By Lookout Staff

September 19, 2024 -- During Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, volunteers will descend on a once-segregated stretch of Santa Monica beach frequented by legendary Black surfer Nick Gabaldón.

The historic "Inkwell" site was adopted by Santa Monica College (SMC) as part of the world’s largest volunteer event related to the marine environment, school officials said.

From left: Grace Williams, Albert Williams, Mary Mingleton, Willie Williams (no relation) in the segregated section of Santa Monica beach known as the Ink Well ca. 1926 (Shades of L.A. Collection, Los Angeles Public Library)

It's where Gabaldón -- an SMC student -- and other African Americans "challenged Jim Crow racism and helped open public beaches for all," officials said.

Coastal Cleanup Day will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday at Santa Monica Beach Tower 20 at Pico Boulevard and the end of Bay Street.

Gloves, buckets and safety training will be provided. Sunscreen, a hat and a reusable water bottle are strongly recommended, organizers said.

Gabaldón, who was of Black and Mexican descent, was born in Los Angeles in 1927 and lived most of his life in Santa Monica, where as a Samohi student he learned to surf at Inkwell beach.

Gabaldón would paddle 12 miles north to Malibu in search of the best waves and became part of a tight brotherhood of surfers, according to the film "12 Miles North: The Nick Gabaldón Story."

He died on June 6, 1951 when he slammed into the Malibu Pier after riding a strong south swell estimated by witnesses to be 10 feet high.

His surfboard was found immediately, but his body washed ashore on Las Flores Beach a few days later. He is buried at Santa Monica’s Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery.

The Ink Well where the cleanup will take place was "an important gathering place for Blacks long after racial restrictions on public beaches were abandoned in 1927, according to a commemorative plaque erected at the site by the City in 2018.

“African-American groups from Santa Monica, Venice and Los Angeles, as early as the 1920s to the end of the Jim Crow era in the 1950s, preferred to enjoy the sun and surf here because they encountered less racial harassment than at other Southland beaches."

SMC officials encourage volunteers to bike, walk or bus to the beach if possible. Those who must drive can request parking passes at the parking lot entrance between Bay and Bicknell streets.