A Conversation About Sugar Hill

A Conversation About Sugar Hill will address the history, impact and legacy of Los Angeles’ West Adams Neighborhood — once known as Sugar Hill. As one of LA’s oldest neighborhoods, with homes dating back to the 19th century, West Adams is LA’s oldest Black neighborhood, founded even before the famed “Black Beverly Hills” of Baldwin Hills. While its demographic has shifted, West Adams has always been at the center of the city’s changing landscape, serving as a beacon for cultural exchange and a refuge for residents of color. In February 2024, FORT: LA Fellowship recipient Madelene Dailey completed a research project and 7 short films about the neighborhood’s historic and unique architecture and led by narratives and reflections of the residents themselves.

Join us to learn about the founding of the Wilfandel Club by Della Williams and Fannie Williams, Alan and Vera Clarke Ifill’s founding of the Caribbean Credit Union, Yvonne Miller who was one of the founders of the First Negro Classical Ballet, and Paul R. Williams, the iconic architect who designed the legendary FAME Church. The panelists will address the future of the neighborhood and the efforts underway for its preservation. After the lecture, participants will be invited to continue the conversation while touring the stunningly verdant grounds of Village Green.

About the Panelists

Madelene Daily is an Urban Planner from Florida, working primarily with the state of Florida on projects related to community infrastructure planning, public transportation, and federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation. Her professional experience includes assisting local and national non-profit organizations, as well as state and federal agencies, in grant writing/funding, daily operations, volunteer outreach, community design workshops, and public support campaigns. Madelene also volunteers her time on pro bono and community enrichment development, and has worked with local non-profit organizations in Los Angeles on justice-driven civil design projects. She serves as a Director of Architecture + Advocacy, a USC student-founded startup working to address spatial justice through design and architecture. She is co-president of the USC National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMAS) Chapter and is a USC Architectural Guild Board member. She received her Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies and Visual Arts from Eckerd College in 2018. She will graduate from the University of Southern California with a Master’s in Architecture in the spring of 2024. During her studies her work will focus on intersecting equitable urban planning with sustainable design, she aims to earn a certificate in sustainable architecture as well.

Joshua A. Foster is an award-winning community builder, architectural designer, educator, and speaker. He is the Founder and CEO of JAF — a community-impact focused consulting firm empowering the AEC and real estate industry with the tools to maximize impact in the built environment. Joshua also serves on multiple local and national non-profit boards including, the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), the Long Beach Community Design Center, Architecture + Advocacy, and the USC Architectural Guild. Joshua is a graduate of both Columbia University and the University of Southern California.

About the Organizers

Village Green (aka Baldwin Hills Village) is one of the most important housing design precedents in the nation and is the best example of the garden apartment typology on the West Coast. The project organizes 627 one-, two- and three-bedroom units in 92 one- and two-story buildings across a 67.7-acre site. The site is bounded, but not penetrated, by public streets, allowing for the creation of an approximately 13-acre, nearly half-mile long central green spine, called the Village Green.

Friends Of Residential Treasures: LA is an award-winning nonprofit dedicated to bringing people together by celebrating the history and influence of residential architecture. Our organization has developed four interlocking programs in pursuit of our mission: An online mapping system for self-guided tours of the exteriors of architecturally significant homes developed by experts in the field (FORT Trails); a fellowship to foster new knowledge (FORT Fellowship); a series of virtual experiences to provide interior access understanding (FORT Frames); and an ongoing series of live and virtual educational events (FORT Gatherings). We have been covered by the LA Times, KCRW, KCAL, NBC: LA, Spectrum News, NPR, Los Angeles Magazine, Time Out Los Angeles, American Way, and other outlets. We have partnered on live events with the Los Angeles Public LIbrary, the Hollyhock House, the Gamble House, Pasadena Heritage, the Pasadena Museum of History, soho.home.studeio, the Wolford House and more. Our organization is the recipient of an LA Conservancy Preservation award and a California Preservation Foundation Design award. FORT’s newsletter announcing its free monthly content reaches over 9,000 subscribers.