Aug 5th 2025 the renaming of a school, in 1945, 80 years ago the inhumane horrific murder of a whole family in Fontana happened on the property that a fair skinned African American family lived and owned.
Randall Pepper Elementary School was built and hope that no one would ever know what happened. It wasn’t until a12 year old African-American young man alumni of Randall Pepper Elementary School became very interested in the history of the school and dug up the truth. He and his mother connected 150 names and submitted a petition to the Fontana Unified School board to change the name in honor of the family to the now O’Day Short Elementary.
The NAACP was actively involved in this tragedy in 1945 and on August 5th 2025 some of the Rialto Fontana Branch of the NAACP was present and stood with relatives of the Short family as we celebrated the renaming of the school.
The link below is a pictorial account of the renaming of the school celebration.
https://m.facebook.com/groups/2323469584571825/permalink/3938458523072915/?mibextid=Q6QiJO
