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    <p class=""><strong><em>Author Mimi Slawoff shared highlights from her new ...
  

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Source: https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog?format=rss

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3. --><rss xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:media="http://www.rssboard.org/media-rss" version="2.0"><channel><title></title><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/</link><lastBuildDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2024 23:56:25 +0000</lastBuildDate><language>en-US</language><generator>Site-Server v6.0.0-4813842618b9a420246891ef9314d62772977b62-1 (http://www.squarespace.com)</generator><description><![CDATA[<p><strong>Los Angeles History Blog</strong></p>]]></description><item><title>Webinar - LACHS 2023 Scholarship Presentations</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2024 00:19:18 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2024/4/24/lachs-webinar-lachs-2023-scholarship-presentations-csu-los-angeles</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:66299c29fed905610ffdb28c</guid><description><![CDATA[A recorded presentation by our 2023 LACHS Scholarship recipients Araceli
4. Ramos and Hazel Carias-Urbina from California State University, Long Beach.
5. ”The 1956 Machris Brazilian Expedition: A Vehicle for Scientific Discovery
6. and Ecological Conservation” with Araceli Ramos, and "Conspirando en Los
7. Ángeles" with Hazel Carias-Urbina.]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="">A webinar with our 2023 LACHS Scholarship recipients from Cal State Los Angeles. The students present their essays followed by a Q&amp;A session.'</p><p class=""><br></p><p class="">Part 1 </p><h3><strong>”THE 1956 MACHRIS BRAZILIAN EXPEDITION: A VEHICLE FOR SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY AND ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION”</strong></h3><h3><strong>BY ARACELI RAMOS</strong></h3><p class="">The 1956 Machris Brazilian Expedition, led by Maurice and Paquita Machris in partnership with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, represents a pivotal moment in mid-twentieth-century scientific exploration.</p><p class="">Part 2</p><h3><strong>"CONSPIRANDO EN LOS ÁNGELES"</strong></h3><h3><strong>BY HAZEL CARIAS-URBINA</strong></h3><p class="">How political organizing in 1980s MacArthur Park transformed its spatial and cultural meaning into a site of resistance and civic life for the local Central American community.</p>
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33.  
34. <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_y4RfzOSlXc?si=UBQy836qyfQmDxku&amp;wmode=opaque" width="560" data-embed="true" frameborder="0" title="YouTube video player" height="315"></iframe>
35.  
36.  
37.  <h2>ABOUT THE LACHS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM</h2><p class="">In 2019, the Los Angeles City Historical Society implemented a program to award scholarships to outstanding history graduate students at local universities and colleges. We hope that LACHS members and friends wish to support the program by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lacityhistory.org/donate"><span>donating funds</span></a>&nbsp;to the program. &nbsp;Please note that 100% of all donations will go to students.&nbsp;</p><p class="">The Board recognizes the critical value of the study and analysis of history to our democracy and seeks to encourage outstanding students in the field.</p><p class="">For more information about the LACHS Scholarship Program and to read the students’ essays, please visit <a href="https://www.lacityhistory.org/scholarship">lacityhistory.org/scholarship</a></p>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/jpeg" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1714004438081-MGXQJ8MJ58KL9TQO4604/ScholarshipWebinarCover.jpeg?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="1500" height="844"><media:title type="plain">Webinar - LACHS 2023 Scholarship Presentations</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>The Great Wall of Los Angeles </title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2024 19:43:36 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/thegreatwalloflosangeles</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:661ed09c83f1084938e019be</guid><description><![CDATA[If you thought there was only one Great Wall in the world, you would be
38. sadly mistaken. There is another great wall that is important to us in the
39. City of Angeles, and that is the Great Wall of Los Angeles, which is one of
40. the longest murals in the world. For years, I have driven past this]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure class="
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61.                <img data-stretch="false" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7251587f-08de-408e-ae96-968a6fe6d965/F70A5972.jpg" data-image-dimensions="2000x1333" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="" data-load="false" elementtiming="system-image-block" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7251587f-08de-408e-ae96-968a6fe6d965/F70A5972.jpg?format=1000w" width="2000" height="1333" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 100vw" onload="this.classList.add(&quot;loaded&quot;)" srcset="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7251587f-08de-408e-ae96-968a6fe6d965/F70A5972.jpg?format=100w 100w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7251587f-08de-408e-ae96-968a6fe6d965/F70A5972.jpg?format=300w 300w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7251587f-08de-408e-ae96-968a6fe6d965/F70A5972.jpg?format=500w 500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7251587f-08de-408e-ae96-968a6fe6d965/F70A5972.jpg?format=750w 750w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7251587f-08de-408e-ae96-968a6fe6d965/F70A5972.jpg?format=1000w 1000w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7251587f-08de-408e-ae96-968a6fe6d965/F70A5972.jpg?format=1500w 1500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7251587f-08de-408e-ae96-968a6fe6d965/F70A5972.jpg?format=2500w 2500w" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-loader="sqs">
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84.  <h3>By Pebbla Wallace</h3><p class="">If you thought there was only one Great Wall in the world, you would be sadly mistaken. There is another great wall that is important to us in the City of Angeles, and that is the Great Wall of Los Angeles, which is one of the longest murals in the world.</p><p class="">For years, I have driven past this mural painted on the Tujunga Flood Channel in North Hollywood not knowing its real importance. Then one day, while taking a walk with my dog along this half-mile long mural and walking trail, I was quickly enveloped by the wall’s vibrant colors of red, blue and orange, and whisked into the various stories of our city. It was then that I realized – this isn’t just a mural, its California History captured in art.</p>
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207.  <p class="">The idea of this mural first began in 1974 when the U.S Army Corps of Engineers contacted Judith Baca, an educator and artist who is well known for her murals throughout Los Angeles, to create a beautification project. She organized the project by gathering a team of artists, historians, ethnologists, and scholars and employed over 400 youth and families from diverse Los Angeles communities. Baca stated in a LA Times article, “I wanted the project to be done by people who were as diverse as those in the mural”. This led her to create an arts organization called Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC). The Great Wall of Los Angeles is not only a visual masterpiece, but also a testament to community collaboration and storytelling. </p>
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307.                <img data-stretch="false" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/890d2d24-9576-4a85-9221-387bf629414c/F70A5960.jpg" data-image-dimensions="2000x1333" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="" data-load="false" elementtiming="system-image-block" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/890d2d24-9576-4a85-9221-387bf629414c/F70A5960.jpg?format=1000w" width="2000" height="1333" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 100vw" onload="this.classList.add(&quot;loaded&quot;)" srcset="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/890d2d24-9576-4a85-9221-387bf629414c/F70A5960.jpg?format=100w 100w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/890d2d24-9576-4a85-9221-387bf629414c/F70A5960.jpg?format=300w 300w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/890d2d24-9576-4a85-9221-387bf629414c/F70A5960.jpg?format=500w 500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/890d2d24-9576-4a85-9221-387bf629414c/F70A5960.jpg?format=750w 750w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/890d2d24-9576-4a85-9221-387bf629414c/F70A5960.jpg?format=1000w 1000w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/890d2d24-9576-4a85-9221-387bf629414c/F70A5960.jpg?format=1500w 1500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/890d2d24-9576-4a85-9221-387bf629414c/F70A5960.jpg?format=2500w 2500w" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-loader="sqs">
