The daycare dimension of the institution addressed a specific practical need of working mothers. In Black Los Angeles in the 1860s and 1870s, many women worked outside the home by necessity. Without a safe and reliable place for their children during working hours, these women faced an impossible constraint. The daycare center addressed this directly.
Both the school and the daycare center reflect Mason’s understanding that individual philanthropy needed to build institutional infrastructure rather than simply address individual need. Giving a family food during a crisis was important, but building a school that served multiple families over many years was more systemically transformative. Her philanthropy operated at both levels: direct support to individuals in immediate need, and institutional investment that served communities over time.
## The Flood Relief and Direct Giving
The accounts of Mason’s direct giving include references to assistance provided to victims of floods that struck Los Angeles periodically during the late nineteenth century. Los Angeles sits in a river basin that is dry most of the year but subject to episodic flooding when heavy rainfall hits the inland mountains. These floods were genuine disasters for the people who lived in the floodplain, destroying homes and crops and displacing families with little warning.
Mason’s response to these events, as described in later accounts, was to provide food, supplies, and practical assistance to affected families. This kind of direct disaster relief was provided without regard to the ethnic or economic background of the recipients; the sources describe her helping families of various backgrounds during these events.