Meet Biddy Mason, the Black Matriarch Who Helped Build Los Angeles

Biddy Mason was born into slavery in the early 1800s in the southern United States, likely in Georgia or Mississippi.

She spent nearly four decades enslaved, enduring forced labor on plantations and enduring the harsh realities of chattel slavery.

In 1851, she was forcibly relocated to California by her enslaver, Robert Smith, despite California having abolished slavery in its 1849 constitution.

Smith exploited a loophole, claiming his human property was not enslaved because California was a free state, though he continued to control Biddy and her three daughters as forced laborers on his ranch.

Biddy worked as a midwife, managing his household and even delivering his neighbor’s children, while enduring the physical and emotional toll of bondage.

Her resilience during this period laid the foundation for her later fight for freedom.