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330.  <p class="">The actual drawing and painting of the Great Wall began in 1976, and reflected the style of the Chicano(a) mural movement of the 1970s. With vibrant colors, this 13.5 feet high, 2,754-foot-long mural is arranged in chronological order. The mural begins with the prehistory of California, illustrating the Indigenous People who lived on this land prior to colonization, and continues the story into the late 1950s. The mural is a true tribute to the people and events that shaped California history (both good and bad), and includes such events as: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, The Gold Rush, the mission system, dustbowl refugees, the Chinese Massacre, and the Zoot Suit riots. The wall also depicts historical figures such as Biddy Mason, Dr. Charles Drew, Junipero Serra, and the founders of Los Angeles. These are just a few of the California events and figures that can be seen on the wall. </p><p class="">The wall was completed in 1984, with restoration done throughout the years to restore damaged due to heat, high waters, and other factors that are unique to the Los Angeles flood control channel. In 2017, the Great Wall of Los Angeles became nationally recognized, and was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of Interior. </p><p class="">The creation of the wall is not only an artistic and historical masterpiece, but with Baca’s leadership, it’s also a testament to community collaboration.</p>
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453.  <p class=""> <strong>Future Plans for the Great Wall.</strong> There are future plans for the Great Wall, which include a bridge and solar lighting. The bridge will allow visitors of the mural to get a closer look at the art. Plans to expand the mural beyond the 1950s to Present Day will begin this Fall. Baca and SPARC plan for the mural to be a mile long when it is completed.</p><p class=""> <em>Note: The Great Wall of Los Angeles is located on Coldwater Canyon between Burbank Boulevard and Oxnard Avenue. A virtual tour is available online at</em>:<a href="https://greatwallinstitute.sparcinla.org/virtual- tour"> https://greatwallinstitute.sparcinla.org/virtual- tour</a></p>
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553.                <img data-stretch="false" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/29491043-0bde-438b-9f47-af41aab4d7f9/F70A5987.jpg" data-image-dimensions="2000x1333" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="" data-load="false" elementtiming="system-image-block" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/29491043-0bde-438b-9f47-af41aab4d7f9/F70A5987.jpg?format=1000w" width="2000" height="1333" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 100vw" onload="this.classList.add(&quot;loaded&quot;)" srcset="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/29491043-0bde-438b-9f47-af41aab4d7f9/F70A5987.jpg?format=100w 100w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/29491043-0bde-438b-9f47-af41aab4d7f9/F70A5987.jpg?format=300w 300w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/29491043-0bde-438b-9f47-af41aab4d7f9/F70A5987.jpg?format=500w 500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/29491043-0bde-438b-9f47-af41aab4d7f9/F70A5987.jpg?format=750w 750w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/29491043-0bde-438b-9f47-af41aab4d7f9/F70A5987.jpg?format=1000w 1000w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/29491043-0bde-438b-9f47-af41aab4d7f9/F70A5987.jpg?format=1500w 1500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/29491043-0bde-438b-9f47-af41aab4d7f9/F70A5987.jpg?format=2500w 2500w" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-loader="sqs">
554.  
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562.      
563.        </figure>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/png" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1713296525012-K8DPEX5C6EEO7P5Y14NL/Screen+Shot+2024-04-16+at+12.41.30+PM.png?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="1294" height="1044"><media:title type="plain">The Great Wall of Los Angeles</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>FREDERICK MADISON ROBERTS</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 18 Feb 2024 18:31:37 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2024/2/18/frederick-madison-roberts</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:65d24d0e81635058831bd1ae</guid><description><![CDATA[You never know what you are going to learn about someone when you start
564. doing historical research; that’s what happened to me when I began to write
565. about the Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights.  I came across the name
566. Frederick Roberts and accidentally discovered that there was more to his
567. history than meets the eye.  Not only was he the great-grandson of the
568. enslaved Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson (3rd President of the United
569. States), but Frederick was the first African-American to be elected to the
570. California State Assembly in 1919.  But as you will read, there were other
571. firsts for the Roberts family.]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure class="
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600.        
601.          
602.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
603.            <p class=""><em>Frederick M. Roberts</em></p>
604.          </figcaption>
605.        
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607.        </figure>
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620.  <h2>by Pebbla Wallace</h2><p class="">      You never know what you are going to learn about someone when you start doing historical research; that’s what happened to me when I began to write about the Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights.&nbsp; I came across the name <strong>Frederick Roberts</strong> and accidentally discovered that there was more to his history than meets the eye.&nbsp; Not only was he the great-grandson of the enslaved Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson (3rd President of the United States), but Frederick was the first African-American to be elected to the California State Assembly in 1919.&nbsp; But as you will read, there were other firsts for the Roberts family. </p><h2><span>The Roberts-Hemings Family</span></h2><p class="">      Frederick’s life began in Chillicothe, Ohio on September 14, 1879, where he was born to Andrew Jackson Roberts (referred to as AJ) and Ellen Hemings.&nbsp; Ellen’s father, Madison Hemings was one of the three children fathered by Thomas Jefferson and his enslaved woman, Sally Hemings, making Frederick their great-grandson.&nbsp; (Note:&nbsp; In 2000 the <strong>Thomas Jefferson Foundation</strong> acknowledged these findings, and published a report that presented DNA evidence to support this claim).  </p><p class="">     Frederick’s father was considered one of the first early African-American pioneers of Los Angeles.&nbsp; His family moved to Los Angeles in 1885 when Frederick was only six years old.&nbsp; At the time, the Los Angeles African-American population was less than three percent.&nbsp; His father first worked as a Drayman (a flat-bed wagon driver that transports goods) and also had a tracking and storage business.&nbsp; Later, he established the first Black-owned mortuary business in Los Angeles which became very successful. </p><h2><span>Frederick</span> </h2><p class="">     Frederick attended <em>Los Angeles High School</em> and was the first African-American to graduate from that institution.&nbsp; He then attended the <em>University of Southern California</em>, and later transferred to <em>Colorado College</em> where he graduated with honors.&nbsp; Frederick’s interest in politics began at an early age, first in high school, and later at college.&nbsp; Around 1908, after college Frederick served as the editor of the <em>Colorado Springs Light</em> newspaper where he wrote about political issues. </p>
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729.          
