Reflecting on Seaside’s history and community leaders.

Kyarra Harris here, reading up on Monterey County’s past in honor of Black History Month. 

My co-workers, and a lovely Seaside librarian, recommended I read Racial Beachhead: Diversity and Democracy in a Military Town by local historian Carol Lynn McKibben. The book chronicles Seaside’s history as a military town and how it functioned in the early 1940s with such a diverse group of residents. 

Back then, racial tensions were high, even in a California city. While there may have been more opportunities out West, discrimination and prejudice were still a part of everyday culture. It wasn’t until Seaside’s boom of military residents that different ethnicities began to feel comfortable living together. 

“Military bases after 1948 were segregation-free zones that incorporated all sorts of people with some racial conflict, but much less than might be expected in the context of a deeply racist and segregated country,” McKibben writes. 

Today, Seaside tries to honor that history and past through memorials and events celebrating achievements people have made.

As timing would have it, several such long-time community leaders were recently honored at an unveiling for Seaside’s new Broadway Walk of Fame. 

Six honorees were inducted, including Dr. Bettye Lusk, who was recently sworn into her fourth term on the board of Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, and has had a long career serving in education, including as Seaside High School’s first woman and first Black principal. Also included are former Seaside mayor Jerry Smith and Helen Rucker for serving in civics and engagement. Rucker was also honored by Monterey County this week, with a resolution for her contributions. Rucker is a retired teacher and librarian, former city council member, and former president of the NAACP Monterey County branch. 

“Of all her many accomplishments, she is best known for her passion for civil rights and voter education—inspiring young and old about the power of the vote and power of change,” the statement by Monterey County read. “Helen Rucker continues to be a trailblazer throughout Monterey County by spreading the word on the importance and privilege of participating in our democracy,” reads the Board of Supervisors’ resolution declaring Feb. 14 as Helen Rucker Day.

Rucker still encourages kids to go to school and take advantage of an education. She remains politically engaged—sometimes in controversial issues, including a failed recall attempt in 2020 of former city councilmember Jon Wizard, who faced community opposition over his support for Black Lives Matter. She also advocates for less politically charged issues, like championing public libraries and for kids to use those resources to build upon their knowledge, resources she was unable to access during her childhood. 

Undoubtedly a new generation of leaders will emerge, who may or may not diverge from the people who came before. They’ll have the Walk of Fame, and the leaders who came before them, to draw inspiration and learn from.