What the Plaque/Guide Says:
Bryte VFW Memorial Hall was built in 1946 as a community center and movie theater by Jordan “Pappy” Ramos, in the Bryte neighborhood of the city of West Sacramento. The property is significant as the first All-Indian Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter in California, Post 9054, established in 1950. The post was established by veterans primarily from the Maidu and Miwok tribes of northern California. Beyond its role as a VFW hall, this building became a highly significant location for dances, community, networking, especially its role as the site of traditional Miwok dancing. The traditional dances revived at the Bryte VFW Memorial Hall, beginning as intermission entertainment as social dances, were precursors to many regional traditional dance organizations.
More about California Historical Landmark #1057:
Jordan Ramos moved to Bryte from Oakland, where he’d lived since he was 3 years old. Here, he and his family opened a bar called The Bryte Spot and a café called the Gwen Drop Inn after his wife, Gwendolyn! He sponsored many local youth activities, which earned him the nickname, “Pappy,” and while he did not, himself, serve in World Wars or Korean War, he kept the names and photos of Bryte’s service folks in an honored place on the wall at The Bryte Spot!
In 1945, Mr. & Mrs. Ramos teamed up with Art Sanders to build a movie theater across the street from the Bryte Spot. Called the Bryte Memorial Auditorium, it showed English and Portuguese films for fifty cents (twenty-five for kids) but went out of business within a year. So, the three owners sold the building to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 9498, who dedicated it on June 19, 1947!
Post 9054 started sharing the building on July 29, 1950, representing a big shift in California’s Native population! War service and home front jobs had changed the way a lot of Native men experienced American society, and many took advantage of the GI Bill to buy houses and go to college, called the Pan-Indian Movement. But folks like Bill Franklin and Jack Dyson also made the most of their space here in Bryte to resurrect traditional dances, a renewal of identity that led to advocation for land rights and the founding of the Native American Heritage Commission!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Become a member of the Yolo County Historical Society!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
1708 Lisbon Ave
West Sacramento, CA 95605
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
You can visit the outside whenever you like, but at the time I visited, it was closed for renovations!
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