Mason, Bridget "Biddy"
1818-1891 · Contribution: 1856-1891
Won her freedom through a landmark 1856 California court case, then became one of the first Black women to own land in Los Angeles, building a real estate fortune worth an estimated $300,000 at her death
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Impact on the world
Mason turned a landmark freedom ruling into one of early Los Angeles's great self-made fortunes, then poured it back into the city as housing, worship, and relief for its most vulnerable.
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