June 26th is the anniversary of the 1803 death of Padre Fermín Francisco de Lasuén,OFM. Much of the criticism that has been dumped on Padre Serra of the unfortunate mistreatment of the natives actually occurred under Lasuen's management. He was the second Presidente of the California Missions. He is best remembered locally in Southern California as the namesake of the former Fermin Lasuén High School, a boys' Catholic school that operated in San Pedro from 1962 until 1971.
(From 1979 to 2024 the former high school building served as the Little Sisters of the Poor Jeanne Jugan Residence. SAINT Jeanne Jugan is their foundress and the first Little Sister of the Poor. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 3, 1982, and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009. The hospitality mission of the Little Sisters of the Poor is to offer the neediest elderly of every race and religion a home where they will be welcomed as Christ, cared for as family, and accompanied with dignity until God calls them to themself.)
More enduringly, explorer George Vancouver named Point Lasuén in the San Pedro Bay area after him, now known as Point Fermin. My dad volunteered at the Point Fermin Lighthouse, Angel's Gate, and the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in San Pedro for many years. You can read more about Lasuen in this page from a 1960 brochure entitled "California Missions Pictorial."
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