Mary Ellen Pleasant
The Mary Ellen Pleasant Memorial Park is at the corner of Octavia and Bush Streets is the smallest park in San Francisco. It is designated by the city of San Franciisco as Structure of Merit.
Mary Ellen Pleasant was a remarkable woman who lived from 1814 to 1904. She was an entrepreneur, financier, real estate magnate, and abolitionist who became one of the first self-made millionaires of African American heritage.
Pleasant was likely born into slavery in 1814, though she claimed to have been born free. As a young girl, she was raised by an abolitionist family in Nantucket, Massachusetts. She later married an abolitionist named James Smith and worked on the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved people escape to freedom.
After her first husband's death, Pleasant married John James Pleasant around 1848. To avoid persecution for their abolitionist activities, the couple moved to San Francisco in 1852. There, Pleasant continued her work on the Underground Railroad, sheltering fugitive slaves and helping them find employment.
In San Francisco, Pleasant invested her inheritance wisely, establishing successful businesses like laundries, dairies, and upscale restaurants. She became an astute investor and amassed a considerable fortune by the 1870s.
Pleasant used her wealth to support the abolitionist movement, providing financial assistance to John Brown before his famous raid on Harpers Ferry. She also fought for civil rights in California, winning several lawsuits against segregated transportation companies. In 1866, Pleasant sued a streetcar company for refusing to let her board due to her race. The California Supreme Court ruled in her favor, declaring segregation on streetcars illegal. However, the court later reversed the damages awarded to her.
In the 1880s, a smear campaign damaged Pleasant's reputation, with newspapers using the derogatory term "mammy" to refer to her. She spent her final years defending herself against creditors in court.
Despite the challenges she faced, Pleasant left a lasting legacy as a pioneering African American entrepreneur and civil rights activist. She has been featured in various works of fiction and documentaries, and several sites in San Francisco have been dedicated to honoring her memory.
For more information:
NationalWomensHistoricalSociety