730.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
731.            <p class=""><em>Frederick M. Roberts (on the right) with his father and brother in front of the family mortuary.</em> </p>
732.          </figcaption>
733.        
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735.        </figure>
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748.  <p class="">      When he moved back to Los Angeles around 1911 he was extremely busy in various endeavors. First, he founded and was editor of the <em>New Age Dispatch</em>. Then he joined business forces with his father and brother in <strong>A.J Roberts and Sons, </strong>a mortuary business located in a two-story Victorian on Los Angeles Street. Frederick also became a well-known and respected figure in the Black community - becoming involved in the church, community improvement, and several political and civil rights groups including the NAACP and Urban League. </p><p class="">     In 1918 Frederick ran for California Assembly. His candidacy was highly unusual, not only because he was the first African-American to do so, but because at the time he was running in a district that was majority white, and the State of California was entrenched in racism, attributed to the first Great Migration. He was able to build a multi-ethnic campaign staff of both Republications, progressives, and various other alliances. Along with this and the support of the community, he was able to win the assembly seat. </p><p class="">     While in the California Assembly, Frederick was a major civil rights activist and advocated for various civil rights legislation as discrimination in Los Angeles grew with the arrival of more and more Southerners. To help combat this, he authored Bill 693 (1919) – which prohibited discrimination based on race, creed, or color to access to public accommodations; and Bill 452 (1921) which prohibited the publication of education materials and textbooks that portrayed negative images of People of Color. He also proposed civil rights and anti-lynching measures, sponsored legislation to improve public education, and helped to establish the <em>University of California at Los Angeles</em>. </p><p class="">     Roberts married Pearl Willard Hinds on November 30, 1921, and had two daughters. He served four terms in the California Assembly and became known as “the dean” for his bipartisanship. But in 1934, he was defeated by Augustus F. Hawkins. Frederick ran for Congress twice but unfortunately lost both bids. In 1952, he was slated for an ambassadorship by President Eisenhower, but unfortunately his life was cut short by a fatal automobile accident in Los Angeles. He is buried at the historic Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights. In 1957, the City of Los Angeles dedicated the Frederick M. Roberts Park located at 4700 Honduras Street in his memory. </p><p class="">To learn about the Madison-Hemings ancestry:</p><p class=""><a href=" https://gettingword.monticello.org/families/hemings-madison/ "> https://gettingword.monticello.org/families/hemings-madison/ </a></p>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/jpeg" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1708285007400-KLGPJSIV3049D7IKAGTI/Frederick+M.+Roberts.jpg?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="716" height="1080"><media:title type="plain">FREDERICK MADISON ROBERTS</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>A Tale of Dutch Heritage in Los Angeles: The Rich Legacy of Van de Kamp's Bakery</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jan 2024 21:22:44 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2024/1/9/41z0x97hvoxkf0z88vtocuhtw2bmr4</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:659d94ee38b3a430691f87c8</guid><description><![CDATA[Nestled in the heart of Los Angeles lies a cherished landmark that once
749. offered Angelenos a glimpse into Dutch culture and culinary traditions from
750. the Netherlands underscored by the smell of freshly baked bread—the Van de
751. Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakery headquarters. Built in 1931 in Glassell Park on
752. Fletcher Drive and San Fernando Road, it is a stunning example of Dutch
753. Renaissance Revival architecture with a brick façade, white-trimmed
754. windows, and gabled roofs resembling a Dutch farmhouse. Over the years it
755. quickly became an integral part of the Los Angeles culture and charm.]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2><em>By Lilly Templar</em></h2><p class=""> Nestled in the heart of Los Angeles lies a cherished landmark that once offered Angelenos a glimpse into Dutch culture and culinary traditions from the Netherlands underscored by the smell of freshly baked bread—the Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakery headquarters. Built in 1931 in Glassell Park on Fletcher Drive and San Fernando Road, it is a stunning example of Dutch Renaissance Revival architecture with a brick façade, white-trimmed windows, and gabled roofs resembling a Dutch farmhouse. Over the years it quickly became an integral part of the Los Angeles culture and charm.</p>
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855.                <img data-stretch="false" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/e4c2438a-bc05-4c6a-8466-521d0e9b120a/Van+De+Kamp+Coffee+blog+photo+LACHS+WINTER+2024+Article_.jpg" data-image-dimensions="1200x1815" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="" data-load="false" elementtiming="system-image-block" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/e4c2438a-bc05-4c6a-8466-521d0e9b120a/Van+De+Kamp+Coffee+blog+photo+LACHS+WINTER+2024+Article_.jpg?format=1000w" width="1200" height="1815" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 100vw" onload="this.classList.add(&quot;loaded&quot;)" srcset="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/e4c2438a-bc05-4c6a-8466-521d0e9b120a/Van+De+Kamp+Coffee+blog+photo+LACHS+WINTER+2024+Article_.jpg?format=100w 100w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/e4c2438a-bc05-4c6a-8466-521d0e9b120a/Van+De+Kamp+Coffee+blog+photo+LACHS+WINTER+2024+Article_.jpg?format=300w 300w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/e4c2438a-bc05-4c6a-8466-521d0e9b120a/Van+De+Kamp+Coffee+blog+photo+LACHS+WINTER+2024+Article_.jpg?format=500w 500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/e4c2438a-bc05-4c6a-8466-521d0e9b120a/Van+De+Kamp+Coffee+blog+photo+LACHS+WINTER+2024+Article_.jpg?format=750w 750w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/e4c2438a-bc05-4c6a-8466-521d0e9b120a/Van+De+Kamp+Coffee+blog+photo+LACHS+WINTER+2024+Article_.jpg?format=1000w 1000w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/e4c2438a-bc05-4c6a-8466-521d0e9b120a/Van+De+Kamp+Coffee+blog+photo+LACHS+WINTER+2024+Article_.jpg?format=1500w 1500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/e4c2438a-bc05-4c6a-8466-521d0e9b120a/Van+De+Kamp+Coffee+blog+photo+LACHS+WINTER+2024+Article_.jpg?format=2500w 2500w" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-loader="sqs">
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865.        </figure>
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878.  <p class=""> The origins trace back to the early 20th century when Milwaukee transplant, Theodore J. Van de Kamp and his sisters, Marian and Henrietta along with her husband Lawrence L. Frank, established an iconic symbol of quality baked goods with Dutch heritage here in Los Angeles. Theodore’s grandparents emigrated from the Netherlands in the 19th Century and the Dutch entrepreneurial spirit was brought to Los Angeles. However, the journey of “Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakery” began much earlier back in 1915 when Theodore and his brother-in-law Lawrence, opened their first of several potato chip shops in downtown Los Angeles. A small outpost on Spring and 2nd Streets had customers lining up on the sidewalk for the fried salty snacks. Their slogan, “Made Clean, Kept Clean, Sold Clean” was selected to reinforce Dutch cleanliness and values. Due to a potato shortage during World War One, the family began producing baked goods such as coffee cakes and apple pies. They then outgrew the chip shops and expanded their baked goods and coffee shop chain.&nbsp;</p>
