On Feb. 15, 2001, longtime Val Verde community leader Miriam Canty died at age 84, leaving a legacy of activism and public service that helped shape a thriving community.

Born on May 6, 1916, Canty spent 30 years as a schoolteacher and was recognized in 1996 for a lifetime of educational achievement.

Locally, she was widely known as a driving force behind the creation of the Samuel Dixon Family Health Center, serving for many years on its board of directors and advocating tirelessly for expanded health services in underserved communities. In November 2000 she served as the keynote speaker at the opening of the clinic’s second facility in Canyon Country.

Fellow Samuel Dixon board member Greg Bradley made note of her dynamic personality and said in her obituary, “she will be greatly missed by all of us.”

Recognized throughout Los Angeles, the Santa Clarita Valley and Val Verde, Miriam was the recipient of many awards, including a Dedicated Services Award for her devotion to after-school tutoring and literacy from the Los Angeles County Department Parks and Recreation, and the SCV Boys and Girls Club.

She also received several Zonta Club awards for her work with their Healthy Kids program and was celebrated as a “Status of Women” honoree. She received a special award from the Val Verde Civic Association for her work with the youth in the community.

“Miriam Canty was a wonderful, dedicated Val Verde pioneer and lifetime achievement honoree,” said Santa Clarita Councilwoman Jo Anne Darcy, former senior field deputy to Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. “She was a patient teacher, a committed activist and an outstanding volunteer and leader in Los Angeles, the Santa Clarita Valley and Val Verde.”

Canty and her husband, Elijah, came to Val Verde in 1948, when it was still a rural, Black enclave during a time when people of color suffered discrimination in larger, pre-Civil Rights era metropolitan cities such as Los Angeles. The couple had been equal rights activists in their youth, participating in sit-ins at restaurants in Savannah, GA., in 1944 and 1945.

At the time, Val Verde was a retreat where Black people were able to escape the discrimination they experienced in other cities, including Los Angeles, where Canty was employed in the restaurant industry after World War II.

Val Verde, “the Black Palm Springs,” was founded in 1924 during an era in Los Angeles history when discrimination kept Black Americans from enjoying the basic amenities of California life: sunny beaches, picturesque parks, resorts and hotels.

Restrictive covenants were enacted in a campaign to “keep the neighborhoods white,” and hotels, beaches and parks turned away African Americans, according to Lonnie G. Bunch, director of curatorial affairs for the National Museum of American History in Washington.

In a 1994 Los Angeles Times interview, Bunch said. “In the pools in Los Angeles, blacks were only allowed in on certain days – and it was always the day before they cleaned the pool.”

Thus, Black leaders created something of their own.

In response, a prominent group of African Americans formed in 1924 to create a resort community where Black people could enjoy “outdoor sports and social life in the most beautiful surroundings without discrimination,” an editorial in the Black-owned California Eagle newspaper said.

They founded an unincorporated town that at one point was home to at least 750 families and attracted thousands more for vacations.

Val Verde had no lights or water lines when the Cantys purchased land there in the 1950s. They focused their activism on their new community and are credited with many of the area’s improvements over the years.

Miriam helped form the first senior group in Val Verde and devoted much of her time to the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center. She was involved in the Girl Scouts, served on the board of the SCV Boys and Girls Club, and was responsible for bringing the county Bookmobile to Val Verde.

Together, the Cantys convinced then-County Supervisor Baxter Ward that Val Verde needed health services. As members of the 13-person Val Verde Advisory Council, the couple worked to secure funding for a health care facility.

In 1980, the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Health Foundation contributed $70,000 to convert the annex of Rev. Sam Dixon’s church into a clinic. The citizens committee secured an annual $60,000 federal grant, Kiwanis and Rotary clubs led a drive for labor and materials, and they were off and running.

Initially operated by Henry Mayo and Santa Monica Hospitals, today the Samuel Dixon Family Health Centers are operated by an independent nonprofit corporation.

Dan Nordenstrom, treasurer of the Val Verde Community Benefits Funding Committee and a Samuel Dixon board member at the time, called her “a dynamic woman. When she felt her neighbors orcommunity needed her, she would selflessly devote her time to achieve her goals. Losing this lady is a great loss to our community and I hope Val Verde takes notice of her passing and assists our remaining seniors to bring the generations together and pass their wisdom on to our children.”

The Cantys remained involved with the organization for years. Miriam died in February 2001 in route to Henry Mayo Memorial Hospital in full cardiac arrest, with her husband by her side and holding the hand of her favorite niece.

As one community member said upon Canty’s passing, “The Lord has taken one of our best to his house, and he will care for her as she cared for everyone she knew.”

To read yesterday’s Today in SCV History, click here.

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