Thomas “Tom” Bradley was the five-term mayor of Los Angeles, California, serving in office from 1973 to 1993.
The son of sharecroppers and grandson of slaves, he made history when he was elected mayor of Los Angeles and became the first African American mayor of a major American city with an overwhelmingly white population.
Born in rural Calvert Texas, Bradley’s family moved to Los Angeles when he was 7 years old. For more than a million African Americans who migrated West in the early 20th century, Los Angeles was considered the “Promised Land,” providing the hope of a better life – far from the lynchings, urban riots and Jim Crow laws of the South. Bradley grew up on Central Avenue in Los Angeles, the heart of the black community. It was a relatively small, close knit community, where neighbor helped neighbor, offering stability, optimism, and a sense of belonging. It was in this Los Angeles that Bradley could dream the impossible dream – a life of hope and an enduring belief that change is possible.