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1001.  <p class=""> One of the earliest locations of the new “Van de Kamp Holland Dutch Bakery” was at Western Avenue and Beverly Boulevard. This was the home of the first distinctive windmill which became an iconic symbol for the brand and tied the entire theme together. The bakery’s newspaper adverts boasted “18 types of fresh bread” from their blue and white Delft-themed delivery vans. The Van de Kamp's commitment to traditional Dutch baking techniques, modern machinery, and the use of high-quality ingredients kept locals returning. The distinctive windmills populated Los Angeles and beyond eventually launching them into national expansions and fame. Eventually, they expanded into a thriving empire of<strong>&nbsp;</strong>over 300 locations at the height of their success. During the 1940’s the family also ventured into the frozen fish industry, launching a line of frozen seafood under the Van de Kamp's label. As time went on the fate of the Van de Kamp's empire and headquarters faced uncertainty after the passing of Theodore Van de Kamp in the mid ‘50s and Lawrence Frank left the business soon after. Ownership changes and economic challenges led to the closure of the bakery headquarters, marking the end of an era for the original Van de Kamp's establishments in Los Angeles.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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1031.  <p class=""> The once-thriving industrial plant and the headquarter’s fate was at great risk since 1990. It remained dormant for many years. Demolition concerns and the loss of a significant cultural heritage site caused the Los Angeles Conservancy, preservationists, and community advocates to work for decades to save the historic headquarters. Their heroic efforts resulted in restoration projects that revitalized and restored the cherished landmark’s facade. It was designated as a historic-cultural monument and the facade now serves as a campus of Los Angeles City College entrance. It is now known as the Van de Kamp Innovation Center and a historic preservation victory. The last remaining vestiges of a Van de Kamp restaurant is now a Denny’s in Arcadia, however, the windmill was preserved and is towering proudly on the rooftop. These are our reminders of the importance of cherishing landmarks that hold the memories and stories of a community. In a city known for its quickly changing landscape, the Van de Kamp's Bakery headquarters remains a steadfast landmark of Dutch heritage, a living tribute to the past, present, and future of Los Angeles' diverse cultural mosaic honoring its past while embracing the present.</p>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/jpeg" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1704849327328-CA0BLUCSRLPC677V01YV/Van+De+Kamp+Coffee+blog+photo+LACHS+WINTER+2024+Article_.jpg?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="1200" height="1815"><media:title type="plain">A Tale of Dutch Heritage in Los Angeles: The Rich Legacy of Van de Kamp's Bakery</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>WHAT ABOUT BOB?</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jan 2024 21:22:34 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/12/18/what-about-bob-by-pebbla-wallace</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:65811ef4fe95a97e4f039215</guid><description><![CDATA[No, I’m not talking about the 1991 comedy starring Bill Murray and Richard
1032. Dreyfuss.  I’m referring to the iconic chubby-cheek boy with the Pompadour
1033. haircut of the 50s with red checkered overalls, who has guarded the Big Boy
1034. restaurant on Riverside Drive since 1949.  Why is this Bob and the
1035. restaurant he stands in front of considered iconic?  And why is the
1036. restaurant considered a “Point of Historical Interest” by the State of
1037. California?  To understand that, you must first understand Bob’s history]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>by Pebbla Wallace</h2>
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1147.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
1148.            <p class=""><em>“Bob” Big Boy statue on Riverside Drive. Photo by Pebbla Wallace</em></p>
1149.          </figcaption>
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1165.  <p class="">No, I’m not talking about the 1991 comedy starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss.&nbsp; I’m referring to the iconic chubby-cheek boy with the Pompadour haircut of the 50s with red checkered overalls, who has guarded the Big Boy restaurant on Riverside Drive since 1949.&nbsp; Why is this Bob and the restaurant he stands in front of considered iconic?&nbsp; And why is the restaurant considered a “Point of Historical Interest” by the State of California?&nbsp; To understand that, you must first understand Bob’s history.</p><p class=""> <span>The Birth of Bob</span>.&nbsp; The conception of “Bob” was first born in 1936 by founder <strong>Bob Wain, </strong>when Wain sold his car for $300 dollars and purchased a small ten-stool lunch stand in Glendale and called it <strong>Bob’s Pantry</strong>. &nbsp; According to Bob Big Boy’s historical blog, the new name came about when a young chubby boy with droopy overalls was doing odd jobs for Bob.&nbsp; He forgot the young boy’s name and called out “Hey, Big Boy,” and the new name was born – Bob’s Big Boy.</p><p class=""> <span>The Building – Interior and Exterior</span>.&nbsp; Bob’s Big Boy restaurant on Riverside Drive opened in 1949, and today is the oldest operating Big Boy in the United States.&nbsp; The restaurant was designed by architect <strong>Wayne McAllister</strong>, and built by Burbank residents <strong>Scott MacDonald and Ward Albert.&nbsp; </strong>Wayne McAllister was a Southern California trailblazer at the time, specializing in Googie architecture – a style of futurist architecture that was influenced by car culture.&nbsp; According to the Los Angeles Conservancy, “the restaurant is a transitional design incorporating 1940s Streamline Moderne styles (broad, curving window walls and canopies) while anticipating the exuberance of freeform ‘50s coffee shop architecture (cantilevers, striking signage, use of glass)”.</p><p class="">The building’s most eye-catching aspect is the massive neon sign which soars above the restaurant, and is considered an art form by itself. The amazingly dramatic sign, which is more than 70 feet tall, has pink and white neon letters and is visible for miles down Riverside Drive and throughout the Toluca Lake and Burbank areas.</p><p class="">The restaurant started with both a drive-in and sit-down restaurant, and originally included carhop service (which was utilized again during the COVID-19 pandemic).&nbsp; Even though today it is no longer a drive-in, it still retains the drive-in features, with classic auto shows every Friday night.&nbsp; The interior of the restaurant has been remodeled several times, but the strategic seating plan, which placed the booths to have a panoramic view, has remained the same.</p><p class=""><span>Big Boy’s Name to Fame</span>. In 1965, <strong>The Beatles</strong> stopped by and dined at this particular Big Boy’s restaurant during one of their tours. A plaque commemorating the event marks a corner booth in the restaurant. If you go to the restaurant and try to get that booth – good luck; it is very popular and rarely available due to many regulars and tourists requesting the famous “Beatles booth.”</p>
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1276.            <p class=""><em>Bob’s Big Boy Carhop Service in 1954, LAPL Public Library</em></p>
