Tom Bradley

Tom Bradley. . , A Local and National Legacy , Formerly the Crenshaw Station Post Office, the Tom Bradley Post Office was renamed for longtime mayor and former Leimert Park resident Tom Bradley in 2010. The renaming happened via a bill introduced to Congress earlier that year by Representative Diane Watson and signed by President Barack Obama , fitting, given that Bradley was of a generation of pioneering black elected officials who helped make Obama's historic ascent to the White House possible. , Los Angeles Postmaster Mark Anderson, who is also African American, said at the dedication that it is "more than appropriate to have a post office dedicated to this great man, who devoted much of his life to public service, and left behind a legacy of duty, peace, and economic growth." , Humble Beginnings , When he was elected in 1973, Bradley was only the second African American to head a major U.S. city. He was born in 1917 in Calvert, Texas, the son of a sharecropper and the grandson of former slaves. In 1924, his family, like many black families seeking freedom from the racially restricted South, moved to Los Angeles. He attended Polytechnic High School, where he starred in football and track, and afterwards attended UCLA. He joined the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in 1940 and went on to receive his law degree from Southwestern University School of Law. , Bradley retired from office in 1993 and died five years later, in 1998. The Crenshaw station is the most suited to be named after Bradley because it's located in the 10th council district, blocks from where he lived on Welland Avenue, and the district that Bradley himself represented as city councilman from 1963 to 1972, before being elected mayor in 1973. , Los Angeles On The Rise , The unprecedented five terms Bradley served was overall a period of enormous growth in Los Angeles, growth associated with the city's first and only African American mayor who strove to be the bridge between the city's geographic and social segregation, and a modern dynamic of multiculturalism and ethnic inclusion. The groups he brought to the political table and into City Hall , blacks, Jews, Latinos, and women , are still known amongst civic historians as the “Bradley Coalition.” In his two decades in office, Bradley pushed a progressive political agenda that transformed Los Angeles into a city with a reputation for being open, diverse, and forward- thinking. He enacted environmental reforms, strong business practices against apartheid South Africa, and ordinances prohibiting discrimination against LGBT citizens and people suffering with AIDS. He also fought to bring civilian oversight and accountability to the LAPD, the institution that had launched his public service career, and he eventually won. , From the beginning, Bradley envisioned Los Angeles as a key player in international trade. During his tenure, the Port of Los Angeles expanded into the busiest port in the country, and the international terminal at Los Angeles International Airport was built. The city was put in the global spotlight when it successfully hosted the Olympic Games in the summer of 1984, the first time since 1932. , Naming Rights , City institutions that bear Bradley's name are the elementary school not far from the post office (former 36th Street School) and the well-known Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport. However, not all the renaming efforts took. In 2003, longtime tenth district councilman Nate Holden proposed changing part of the Crenshaw corridor to Tom Bradley Boulevard. But residents of Leimert Park and other parts of the Crenshaw district proved more wedded to the Crenshaw name than the proposal’s advocates expected, and the proposal lost. , Bradley's most visually striking legacy is the gleaming downtown skyline of Bunker Hill, precursor to the gentrification that transformed downtown in the 2010s, and the start of a subway and light rail system that is still expanding , the sixth rail line, the Crenshaw/LAX line, is in particular accordance with Bradley's legacy. , photo captions: , Tom Bradley with his wife on a last minute campaign swing down Crenshaw, c. 1989. Numerous businesses in the 3700 block of Crenshaw Boulevard can be seen in the background including: the Los Angeles Sentinel, Majestic Pontiac, the Holiday Bowl, The Boys Market, Family Savings and Loan, and others. , Tom Bradley was only the second African American elected to head a major US city and the first black mayor elected in a city without a black majority.