Sam McDonald

Emanuel B. "Sam" McDonald was an African American from Monroe, Louisiana, who journeyed West to make a life in California. Against all odds and the racial restrictions of his time, Sam became one of the earliest Black lawmen in the state, as well as the superintendent of athletic buildings and grounds at Stanford University, making him one of the first Black administrators at a major university in America. Along the way, he purchased 430 acres of California land preserved for the public forever as Sam McDonald Park. This book shares his remarkable story as a man of "firsts."