Elbie Hickambottom worked for the Pasadena Redevelopment Agency as the director of Relocation and Property Management in 1967. He oversaw programs that provided assistance to displaced families and small businesses. In 1971, he and his wife, Dolores, established the Pasadena Education Foundation, which continues to this day to encourage greater involvement and support for public education from the community. Following the 1976 landmark case Pasadena City Board of Education v. Spangler, which required the Pasadena Unified School District to implement busing and thus end the segregation of schools, he became the first African American elected to the PUSD Board of Education in 1979. During his tenure on the Board, Hickambottom championed academic excellence and continuously pushed for equal access to a good education for all students, but he was particularly a strong voice for disadvantaged and minority students. The Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room where the School Board meets was named in his honor.
Dolores Hickambottom
She was a founding member of the Pasadena Educational Foundation, the National Women’s Political Caucus, Pasadena Chapter and, Women In Action. These included ACT, Pasadena NAACP, Arroyo Democratic Club, and League of Women Voters.
She was a proud member of Tuskegee Airmen Inc., Los Angeles Chapter where she was instrumental in connecting the Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen (DOTAs) to ride on the 2010 Rose Parade Float that honored them, “A Cut Above.” A proud veteran, she was a member of the Executive Board of the American Legion Post 13, Pasadena, California.
Dolores was honored to serve as field representatives on the staffs of Loretta Thompson Glickman, the first Black woman elected as a Pasadena City Director and to serve as vice mayor and mayor; and State Senators Walter Stiern, Richard Polanco and Jack Scott.
For her commitment and hard work, Dolores received many accolades – Pasadena NAACP Ruby McKnight Williams Award, Assemblymember Chris Holden’s Unsung Hero for Civil Rights, Altadena Woman of the Year, Congresswoman Judy Chu’s Woman of the Year, and with her husband Elbie, the City of Pasadena’s Arthur Noble Civic Award. In her recent community service, she was co-chair of the PCC President’s African American Advisory Committee and a member of the Huntington Hospital Community Benefits Committee.
“Those of us who had the privilege of working with Dolores knew her to be a community volunteer who listened carefully, was not prone to snap judgments”[i]
Several of their children Anne Marie and Leslie, sons Elbie Jr. “Skip” and John, continue to serve Pasadena including the providing affordable housing.