Lillian Mobley

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Lillian Mobley (1930 – 2011) was an American community activist. She was active in the African-American community of South Los Angeles and was instrumental in the establishment of a major hospital in the neighborhood.[1][2] According to U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, she was "the most accomplished and successful community activist South Los Angeles has ever had."[1][3]

Biography[edit]

Lillian Harkless was born to Charlie and Corene Harkless on March 29, 1930, in Macon, Georgia.[1][2] In 1948, she graduated from Macon's Hudson High School and married James Otis Mobley.[1][2] Mobley and her husband moved to California three years later.[1][2]

Over the course of her life, she served on the boards of over 20 organizations, in fields including education, healthcare, water ratemaking, and services for the elderly.[1][3]

She is particularly known for her involvement in the establishment of Martin Luther King Hospital.[1][2][4] The McCone Commission convened after the 1965 Watts riots identified deficiencies in health services available in South Los Angeles and made recommendations for improvements in these services.[5][6] As part of implementing these recommendations, Mobley, along with Mary Henry, Caffie Green, Johnnie Taylor, and Nola Carter, pushed for the establishment of a major hospital in South Los Angeles.[7][4] Their effort culminated in the opening of Martin Luther King Hospital in 1972.[2][6] The same activists were a driving force behind the 1966 establishment of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, a historically black graduate institution in South Los Angeles.[2]

In 1983, she established the South Central Multipurpose Senior Citizen's Center, now called the Lillian Mobley Multipurpose Center, in South Los Angeles.[2][8]

Mobley had four children: Corene, Charles, Kenneth, and Phillip.[1][2] She died on July 18, 2011.[1][2][9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Stewart, Jocelyn Y. (July 21, 2011). "Lillian Mobley dies at 81; South Los Angeles activist". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Norwood, Chico C. (July 21, 2011). "Lillian Mobley, Queen of the Community, Succumbs". Black Voice News.
  3. ^ a b "Congresswoman Waters Mourns The Loss of Her Friend and Community Icon, Lillian Harkless-Mobley". Office of Congresswoman Maxine Waters. July 20, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Rosas, Abigail (2019). South Central Is Home: Race and the Power of Community Investment in Los Angeles. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-0956-3.
  5. ^ Evans, Caswell A Jr. (May–June 1993). "Public Health Impact of the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest". Public Health Reports. 108 (3): 265–272. PMC 1403375. PMID 8497562.
  6. ^ a b Muller, Helen J.; Ventriss, Curtis (1985). Public Health in a Retrenchment Era: An Alternative to Managerialism. SUNY Press. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-87395-985-8.
  7. ^ Woo, Elaine (June 7, 2010). "Caffie Greene dies at 91; activist was a leader in creation of King/Drew hospital". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ "The Lillian Mobley Multipurpose Center". Lillian Mobley Multipurpose Center. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  9. ^ Simmonds, Yussuf J. (July 21, 2011). "A True Community Treasure Passes On". Los Angeles Sentinel.
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