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Press Release

Moorpark College

MC Prof Prompts LA Cty Supes

Contact: pcolman@vcccd.edu

This week the LA County Board of Supervisors took action to rename a mountain in the Seminole Hots Springs area of Agoura based on research by Moorpark College History Professor Patty Colman. Colman’s work as a historian for the National Park Service uncovered the homestead of an African American pioneer named John Ballard in Seminole Hot Springs. Ballard was one of a handful of African Americans who settled in Los Angeles in the early 1800s. He was a founder of the First AME Church in the city. Colman was contacted by Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s office last year to verify Ballard’s homestead in preparation for a motion to rename the mountain from Negrohead to Ballard.
On 2/24, Yaroslavsky submitted a motion to the Board of Supervisors that the US Geological Survey be requested to change the mountain’s name as a lasting tribute to the contributions of Ballard in the early years of Los Angeles’ growth and development.

Last Updated 12/18/08