Tom Yarborough

Thomas R. Yarborough (July 23, 1895 – March 19, 1969) was an American civic leader and politician. In 1948, he became the first African American elected to a California city council. In 1966, Yarborough became the first African American mayor of Lake Elsinore, California, and one of three African Americans to be elected mayor that year in California. His parents were William and Alice Yarborough (née Otis). In 1926, he moved back to Los Angeles, where he learned to upholster furniture at night while working at a furniture factory.

From 1929 to 1934, Yarborough was a caretaker and handyman for the estate of the evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. During his tenure, he worked with building contractors

Yarborough eventually opened his own upholstery business. becoming the first African American city councilman in California. He had been persuaded to enter politics by Leon H. Washington Jr., publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel, an influential African American newspaper.

Yarborough's defeat of the incumbent was significant as the population of Lake Elsinore was less than 9 percent Black at the time. His electoral success was due to his broad base of support from voters across all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Mayor In 1966, Yarborough was elected mayor of Lake Elsinore by his fellow city council members. The other two African-Americans who became mayor in predominantly white communities that year were Dubois McGee of El Centro and Ben F. Gross of Milpitas. The San Francisco Examiner reported that the dedication ceremony emphasized Yarborough's plea "to the people of the USA to lay aside their prejudices and hate and join with the minorities to help establish freedom and first-class citizenship for all men regardless of race or color... in conformity with the constitution of this great Nation."

In 1990, a plaque honoring Thomas Yarborough was dedicated in Yarborough Park, donated by the Hilltop Community Center. Around the year 2000, the local NAACP chapter started hosting an annual Juneteenth celebration in Yarborough Park.