Compton is a city of myth and misunderstandings. Today, it is known as the city of "hip-hop dreams and gangsta fantasies." Its history, however, is not as well known. Compton was originally part of the Rancho San Pedro Spanish land grant. The area was deeded as a wedding gift, lost in foreclosure, then sold to F.P.F. Temple and F.W. Gibson at a sheriff's sale. Ultimately, it was settled in 1867 by former forty-niners from Stockton. Given its location halfway between the harbor and Los Angeles, the "Hub City" has seen many pivotal events: the dawn of flight at the 1910 international air meet, the 1933 earthquake, floods, white flight, factory shut-downs, decline, and now a new beginning at the start of the 21st century.
Robert Lee Johnson is chairman of the projects committee of the History Council at the California African American Museum. He was co-coordinator of the Compton branch of the Black Panther Party and a founding member of the Coalition Against Police Abuse. Johnson lectures on local history and mentors a civil rights class at Otis College. His family moved from Watts to Compton in 1961.