1277.          </figcaption>
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1293.  <p class=""><strong>STOLEN, BOB-NAPPED, and DISMEMBERED </strong></p><p class="">The “Bob” 300-pound fiberglass icon statues have been the victim of crime throughout the nation, and have notably been Bob-napped too many times to count.&nbsp; To this day, there is no record of any ransoms being paid for the retrieval of poor Bob.&nbsp; However, some examples of Bob-napping were in <strong>Wyoming</strong> when he was Bob-napped and abandoned in a field near the East Entrance to Yellowstone National Park.&nbsp; In <strong>Toledo, Ohio</strong> four youths stole and dismembered the Big Boy statue.&nbsp; They removed his arms and legs and left them in front of another fast-food restaurant.&nbsp; A note was left with letters cut from newspapers, reading “Big Boy is Dead”.&nbsp; In <strong>South Burlington, Vermont</strong>, Bob was kidnapped from its display outside, was shot in the head, and dumped in a nearby woods.</p><p class="">Bob isn’t the only fiberglass statue that has been kidnapped in the past – Ronald McDonald; a 700-pound captain with a parrot; a 4-foot Pillsbury doughboy; and a 250-pound dolphin from Marineland have all been victims of similar mascot-napping.&nbsp; Most law enforcement believe these were done as high school and College pranks.&nbsp; Nobody knows exactly how many times Bob has been stolen or kidnapped from the Burbank location – but today he is set in deep concrete. Please be warned – the Big Boy fiberglass icon is valued at over $6,000 – and bob-napping him is considered a felony in Los Angeles County.</p><p class="">But no matter how many times you try to Bob-nap or wound the iconic figure, he always bounces back.&nbsp; Yes, Bob has been in the fiberglass hospital many times for repairs, and yes, Bob has had a few facelifts since 1949 – a little paint here, and a small patch there.&nbsp; But he’ll always be there on Riverside Drive to welcome you to his restaurant.</p><p class="">At Big Boy’s Peak in the 1960s, owner Bob Wian had over 1,000 individual locations nationwide and hundreds of franchises.&nbsp; Wian sold the business to <strong>Marriott Corp</strong>. for $7 million in mid-1970 and later retired from the restaurant business. &nbsp; In 1988, Marriott sold the franchise rights to <strong>Elias Bros</strong>.&nbsp; However, the Burbank/Toluca Lake location is owned separately by the family of one of the original builders, <strong>Scott MacDonald</strong>, who acquired control of the restaurant in 1993. </p>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/jpeg" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1704850934947-9OL9JYDSJRCB5ZH38DZ6/B.++Bob+Big+Boy+photo.jpg?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="480" height="640"><media:title type="plain">WHAT ABOUT BOB?</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Webinar -  'Oldest Los Angeles' - A Talk with Author Mimi Slawoff</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 12 Dec 2023 02:55:01 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/9/26/lachs-webinar-oldest-los-angeles</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:6577c98f8bdb301cc870ac9f</guid><description><![CDATA[A webinar presentation with author Mimi Slawoff as she discusses her new
1294. book, “Oldest Los Angeles.”]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2><strong><em>webinar Recorded live on November 30th, 2023</em></strong></h2>
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1324.  <p class=""><strong><em>Author Mimi Slawoff shared highlights from her new book, “Oldest Los Angeles.” This fascinating book takes readers on a time-traveling journey to explore the oldest buildings, businesses, and neighborhoods in the City of Angels. The presentation was followed by a Q&amp;A session. </em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>“Oldest Los Angeles”  can be found in local bookstores and copies can be purchased from the author here: </em></strong><a href="https://mimislawoff.com/mybook/"><strong><em>mimislawoff.com/mybook</em></strong></a><br></p><p class=""><strong><em>About “Oldest Los Angeles”</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>Learn about the whimsical Looff Hippodrome on the Santa Monica Pier, the origin story of iconic Pink’s Hot Dogs, where you can find a 250-year-old grapevine in Los Angeles, and plenty more historic locations. While L.A. is known for beaches, film studios, and a sunny climate, it’s worth digging deeper to discover the city’s soul. Veteran travel journalist and lifelong Angleno Mimi Slawoff takes us on an informative and engaging exploration of Los Angeles, complete with insider stories and plenty of fun L.A. trivia.</em></strong></p><p class=""><br></p><p class=""><strong><em>About the Author</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>Mimi Slawoff is a native Angeleno and travel journalist who writes&nbsp;for AAA, 10Best USA TODAY, Travel&nbsp;+ Leisure, and many other print and digital publications. Mimi enjoys photography and writing about local and global destinations. And she never tires of exploring Los Angeles where there's always something new to discover. She's working on her second book, Historic Los Angeles Roadsides.</em></strong></p><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" class=""></p><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" class=""></p>
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1367.          <a class="sqs-blockStatus-box-kbArticleLink" href="https://support.squarespace.com/hc/articles/206543617" target="_blank">Learn more</a>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/jpeg" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1702349646643-O3K8TC2TQLJPZR5GOF9S/OldestLosAngeles_Event.jpeg?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="1500" height="845"><media:title type="plain">Webinar -  'Oldest Los Angeles' - A Talk with Author Mimi Slawoff</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Webinar - 'California, A Slave State' - A Talk with Author Jean Pfaelzer</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 03 Oct 2023 05:10:04 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/9/26/lachs-webinar-california-a-slave-state</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:651b81db1d0ec27919ae0502</guid><description><![CDATA[A webinar presentation with Professor Jean Pfaelzer as she discusses her
1368. new book, “California, A Slave State.”]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2><strong><em>webinar Recorded live on September 26th, 2023</em></strong></h2>
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1398.  <p class=""><strong><em>Professor Jean Pfaelzer shared highlights from her new book, “California, A Slave State.” The book shows that, since the very first colonizers crossed the border, the Golden State was and still is powered by slavery—a piece of American history that many still try to bury—and reveals the untold history of California, shredding the state’s utopian brand. She rewrites our understanding of race in the West and redefines America’s uneasy paths to freedom.&nbsp;</em></strong></p><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" class=""></p><p class=""><strong><em>About “California, A Slave State”</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>In American lore, California is Eden, a land of unending sunshine, long coastlines, and rich harvests—a prize for a country hellbent on fulfilling the promise of manifest destiny. But in her brilliant and groundbreaking new book CALIFORNIA, A SLAVE STATE (Yale University Press; June 27, 2023) Professor Jean Pfaelzer, author of the 2007 NY Times notable book DRIVEN OUT, shows that, since the very first colonizers crossed the border, the Golden State was and still is powered by slavery—a piece of American history that many still try to bury.