Historic Broadway Walking Tour

On July 8, 2025,  the Quinn Research Center (QRC) partnered with the 18th Street Arts Center for a walking tour along Santa Monica’s historic Broadway corridor. QRC co‑founders Bill and Carolyne Edwards led participants through the neighborhood’s past. They explained that the QRC preserves and shares the stories of Black families and culture in the Santa Monica Bay area. During the tour the Bill & Carolyne described how residents of African American, Mexican American and immigrant backgrounds built Broadway into a thriving, self‑sufficient community—with grocery stores, restaurants, barbershops, beauty salons and auto services—and how it was destroyed when the Interstate 10 freeway was built in the 1960s.

The tour is part of the QRC and 18th Street Arts Center’s broader “Broadway Project,” which seeks to establish a Broadway Historic Cultural District and celebrate Black culture through public art. By situating the walking tour within this context, the historical walking tour underscored the QRC’s mission to empower and educate community members by preserving the contributions of Santa Monica’s Black community.