Grace E. (1961-01-12). "'Let Them Come!' Cubans Tell Visitor". California Eagle. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved 2026-02-09 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Cuba: A Declaration of Conscience by Afro-Americans". Baltimore Afro-American. 1961-04-22. p. 16. Retrieved 2026-02-10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Five Win Endorsement". Palos Verdes Peninsula News. May 14, 1969. p. 5 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "14 Candidates Seek Los Angeles Junior College Board Positions May 27". The Van Nuys News. 1969-05-20. p. 6. Retrieved 2026-02-09 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Black History Month: Odessa Cox Forum". LASC. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
External links
- A photograph of Odessa Cox, from the digital collection of the Los Angeles Public Library
- "Odessa Cox, Challenging the Status Quo: The Campaign for Southwest Junior College", an oral history project in the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
- 2021 Odessa Cox Forum, a video uploaded to YouTube by the Los Angeles Southwest College