One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
Happy 171st Statehood Anniversary, California
The California state logo, stenciled onto a sidewalk.
(
Levi Meir Clancy
/
Unsplash
)
On this day in 1850, California became the 31st state in the nation. According to a map created in 1888, the new state was roughly the same size as Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Ohio combined.
The region that became California was ceded by Mexico in 1848, not long after gold was found in Sutter’s Mill. Residents first sought statehood in 1849, and engaged in a battle with Congress regarding slavery.
California entered the union as a so-called “free state,” as outlined in the Compromise of 1850.
According to Patt Morrison of the Los Angeles Times, the anniversary of California gaining admission to the union used to be called Admission Day, and was a holiday widely celebrated throughout the state. She wrote:
In some years, schools and state offices closed, and parades and pageants celebrated the state’s marriage with the United States. In 1937, in Santa Monica, bragged the L.A. Times, 200,000 people massed along the streets to watch “five miles of beauty and pageantry depicting periods of California history pass by."
The California Department of Parks and Recreation has more on the matter here.
Meanwhile, here’s to 171 more!
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
