03/31/2026
Pilgrim Place resident Dr. Louilyn Hargett was honored last weekend during the NAACP Pomona Valley Branch’s Women of Distinction Program, which recognizes extraordinary women who have made meaningful contributions in leadership, faith, education, business, community service, and family life. Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis (District 1) was featured as the event’s distinguished guest speaker.
A lifelong proponent of education and justice, Louilyn studied child psychology and early childhood education at the Johnson C. Smith University, an HBCU in Charlotte, NC. Louilyn’s parents were teachers, and modeled a passion for learning and determination for their six children. During her undergraduate years, she was featured on the cover of CRISIS, the NAACP magazine, and met her husband of 63 years, Rev. James Hargett. She served as a Montessori educator for 35 years (a model she described as a “reciprocity of learning”) and lectured internationally about teacher training and development. She also was active with James in his role as pastor of the Congregational Church of Christian Fellowship in Los Angeles. The couple was active in mission work and the civil rights movement, working with Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King, Jr., and continued such efforts in New York, Chicago, and San Diego.
Louilyn continues to uphold these values at Pilgrim Place. For Black History Month, she helped bring the “Slave Letters” program to the community through music composed from original letters written by enslaved persons. She recites the July 4 talk by Frederick Douglass for her fellow residents every Independence Day. She also co-creates monthly displays at Pilgrim Place on African American history and culture, often integrating her own music and art collection.
Congratulations, Louilyn, and thank you for embodying the award’s theme of honoring strength, celebrating legacy, and inspiring the future.
