North Bay Black Roots




Sharon McGriff-PayneFor the better part of the past decade Sharon McGriff-Payne has researched and written about the role African Americans have played in the establishment of California’s North Bay Region. What has grown out of that research are this Website and a book, John Grider’s Century:  African Americans in Solano, Napa and Sonoma Counties from 1845 to 1925.

North Bay Black Roots (NBBR) is an independent research organization dedicated to exploring and telling the story of the early African American presence in the North Bay counties of Solano, Napa and Sonoma. African Americans have played significant roles in California’s earliest history, including events such as the Bear Flag Revolt in June of 1846, in which John Grider, a black man who would move to Vallejo in 1850, participated. 

North Bay Black Roots Website is filled with historic events that touched the lives of our region’s earliest black pioneers. NBBR will grow this Web site by continuing to research and add more stories of our area’s rich heritage.

We Are Seeking Your Assistance
We believe there are many descendents of the early pioneers. In this website there are names of families that were here in the North Bay from 1850 through the early 1920s. We want to hear your family stories and post your photos. Help us tell the whole story of our region. Please contact us at Northbayblackroots@comcast.net. McGriff-Payne is currently working on her second book about African American migration to Vallejo in the 1940s.


Copyright © 2013 by Sharon McGriff-Payne
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