In Santa Cruz today, we know the Louden Nelson center is a place where activities for all groups are always held, from creative writing classes to yoga for senior citizens. Some of us pass by the building on Center Street all the time and know the name, but who exactly is Louden Nelson and why is the building dedicated to him?
Louden Nelson's real name is written erroneously. His real name was London Nelson. He arrived in Santa Cruz as a slave with his master (who had come west during the promising prospect of the Gold Rush) in 1842. His last name, Nelson, was given to him when he was born a slave on May, 5th, 1800 on a North Carolina cotton plantation owned by the Nelson family. London was set free here in Santa Cruz from his bondage after his master considered his freedom "bought" after helping seek the gold during the western journey his master conducted.
By that time, London, and a previously owned slave set free, were the only two black persons in Santa Cruz.
London worked as a cobbler and also on a farm that he rented land on, saving enough money to finally purchase some of his own land near the San Lorenzo river in 1860. He fill ill the same year he purchased the land, and in the event of his death he willed his land over to the public school system of Santa Cruz county for what he said should be "for the purpose of promoting an interest in education." He never received a formal education, and wanted to make sure future children would have the opportunity.
It is interesting to note that the gravestone pictured above has been an object subjected to vandalism over the course of Santa Cruz history. People have written racial epithets on it and knocked it over, hence why it is in this current state today. It shows how we see Santa Cruz through rose-colored glasses as a place where racism doesn't exist, or where a slave like London Nelson would've never set foot.
You can find London Nelson's gravestone in Evergreen Cemetery in Santa Cruz to this day.
--Katie Laughlin
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