&nbsp;&nbsp;</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>This once-shrouded history spans three centuries of diverse types of slavery and slave revolts. Spanish invaders captured Indigenous people to build the chain of Catholic missions. Russian otter hunters shipped Alaska Natives—the first slaves transported into California—and launched a Pacific slave triangle—Alaska, California, China. Plantation slaves were marched across the plains for the Gold Rush. Chain gangs supplied convict labor and San Quentin Prison incubated California’s carceral state. Kidnapped Chinese girls were shipped across the Pacific, and sold in caged brothels to lonely settlers who flooded the state to capture their fortune in gold and land. Indian boarding schools forced children to work in California’s new farms and hotels.</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>Although California was admitted to the Union in 1850 as a “free state,” through unyielding research and vivid interviews, Pfaelzer exposes how California gorged on slavery; its appetite for unfree bodies and unpaid labor persists today in the global traffic in human beings who end up sold into the sex trade or trapped in sweatshops and remote marijuana grows.&nbsp;</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>Looking West, Pfaelzer upends the long-held North-South map of American slavery and reveals the slave revolts that mark California’s history: the burning of Spanish missions; prison uprisings; a West Coast underground railroad; and countless battles for freedom in the streets and the courts that we still see today.&nbsp;</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>Jean Pfaelzer reveals the untold history of California as a state that was built on slavery, shredding the state’s utopian brand. She rewrites our understanding of race in the West and redefines America’s uneasy paths to freedom.&nbsp;</em></strong></p><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" class=""></p><p class=""><strong><em>About the Author</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>Jean Pfaelzer is a public historian, commentator, and professor of American studies at the University of Delaware. Her books include Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans, which was named a Times notable book of the year; Rebecca Harding Davis: Origins of Social Realism; and The Utopian Novel in America. She lives in Washington, DC.</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>The presentation was followed by a Q&amp;A session. </em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>“California, A Slave State” can be found in most bookstores and online:&nbsp;</em></strong><a href="https://www.jeanpfaelzer.com/california-a-slave-state"><strong><em>www.jeanpfaelzer.com/california-a-slave-state</em></strong></a></p>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/jpeg" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1696301967607-87CB1LTMDX5IYOUVJ8X8/California+A+Slave+State+Webinar+Event+Page.jpg?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="1500" height="844"><media:title type="plain">Webinar - 'California, A Slave State' - A Talk with Author Jean Pfaelzer</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Webinar - 'LA Scavenger: The Ultimate Search for Los Angeles’s Hidden Treasures' - A Talk with Author Danny Jensen</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 29 Jul 2023 04:42:08 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/6/13/rht3p56kmtxzjw97igg9k4cpn3y99n-fnag9</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:64c49739752ff9640ce2086e</guid><description><![CDATA[A webinar presentation with Danny Jensen, Programs Chair for the Los
1399. Angeles City Historical Society, featuring his latest book, Los Angeles
1400. Scavenger: The Ultimate Search for LA's Hidden Treasures.]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2><strong><em>webinar Recorded live on THURS JuLY 20th, 2023</em></strong></h2>
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1430.  <p class=""><strong><em>Danny shared some of the highlights of his new book, including&nbsp;a behind-the-scenes look at his process of creating the book's poetry and photography, and&nbsp;a few of the book’s rhyming riddles of iconic Los Angeles landmarks that attendees had the chance to solve.</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>About Los Angeles Scavenger: The Ultimate Search for Los Angeles’s Hidden Treasures</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>They say nobody walks in LA, but with Los Angeles Scavenger you’ll ditch the car and discover Los Angeles’s hidden treasures you’d otherwise zip past. This interactive scavenger hunt will help you see the city in new ways as you locate under-the-radar and iconic landmarks. Set off on an exciting journey to uncover over 300 locations in neighborhoods across LA using photos and rhyming clues.</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>With Los Angeles Scavenger in hand, you’ll explore secret gardens, hidden staircases, and historic cemeteries where LA’s famous and forgotten names are buried. Find a charming shop that’s been making mochi for over 100 years, and a Jewish deli full of rock history and pastrami. You’ll also visit a storied hotel that hosted the first Academy Awards ceremony, a Victorian mansion that became a clubhouse for magicians, and an Art Deco sculpture that guards a lake. Even if you’re familiar with some of the locations, the poetic clues will reveal fascinating trivia and give you a fresh perspective on the neighborhood.</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>Danny Jensen is the author of Los Angeles Scavenger, Secret Los Angeles: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure, and 100 Things to Do in Los Angeles Before You Die. His writing and photography have been published by Time Out, Thrillist, KCET, and others. He's also a board&nbsp;member and Programs Chair of the Los Angeles City Historical Society. Danny has explored the hidden corners, unusual landmarks, and under-the-radar restaurants of Los Angeles for over a decade.</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>The presentation was followed by a Q&amp;A session. </em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>Signed copies of Los Angeles Scavenger can be ordered directly from the author here:&nbsp;</em></strong><a href="https://secretlosangelesbook.com/" target="_blank"><strong><em>https://secretlosangelesbook.com/</em></strong></a></p>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/jpeg" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1688417544692-97U8HMWUAUEYZWCBRHKD/LA+Scavenger+Webinar+Cover.jpeg?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="1500" height="844"><media:title type="plain">Webinar - 'LA Scavenger: The Ultimate Search for Los Angeles’s Hidden Treasures' - A Talk with Author Danny Jensen</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>The East Side - From Native Refugee Site To Marachi Plaza</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 18 Jul 2023 05:58:00 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/7/17/the-east-side-from-native-refugee-site-to-marachi-plaza-1</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:64b59c549d3d031ec8bc7cfe</guid><description><![CDATA[This blog will focus on the eastside of the City of Angels. When people
1431. think about the history of our city, many focus on our downtown area -
1432. Olvera Street, the Civic Center, El Pueblo de Los Angeles, and historic
1433. Broadway and Spring Street. But many of us forget about the eastside of Los
1434. Angeles - located east of the Los Angeles River. This includes historic
1435. neighborhoods such as Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights (one of the oldest
1436. neighborhoods in Los Angeles), and El Sereno.]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><strong><em>FROM NATIVE REFUGEE SITE TO MARIACHI PLAZA</em></strong></h1><p class="">by Adam Linder</p>
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1513.  
