Born a slave in Mississippi, Bridget “Biddy” Mason became one of the wealthiest black women in the United States after the Civil War. As a child in slavery, Mason was stripped from her family and sold several times throughout Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. As a slave, it was forbidden for Mason to learn how to read, however, she acquired skills in the field of medicine. These skills made her valuable on the plantation because she helped deliver children, including those of the master, who were born there. Mason’s slave owner took her along when he decided to move to Utah, a good location to practice his Mormon faith, and when he eventually decided to travel down to San Bernardino, California in order to establish a new settlement.
Anti-slave sentiment was strong in California and surged when California drafted a constitution forbidding slavery. Mason’s slave master decided to move to Texas, where slavery was still legal, but before he could leave, a Los Angeles Court District Judge granted a petition that set the slaves free. A successful business man named Robert Owens invited Mason and her children to live with him in Los Angeles. Mason started her career as a nurse and midwife. Her reputation grew as she became well known for her herbal remedies.
Mason was able to earn $2.50 a day, good pay for an African American woman at the time. Oftentimes, she helped those who were unable to pay. 10 years later, in 1866, she managed to save $250 and was able to buy two lots of land. Mason used the land for gardening and built houses that she rented out for additional income. Almost 20 years later, Mason sold part of her land for $1,500 and built a commercial building on another part. A few years later, the main financial district was one block from Mason’s property which greatly increased the property’s value. By the late 1800s, Mason became the wealthiest woman in Los Angeles.
Mason acquired enough wealth to donate money and land to schools, day care centers, grocery stores, and churches. She regularly visited jail inmates. She worked with her son-in-law to form the Los Angeles branch of First American Methodist Episcopal Church. One of Mason’s family members quoted her as saying, “If you hold your hand closed, nothing good can come in. The open hand is blessed, for it gives in abundance, even as it receives.”
