Taylor George-Forte's grandfather James Cornelius George was born in 1940 in Arkansas and his grandmother Mattie Mae Parham was born in 1944 in Alabama. In 1946, James' family moved to an ethnic neighborhood in Monterey County, California where most residents were low-income African Americans. Mattie's family lived in Birmingham, Alabama during the Jim Crow era and a 1963 church bombing there prompted Mattie's family to also relocate to California. James pursued education, turning down a baseball contract to graduate with engineering degrees, and worked as an engineer and substitute teacher. Religion is important to the family, who attend church each Sunday in Ontario, California.

1. FAMILY HISTORY
Taylor George-Forte
Geography 10
November 26, 2013

2. INTRODUCTION
• James Cornelius George was
born on January 8, 1940 in
Texaskana, Arkansas. He was
born to James E. and Arlee
George and was the first born of
three.
• Mattie Mae Parham was born
on May 21, 1944 in
Eutaw, Alabama. She was born
to James and Ida Parham and
was the second of six children;

3. ETHNIC NEIGHBORHOODS
An ethnic neighborhood can be described as an
area that with higher concentration of a certain
ethnicity or group that minority elsewhere. In
1946, my grandfather and his family moved to
Monterey County, California. They moved into the
ethnic neighborhood, where the majority were
African American and low income. The neighborhood
was located in the unincorporated part of Monterey
Country which is today Seaside and Sand City.
Where my grandfather’s house was originally in Sand
City is now covered completely by sand dunes. His
family moved to a house a mile further inland in
Seaside where my great-grandma still stays by
herself at the age of 92.

4. PUSH FACTORS
A push factor is a subject or event that pushes
you to move from your home to another place.
My grandmother grew up in
Birmingham, Alabama, which at time there were
high tension because of the Jim Crow Laws. On
September 15, 1963, there was a bombing on
the steps of 16th Street Baptist Church in
Birmingham. Mattie was set to attend that
Sunday of the bomb but did not per her father’s
request. The bombing was a sign of the racial
tension escalating in the South at the time. This
was reason my grandmother was eager to move
to California.

5. EDUCATION
Education has always been important to my
grandfather. While in Junior College, his
friend wanted to tryout for the Oakland A’s
Major League Baseball team and my
grandfather went too for fun. They liked him
and offered him a position on the team. My
grandfather turned it down to attend San
Francisco State and further his education.
He graduated with a bachelor in engineering
and later got his master degree from UCLA.

6. WORK SECTORS
My grandfather, after finishing
school in 1972, he went to work
in the secondary sector as an
engineer for Southern California
Edison. He worked there until
1997 when he retired. In 2001
he went back to work but in the
quarternary sector as a
substitute teacher. He currently
works for Pomona School
District.

7. RELIGION
Religion is an important part of my
whole family. My grandmother was
brought up in the South as Baptist and
she passed it to the rest of the family.
We attend church every Sunday. My
grandmother is involved in the Women’s
Ministry, my mother in the Audio/Visual
department, and myself in the choir and
Usher board. We attend Mt. Zion
Baptist Church in Ontario.

10. CONCLUSION
That’s my grandparents story therefore it is my
story. It was wonderful seeing how Geography
can connect to my family. I learned more about
my family and that this class is more than just
remembering cities and states.