1514.      
1515.        <figure class="
1516.              sqs-block-image-figure
1517.              intrinsic
1518.            "
1519.        >
1520.          
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1522.        
1523.  
1524.        
1525.          
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1527.          
1528.            
1529.                
1530.                
1531.                
1532.                
1533.                
1534.                
1535.                
1536.                <img data-stretch="false" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/69f45db2-f13d-48f6-bde3-858fcd9d56f6/Picture1.jpg" data-image-dimensions="324x204" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="" data-load="false" elementtiming="system-image-block" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/69f45db2-f13d-48f6-bde3-858fcd9d56f6/Picture1.jpg?format=1000w" width="324" height="204" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 100vw" onload="this.classList.add(&quot;loaded&quot;)" srcset="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/69f45db2-f13d-48f6-bde3-858fcd9d56f6/Picture1.jpg?format=100w 100w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/69f45db2-f13d-48f6-bde3-858fcd9d56f6/Picture1.jpg?format=300w 300w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/69f45db2-f13d-48f6-bde3-858fcd9d56f6/Picture1.jpg?format=500w 500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/69f45db2-f13d-48f6-bde3-858fcd9d56f6/Picture1.jpg?format=750w 750w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/69f45db2-f13d-48f6-bde3-858fcd9d56f6/Picture1.jpg?format=1000w 1000w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/69f45db2-f13d-48f6-bde3-858fcd9d56f6/Picture1.jpg?format=1500w 1500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/69f45db2-f13d-48f6-bde3-858fcd9d56f6/Picture1.jpg?format=2500w 2500w" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-loader="sqs">
1537.  
1538.            
1539.          
1540.        
1541.          
1542.        
1543.  
1544.        
1545.          
1546.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
1547.            <p class=""><strong>Boyle Hotel, 1890</strong>.&nbsp; Source:&nbsp; Los Angeles Conservancy</p>
1548.          </figcaption>
1549.        
1550.      
1551.        </figure>
1552.      
1553.  
1554.    
1555.  
1556.  
1557.  
1558.  
1559.  
1560.  
1561.  
1562.  
1563.  
1564.  <p class="">The City of Los Angeles is the story of her people. A story of people from all cultures and backgrounds coming together, through strife and collaboration, bringing us to what we know today. The east side of the Los Angeles River now holds monuments honoring the city’s historic Mexican roots. </p><p class="">Mariachi Plaza, as we know it today, wasn’t always the site of honoring Día de los Muertos, nor of celebrating traditional Mariachi music and Chicano culture. Originally the site of Native refugees displaced by the site of the current El Pueblo, the area surrounding today’s Mariachi Plaza was known as <em>Pueblito</em>. The area was seized during the Mexican American War and the Natives were pushed out yet again. In the 1850s, an Irishman named Andrew Boyle purchased the land and it became known for its grapes and wine. As one of the few areas of the growing city that did not have restricting housing laws against persons of color, the area became one of the most diverse neighborhoods for immigrants. Between the two World Wars, the City of Los Angeles saw a large population and culture shift. The Cummings Block, now known as the Boyle Hotel, had opened in 1889 the same day streetcar service opened to the neighborhood, and could now bring new talent to the community. It is said that Juan M. Gonzalez, now known as the Founder, or&nbsp;<em>fundador</em>&nbsp;of "La Boyle,” discovered affordable weekly room rentals and invited his fellow talented Mariachis to join him for work. The hotel’s proximity to the plaza brought these musicians a place to gather.</p>
1565.  
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1641.  
1642.      
1643.        <figure class="
1644.              sqs-block-image-figure
1645.              intrinsic
1646.            "
1647.        >
1648.          
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1650.        
1651.  
1652.        
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1657.                
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1659.                
1660.                
1661.                
1662.                
1663.                
1664.                <img data-stretch="false" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/db89b674-0fb5-43fd-8fee-b4c4cf626ed1/Mariachi.jpg" data-image-dimensions="739x495" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="" data-load="false" elementtiming="system-image-block" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/db89b674-0fb5-43fd-8fee-b4c4cf626ed1/Mariachi.jpg?format=1000w" width="739" height="495" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 100vw" onload="this.classList.add(&quot;loaded&quot;)" srcset="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/db89b674-0fb5-43fd-8fee-b4c4cf626ed1/Mariachi.jpg?format=100w 100w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/db89b674-0fb5-43fd-8fee-b4c4cf626ed1/Mariachi.jpg?format=300w 300w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/db89b674-0fb5-43fd-8fee-b4c4cf626ed1/Mariachi.jpg?format=500w 500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/db89b674-0fb5-43fd-8fee-b4c4cf626ed1/Mariachi.jpg?format=750w 750w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/db89b674-0fb5-43fd-8fee-b4c4cf626ed1/Mariachi.jpg?format=1000w 1000w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/db89b674-0fb5-43fd-8fee-b4c4cf626ed1/Mariachi.jpg?format=1500w 1500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/db89b674-0fb5-43fd-8fee-b4c4cf626ed1/Mariachi.jpg?format=2500w 2500w" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-loader="sqs">
1665.  
1666.            
1667.          
1668.        
1669.          
1670.        
1671.  
1672.        
1673.          
1674.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
1675.            <p class=""><strong>Mariachi Musician</strong>.&nbsp; Source: Todd Bigelow Photography</p>
1676.          </figcaption>
1677.        
1678.      
1679.        </figure>
1680.      
1681.  
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1683.  
1684.  
1685.  
1686.  
1687.  
1688.  
1689.  
1690.  
1691.  
1692.  <p class="">Dressed to the nines in <em>traje de charro</em>, the Mariachi emulates pride in Mexican heritage. The traditional horseman’s suit may include a sombrero, and almost always exemplify handmade embroidery on the coats. The music of the Mariachi elicits deep roots in Mexican heritage, embodying the area’s folk tales told through music. These mariachis perform for a living, and often are found within a group commissioned for parties or restaurants for the day. Plaza Garibaldi, in Mexico City, is known for being the informal home base of mariachi music. This influence was brought to Los Angeles as immigrants searched for a new home as the city grew.</p>
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1770.      
1771.        <figure class="
1772.              sqs-block-image-figure
1773.              intrinsic
1774.            "
1775.        >
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1789.                
1790.                
1791.                
