{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Architects & Builders: The Business History of the Global African Diaspora","title":"Biddy Mason: From 1,700-Mile Trek in Chains to California's First Black Female Real Estate Magnate","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":194,"description":"Read full Article Here:  Bridget “Biddy” Mason: From Enslavement to the Grandmother of Los Angeles\n\nThe script recounts the life of Bridget “Biddy” Mason, born into slavery in the early nineteenth century, who became the wealthiest Black woman in California and a foundational builder of Los Angeles. \nIn 1848 she walked nearly 1,700 miles from Mississippi to the American West with a wagon train—pregnant, illiterate, enslaved, and caring for three daughters—while working as a cook, laborer, cattle herder, and midwife who delivered dozens of babies using knowledge passed among enslaved women. \nThough California was a “free state,” she remained illegally enslaved for five years until she sued for freedom; in 1856 a Los Angeles judge freed her and fourteen others. \nShe then worked as a nurse and midwife, saved money, invested in Los Angeles real estate, amassed major wealth, and funded churches, schools, and aid for the poor, before being buried in an unmarked grave and later rediscovered through documented history.\n00:00 Unnoticed No More\n00:30 A Road In Chains\n00:55 Midwife Knowledge\n01:11 Suing For Freedom\n01:40 Real Estate Destiny\n02:03 Wealth With Responsibility\n02:19 Erasure And Return\n02:43 Legacy And Call To Read\nRead the Full Story Here: Biddy Mason: From 1,700-Mile Trek in Chains to California's First Black Female Real Estate Magnate","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/hGBJRWcQNbUtX3WvUxjIBknWXnbmHCBA_3sLN5oME6Y/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83NjFj/ZDdkMWZhNmQ2ZmEz/NTE4MDA3MGZiOGFj/Y2YxMy5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}