Manager actions leave impression

Many Valley residents recognize El Centro resident Louise Wyatt from her 32 years working primarily as a manager at the Townshop in Valley Plaza.

“She was an impact on everyone’s life without knowing it,” NAACP local chapter member Marlene Thomas said. “She particularly left an impression by showing people we could to get a good job, etc.”

The well-known woman was one of several individuals honored as part of Black History Month on Tuesday at the Imperial County Board of Supervisors meeting.

She was born in Imperial to pioneering parents who ran a dairy farm near Heber Beach and raised in Holtville, where she attended Holtville High School along with her sister.

She said they never noticed any racism or segregation at the school, which was predominately Swiss at the time, and she recently attended a 64th high school reunion, encountering roughly 45 former classmates.

Wyatt and her late husband moved to El Centro in 1949 where she began work at the Townshop. There she worked part-time at first before later being promoted to manager.

“It was a little bit rough at times, because they didn’t want to take orders from a black woman,” she said. “Some resented it but mostly I got along well with the personnel, the employees.”

Wyatt said overall that her experience at the job was very positive, and until just a couple years ago, she still received a Christmas card from the owners.

“I enjoyed my job very much, and people still see me and remember me from Townshop,” she said while smiling.

Some even remember her from her nine years as a carrier with the Imperial Valley Press as well.

Much of El Centro was segregated at the time with nearly all of the black population living on the east side of Fourth Street, where they built up their own community of barber shops, cafes, hangouts for teenagers, dry-cleaners and more.

“Although it was segregated, we had our own city within a city,” Thomas explained.

Wyatt still lives on the east side of town and mostly fills her days with “church, bowling and casinos.”

While she competed in bowling in the past, “now I bowl just for fun,” she said.

Thomas said it’s important to recognize people, particularly senior citizens, since they contributed to the overall progression of the Valley black community through their own personal success in the Valley.

“I was very surprised at the recognition because I’ve lived here all my life, and I’ve enjoyed it,” Wyatt said. “A lot of people don’t realize what an honor it is to be recognized.”

Staff Writer Chelcey Adami can be reached at 760-337-3452 or cadami@ivpressonline.com