The Riots of Griffith Park | Lost LA | PBS SoCal

The Merry-Go-Round at Griffith Park is a popular recreational activity, especially for parents and their children. The idyllic place is also the venue where Walt Disney purportedly first saw the glimmers of a future Disneyland. But in 1961, around the Memorial Day holiday, the Merry-Go-Round wasn't so merry; it became the site of a race riot that challenged Griffith J. Griffith's vision of a park for the people. The incident is a reflection of the times, when Freedom Rides occurred in Montgomery, Alabama, and when the civil rights movement were just beginning to gain steam. Historian Alison Rose Jefferson explains to host Nathan Masters and author Casey Schreiner how this popular ride became a flashpoint in history.

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[philipnauman]

Thanks for posting this. I had heard about what happened over the years, and this leads me to want to learn more. History matters.

[mrjolieguy]

Incredible!
I’ve grown up with this park my whole life, born & raised in Hollywood, lots of special moments of my life were at this location and never had I known this incident occurred til now. Wow. It Just makes this place much more special than before. Thanks for sharing this awesome video 👍👍👍👌🏼👏🏼👏🏼❤️✌🏼

[OhioDave]

Yes, but, didn't the Freedom Riders pay for their tickets? I am not from L.A. and do not know this story, but it is portraid as if the children we're not paying for the rides and that was the key to the problem. Was that the start of the problem?

[VictorGomez-lipe]

As one of the many Mexican Americans I was there that day, by myself and I was eleven years old. Many of the protestors were badly beaten by the police as the closed the park. Also, I remember that there were many plained clothes police officers that evidently were planted at the park.

[maureen]

This riot was the day of my 9th birthday just before my mom was murdered. We were so poor we could only afford for my mom & a girlfriend to take the bus there, take 1 small cake & get 1 ride each on the Merry go Round. We never got the cake nor the ride, that these bigger than adult- supposed kids destroyed. I guess rules are meant for some & not others for their Freedom Rides. It’s really hard to hear people’s versions of the stories who were never there to witness & then to justify. Just like they justified burning down Watts 1965 where I lived.