Taylor George-Forte's grandparents moved from the South to an ethnic neighborhood in Monterey County, California in 1946. His grandmother grew up in Birmingham, Alabama during a time of racial tensions and the Jim Crow laws. She was almost at the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963, which increased tensions and pushed her to move to California. Taylor's grandfather valued education, turning down a baseball career to get his engineering and master's degrees. He worked as an engineer and later a substitute teacher. Religion is also important to the family, as they attend Baptist church each week.

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; the

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.