A stretch of Vicente Terrace will become Silas White Street on Monday, Aug. 10, when Santa Monica holds a public ceremony honoring the Black entrepreneur whose Ebony Beach Club was taken by eminent domain nearly 70 years ago.

The ceremony begins at 4:30 p.m. at 1846 Main St. and is free and open to the public.

White envisioned the Ebony Beach Club as a beachfront gathering place for Black families at a time when segregation and discriminatory practices excluded Black Californians from coastal recreation. He had signed a 15-year agreement to pay $200,000 for the property at 1811 Ocean Ave. and made one $2,700 installment before the city seized the land in 1958, saying it was needed for the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The club had been scheduled to open Oct. 15 of that year.

White never received compensation. In 1959, an L.A. County Superior Court judge awarded the property owner $74,000 but ruled that Ebony Beach Club, Inc. had "no right, title, interest or estate" in the land.

His daughter, Constance "Connie" White, is the family representative in the settlement. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, she said: "I'm not doing this because of money. I'm doing this because of justice and for the future of all people."

The settlement

The street renaming fulfills one piece of a $350,000 settlement the City Council approved unanimously in closed session in November 2025 after a daylong mediation on Oct. 30, 2025. The agreement includes no admission of liability.

Beyond the payment, the settlement established three restorative measures: renaming Vicente Terrace, creating the first annual Silas White Day on Oct. 12, 2026, and continuing development of the city's Restorative Justice Program.

"None of these overarching efforts will undo the past," City Manager Oliver Chi said, according to Santa Monica Next. "But here in Santa Monica, we're a City that is willing to name its history — on our own street signs — because we are serious about earning trust for the future."

Restorative Justice Commission takes shape

The ceremony arrives as a broader restorative justice apparatus takes form. The City Council appointed seven commissioners to a new Restorative Justice Commission after interviewing applicants at a special meeting in late July. The commissioners, all Santa Monica residents serving four-year terms, are expected to begin meeting later this summer.

The commission will oversee a program directing $3.5 million, and potentially up to $5.5 million, toward repairing harms caused by past city actions. The initial $3.5 million came from the RAND Corporation as part of its development agreement with the city, according to the Santa Monica Lookout. The Council will decide whether to direct an additional $2 million from the same agreement, set to be paid by mid-2028.

The city has described the program as one of the largest locally funded restorative justice efforts in the nation.

At the Aug. 10 ceremony, the city plans to present the White family with a commemorative video and a replica of the new street sign.