Are you tired of my series of “causes” columns yet? I hope not, because I’ve got one more for you.
This one is about honoring a Long Beach legend. I’ve written about Beverly O’Neill many times – even wrote a book about her. In my humble opinion, she is one of the few giants who have shaped our fair city.
Former mayor Beverly O’Neill (Photo by Leo Jarzomb)
So when Jeff Williams, currently Director of Community Engagement for Mayor Rex Richardson, came to me last year with a suggestion that we should do something to honor Beverly’s legacy, I jumped at the opportunity.
Almost immediately, and with enthusiastic support from the mayor, we enlisted the help of the Historical Society of Long Beach – clearly the experts in town when it comes to telling historical tales. Beverly’s daughter, Teresa O’Neill, loved the idea too.
We began the process with a couple of sessions at Beverly’s beachside home on the Peninsula, going through boxes and boxes of her memorabilia. The search for treasure expanded to the closets, where the amazing collection of scarves was uncovered.
What’s that, you say? You’re too young to remember why Beverly is so important to Long Beach?
Go buy the book!
Sorry. Let me tell you a bit about her.
Beverly rose through the administrative ranks of Long Beach City College during the heady days of the Women’s Movement, continually breaking glass ceilings until she reached the top – President/Superintendent of our community college as the first woman to hold the office. Then she was convinced to help her city even more by running for mayor.
The non-politician won, then won again. Then she won for a third time, running as a write-in candidate. It was unprecedented, and hasn’t been done since. She led Long Beach through turbulent times – the departure of the Navy, the rebuilding of the waterfront, a growing budget deficit, the 9/11 terrorist attacks – and made the city better for it.
Back to today. Or to be more specific, back to Tuesday, when an exhibit called the Beverly O’Neill Legacy was unveiled at City Hall.
This particular piece is the traveling part of the exhibit – three large panels covered front and back with Beverly’s story. Those panels were on display at City Hall all week.
They will surface again in the first week of June, when the U.S. Conference of Mayors comes to town for their national convention. Mayor Rex convinced them to come, and Visit Long Beach’s leader Steve Goodling made sure the Beverly exhibit would be part of the convention.
You see, Beverly was president of that organization 20 years ago, while she was in her last year as Long Beach mayor. She led the nation’s mayors through the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and much more. Amazingly, the man who was executive director during Beverly’s tenure, Tom Cochran, is still leading the organization today.
But there is much more to the Beverly O’Neill legacy than the panels. An entire gallery at the Historical Society of Long Beach has been turned into the Beverly O’Neill story. It’s more than worth the trip to Bixby Knolls to see it.
Many people have contributed to making this homage the quality piece of history that it is. I should know better than to try to name names – I’ll undoubtedly forget someone and feel forever ashamed – but they need to be recognized.
At the Historical Society, Executive Director Julie Bartolotto led the charge (as always). Jen Malone, the Historical Society archivist, pored through all the amazing Beverly stuff and created an even more amazing exhibit. And Bianca Moreno, the program and design manager, put the incredible panels together. Good friend Jesse Lopez gave it all his professional polish.
I’ve mentioned Jeff Williams, who has been a rock through the whole process. The dear Olivia Maiser has been totally selfless (as always) and generous with her time. Ginny Baxter led the City College effort, and Randal Hernandez and Marlene Temple provided important insights – and some sponsorship as well. None of this could have happened without the incredible Teresa O’Neill and her husband, Terrence McNally.
I’ll be honest – this was a passion project for me. Beverly has been an important part of my life for a good 30 years. I am extremely grateful to those who have made it possible for her legacy to be honored and preserved. It is a worthy cause.
Thank you all.