Documenting Black Women’s History at the Wilfandel Clubhouse
Dedicated students at the University of Southern California have pulled out the laser scanners and measuring tapes to document the Wilfandel Clubhouse in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles. The Wilfandel Club, the oldest Black women’s club in Los Angeles, was founded in 1945 by Della Williams (wife of architect Paul R. Williams) and Fannie Williams as a safe place for social, civic, and community events. In this episode, producer Willa Seidenberg visits the clubhouse to see the students in action, hear what they’re doing and why, and talk with longtime member Jan Morrow Bell.
The Wilfandel House exterior, February, 2024. Photo by Willa Seidenberg. 
Della and Fannie Williams, date unknown. Photo courtesy The Wilfandel Club. 
Della and Paul Williams at The Wilfandel House, ca. 1960s. Photo courtesy UCLA Library Special Collections. 
Gathering at The Wilfandel Club, ca. 1940s. Photo courtesy UCLA Library Special Collections. 
Bride Carole Kaiser getting help for her wedding at The Wilfandel House, date unknown. Photo courtesy of The Wilfandel House. 
Staircase in The Wilfandel House. Photo by Willa Seidenberg. 
Left to right: Andrea Mauk, Ryan Holcomb, Zoe Detweiler, and Eliza Jane Franklin, working at The Wilfandel House, February 2024. Photo by Willa Seidenberg. 
Sam Malnati (l) and Kiersten Turner (r) using the laser scanner at The Wilfandel House. Photo by Evan McAvenia. 
Zoe Detweiler and Sam Malnati discuss ceiling molding profiles. Photo by Evan McAvenia. 
Heritage Conservation students working at The Wilfandel House (l-r Sam Malnati, Zoe Detweiler, Eliza Jane Franklin). Photo by Evan McAvenia. 
Wall with the names of all Wilfandel Club members since the founding. Photo by Willa Seidenberg. 
Heritage Conservation student Paul Kim working in The Wilfandel House. Photo by Evan McAvenia.
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Featuring
Sam Malnati (current MHC/MUP student)
Sam Malnati (she/they) is a dual degree Master of Heritage Conservation and Urban Planning student at USC. Originally from the Boston area, they developed a love of old buildings from an early age. Sam currently works at AQYER, using documentation technologies to help preserve historic structures around Los Angeles.
Eliza Jane Franklin (current MHC student)
Eliza Jane Franklin is a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, a Congressional award-winning social justice researcher, and a lynching victim descendant from Alabama. She received a degree in African-American Studies and a Master’s in Urban Planning from UCLA. Her past research projects include a $3 million study on hate featured in Forbes where she analyzed the erasure of Black histories and spaces. She will serve as a 2024-2025 Graduate Intern at the Getty Research Institute where she will help curate the archive of Paul R. Williams.
Jan Morrow Bell (Assistant Treasurer, Wilfandel Club)
Jan Morrow Bell is a second-generation Los Angeles native with more than 30 years in Information Technology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Keck Hospital of USC. Jan joined the Wilfandel Club after she was widowed, encouraged by her stepmother, Glynis Morrow, the club’s president at the time. A member of the Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles, Jan’s great-grandfather, the church’s third pastor, collaborated with Paul R. Williams on the sanctuary’s design, located at 24th and Griffith Avenue. Jan is the great-niece of Faye Griffith, one of the Wilfandel Club’s original fifty founders in 1945. Jan has served in various roles, including Membership Chair, Assistant Treasurer, Budget Chair, and Board Chair.
Learn More
National Park Service Charles E. Peterson Prize
HABS/HAER/HALS Collection at the Library of Congress
USC Heritage Conservation Programs
Your Hosts
Co-host Trudi Sandmeier is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Director of Graduate Programs in Heritage Conservation, and Professor of Practice at the USC School of Architecture. Her work centers on the conservation of the recent past and the impact of under-recognized communities on the historic built environment. Read more in her USC faculty bio.
Co-host Cindy Olnick serves as both Associate Director of Heritage Conservation at USC and a communications consultant for heritage conservation, historic preservation, and the built environment. Read more in her USC faculty bio.
Podcast producer Willa Seidenberg taught audio journalism and podcasting at USC’s Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, while pursuing a USC Master of Heritage Conservation degree. She retired from teaching and earned her degree in 2023.
A 20-year broadcast journalist and an inaugural fellow with USC’s Center for Excellence in Teaching, Willa founded Annenberg Radio News, the university’s radio news operation; and Intersections South LA, a reporting lab and community website for South Los Angeles.
With photographer William Short, Willa is the author of two oral history/photo projects: A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War and Memories of the American War: Stories From Viet Nam.
