IMAGE: The Terryettes Drill Team, formed by Mrs. Thelma Terry. Photo courtesy of the Quinn Research Center and The Terryettes.
Join us for a unique celebration, and community art project from noon to 1PM
CELEBRATING
Thelma Terry: Athlete, Educator, and Community Leader
A Women’s History Month Celebration
Saturday, March 7, 2020 | 10 AM – 1 PM
Virginia Avenue Park, Thelma Terry Building
2200 Virginia Ave, Santa Monica
“In observance of Women’s History Month, Virginia Avenue Park, 18th Street Arts Center, and the Quinn Research Center are teaming up to celebrate the life and work of Thelma Terry, a community leader with a lasting legacy around teen recreation, athletics, and arts education in the Pico Neighborhood of Santa Monica. Through her life’s work, Thelma Terry touched so many in the community, but has very little presence online or in the history books. Through the efforts of Quinn Research Center, researcher Sabrina Fields, Virginia Avenue Park, and 18th Street Arts Center, Terry will finally have a Wikipedia page that matches her profound influence in the community. The Quinn Research Center provided photos and historical information on Thelma Terry from their archives for this page, and 18th Street Arts Center was able to provide some first-hand oral history accounts from their culturemapping90404.org project. Through art-making, sharing stories, local history presentations, food, and more, the community will celebrate Thelma Terry’s legacy at the Thelma Terry Center on Saturday March 7, 2020 from 10am-1pm.
Nestled in Santa Monica’s Pico neighborhood, the Thelma Terry building is a recreation facility right in the heart of Virginia Avenue Park. The building is used primarily for community gathering activities: everything from baile folklorico rehearsals to rent control information sessions. Although the essence of these activities are in line with the legacy of Thelma Terry, only a few know about her influence in the Westside, specifically in Venice and Santa Monica.
The event on March 7th will feature a community art-making activity with Debra Disman, a presentation from Art+Feminism’s West Coast rep Stacey Allan, memories of Mrs. Terry from her contemporaries and students, and a call for more Santa Monicans to get involved in future Wikipedia-thons to record and write the histories of underrecognized women leaders of color in this community. For information or to get involved in a future Santa Monica-focused Wikipedia-thon, please email [email protected].”
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