Bruce's Beach A Step Closer To Being Returned To Descendants

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — L.A. County will begin the process of returning Bruce's Beach to the descendants of Charles and Willa Bruce. The L.A County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday on two items greenlighting Supervisor Janice Hahn's proposal.

The first item is to direct the county’s chief executive officer to come up with a plan to return the property to the family; the other is to sponsor California State Senate Bill 796, the legislation required to make possible the transfer.

"This was an injustice inflicted upon not just Willa and Charles Bruce– but generations of their descendants who almost certainly would have been millionaires if they had been able to keep this property and their successful business," said Supervisor Janice Hahn who has led the effort in the County to return the property. "We will never be able to erase the harm that was done to the Bruces, but today my colleagues voted to do what is in our power to get justice for this family and return the property that was stolen from them nearly a century ago.”

Supervisor Hahn first introduced her proposal April 9 at a press conference held in Manhattan Beach.

In 1912, a young Black couple named Willa and Charles Bruce purchased beachfront property in Manhattan Beach and built a resort that served Black residents. It was one of the few beaches where Black residents could go because so many other local beaches did not permit Black beachgoers. The Bruces and their customers were harassed and threatened by white neighbors including the KKK. Eventually, the Manhattan Beach City Council moved to seize the property using eminent domain in 1924, purportedly to create a park. The City took the property in 1929 and it remained vacant for decades.

“I am honored to join Supervisor Hahn in this important first step that will allow the County to return this property to its rightful owners, the Bruce Family,” said Supervisor Holly Mitchell who coauthored both motions today. “The Bruce Family is only one example of countless others where systemic racism took away access to the American Dream for Black families and families of color. In our mission to be an equitable and inclusive LA County, when faced with the opportunity to correct historic injustices, we took action to do so.”

The property the Bruce family once owned was transferred to the State in 1948, and in 1995 transferred to Los Angeles County. It is now the site of the Los Angeles County Lifeguard Training Headquarters.

The county will now have 60 days to create a timeline for the land transfer and determine whether or not the lifeguard station will have to move.

“With this, we have the opportunity not only to right a wrong that happened in our own backyards, but also to be an example of to the rest of the nation on how governments can begin to act now to correct historic injustices,” said Hahn.