Ralph J. Bunche House facts for kids
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Ralph J. Bunche House
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Ralph J. Bunche House, 2008
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 Location in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Location in California
Location in the United States
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| Location | 1221 E. 40th Place, Los Angeles, California |
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| Built | 1919 |
| Architectural style | Victorian-Bungalow |
| NRHP reference No. | 78000686 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | May 22, 1978 |
The Ralph J. Bunche House is a special house in South Los Angeles, California. It is also known as the Ralph Bunche Peace & Heritage Center. This house is built in a mix of Victorian and Bungalow styles.
This house was the childhood home of Ralph Bunche. He was a very important person who won the Nobel Peace Prize. The house was named a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1976. It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. This means it is a historically important place.
Contents
Ralph Bunche's Childhood Home
Ralph Bunche was born in Detroit, Michigan. He later lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When his mother passed away in 1917, he moved to Los Angeles. He went to live with his grandmother there.
Ralph and his sister, Grace, grew up in this house on 40th Place. Their grandmother, Lucy Taylor Johnson, raised them. Their two aunts, Nelle and Ethel, and their uncle, Thomas Johnson, also helped.
While living in Los Angeles, Ralph was a brilliant student. He was the top student, or valedictorian, at Jefferson High School. This school was very close to his home. He was also the valedictorian at UCLA, which was then on Vermont Avenue. Ralph was also a great basketball player at UCLA.
In 1950, Ralph Bunche won the Nobel Peace Prize. He earned this award for his work in helping to create peace agreements. These agreements ended the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Ralph Bunche was the first person of color from any country to receive this important prize.
Saving and Restoring the House
Over time, Ralph Bunche's childhood home started to fall apart. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was damaged by people. The house was empty for about ten years. It was used by people who didn't have permission to be there.
In 1996, a group called the Dunbar Economic Development Corp. bought the house. This group helps communities. They wanted to turn the house into a museum. Their plans were delayed because they didn't have enough money.
In 1999, the California Community Foundation gave them a large loan. This loan helped them start the restoration work. After a news report showed the house covered in graffiti, the mayor, Richard Riordan, even helped clean it up.
The Dr. Ralph J. Bunche Peace & Heritage Center
The house was carefully fixed up and decorated. It now has photos and items from Ralph Bunche's life. It became the Dr. Ralph J. Bunche Peace & Heritage Center. This center is a museum and a community place. It helps people from all groups in South Central Los Angeles get along peacefully.
The house was fully restored between 2002 and 2004. Design Aid Architects did the work. They even won an award for preserving the house in 2006. That year, a newspaper described the house as "brilliant." It had sunlight shining through its windows and clean wood floors.
Collecting Stories: Oral History Project
The Dr. Ralph J. Bunche Peace and Heritage Center also had a special project. It was called the Oral History Project. This project worked with UCLA. They collected stories from people who knew Ralph Bunche in Los Angeles. They also gathered stories about the Central Avenue area and the Dunbar Hotel community.
These collected stories were shown at the Ralph J. Bunche House. This continued until about 2011. After that, the stories were moved to UCLA. Today, the house is a private home.
See also
- List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in South Los Angeles
- List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles
- Ralph Johnson Bunche House, the home in Queens, New York, where Bunche lived for many years.