1792.                <img data-stretch="false" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7936e8cd-d964-4c56-8392-b9b8c15a120c/Plaza.jpg" data-image-dimensions="873x656" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="" data-load="false" elementtiming="system-image-block" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7936e8cd-d964-4c56-8392-b9b8c15a120c/Plaza.jpg?format=1000w" width="873" height="656" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 100vw" onload="this.classList.add(&quot;loaded&quot;)" srcset="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7936e8cd-d964-4c56-8392-b9b8c15a120c/Plaza.jpg?format=100w 100w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7936e8cd-d964-4c56-8392-b9b8c15a120c/Plaza.jpg?format=300w 300w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7936e8cd-d964-4c56-8392-b9b8c15a120c/Plaza.jpg?format=500w 500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7936e8cd-d964-4c56-8392-b9b8c15a120c/Plaza.jpg?format=750w 750w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7936e8cd-d964-4c56-8392-b9b8c15a120c/Plaza.jpg?format=1000w 1000w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7936e8cd-d964-4c56-8392-b9b8c15a120c/Plaza.jpg?format=1500w 1500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/7936e8cd-d964-4c56-8392-b9b8c15a120c/Plaza.jpg?format=2500w 2500w" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-loader="sqs">
1793.  
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1796.        
1797.          
1798.        
1799.  
1800.        
1801.          
1802.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
1803.            <p class=""><strong>Mariachi Plaza</strong>.&nbsp; &nbsp;Source:&nbsp; Gourmet Globe</p>
1804.          </figcaption>
1805.        
1806.      
1807.        </figure>
1808.      
1809.  
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1811.  
1812.  
1813.  
1814.  
1815.  
1816.  
1817.  
1818.  
1819.  
1820.  <p class="">Despite being a cultural hub for centuries, the Mariachi Plaza we know today is fairly new! In 1992, on the feast day of Santa Cecilia, the patron Saint of great musicians, the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs announced plans to formally create a public square honoring the heritage, and today’s <em>Plaza del Mariachi de Los Angeles</em> was born. After years of racial strife, the city funded a true landmark honoring the area’s culture. The Plaza also serves as a bridge between countries. In 1998, the Mexican State of Jalisco funded the construction and design of the plaza’s Cantera kiosk. With this kiosk centering the Plaza, the connection between LA’s Mariachi Plaza and Mexico City’s Plaza Garibaldi is complete. Now a proper gathering space to celebrate, Mariachi Plaza can be accessible for all Angelenos as Metro also runs an extension of the E Line subway underground with a station directly entering Mariachi Plaza.</p>
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1899.        <figure class="
1900.              sqs-block-image-figure
1901.              intrinsic
1902.            "
1903.        >
1904.          
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1914.                
1915.                
1916.                
1917.                
1918.                
1919.                
1920.                <img data-stretch="false" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/0959c3ea-24b0-42c1-b673-2bb11e580559/Square.jpg" data-image-dimensions="454x238" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="" data-load="false" elementtiming="system-image-block" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/0959c3ea-24b0-42c1-b673-2bb11e580559/Square.jpg?format=1000w" width="454" height="238" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 100vw" onload="this.classList.add(&quot;loaded&quot;)" srcset="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/0959c3ea-24b0-42c1-b673-2bb11e580559/Square.jpg?format=100w 100w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/0959c3ea-24b0-42c1-b673-2bb11e580559/Square.jpg?format=300w 300w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/0959c3ea-24b0-42c1-b673-2bb11e580559/Square.jpg?format=500w 500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/0959c3ea-24b0-42c1-b673-2bb11e580559/Square.jpg?format=750w 750w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/0959c3ea-24b0-42c1-b673-2bb11e580559/Square.jpg?format=1000w 1000w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/0959c3ea-24b0-42c1-b673-2bb11e580559/Square.jpg?format=1500w 1500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/0959c3ea-24b0-42c1-b673-2bb11e580559/Square.jpg?format=2500w 2500w" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-loader="sqs">
1921.  
1922.            
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1924.        
1925.          
1926.        
1927.  
1928.        
1929.          
1930.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
1931.            <p class=""><strong>Mariachi Square.</strong>&nbsp; Source:&nbsp; Los Angeles Conservancy</p>
1932.          </figcaption>
1933.        
1934.      
1935.        </figure>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/jpeg" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/0959c3ea-24b0-42c1-b673-2bb11e580559/Square.jpg?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="454" height="238"><media:title type="plain">The East Side - From Native Refugee Site To Marachi Plaza</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>The East Side - Evergreen Cemetery: Exhuming History</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 18 Jul 2023 05:57:00 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/7/17/the-east-side-from-native-refugee-site-to-marachi-plaza-1-7ptb6</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:64b59e099adf94438680203b</guid><description><![CDATA[This blog will focus on the eastside of the City of Angels. When people
1936. think about the history of our city, many focus on our downtown area -
1937. Olvera Street, the Civic Center, El Pueblo de Los Angeles, and historic
1938. Broadway and Spring Street. But many of us forget about the eastside of Los
1939. Angeles - located east of the Los Angeles River. This includes historic
1940. neighborhoods such as Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights (one of the oldest
1941. neighborhoods in Los Angeles), and El Sereno.]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><strong>EVERGREEN CEMETERY – EXHUMING HISTORY</strong></h1><p class="">by Pebbla Wallace</p><p class="">Los Angeles has its libraries, historical and heritage museums, historical buildings, and various monuments to help tell the story of the early history of Los Angeles.&nbsp; But in my opinion, one of the most overlooked historical places that tell the story of early Los Angeles is the Evergreen Cemetery. </p><p class="">Evergreen Cemetery, established in 1877, is located in the heart of Boyle Heights and is the City of Angels’ oldest and largest cemetery with over 300,000 burials.&nbsp; But its historical significance isn’t just the age of the cemetery, but two other factors – its diversity and who is buried among the tombstones.</p>
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2051.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
2052.            <p class="">Evergreen Cemetery - Source: Evergreen Cemetery</p>
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2069.  <p class=""><span><strong>Diversity</strong></span><strong>.</strong>&nbsp; Just like Boyle Heights is well known for its early history of diversity (it’s one of the first communities that did not have restrictive housing covenants), so was the Evergreen Cemetery.&nbsp; Due to discrimination, many cemeteries did not accept people who were not Caucasian.&nbsp; Evergreen was notable for never banning people because of their race or ethnicity – with some caveats.&nbsp; Many early burials were segregated within the cemetery based on race and ethnicity.&nbsp; For example, there were separate sections established for African American and early residents of Mexican, Japanese, Armenian, and members of the Jewish faith.&nbsp; Also, early Chinese Americans were barred from cemeteries in Los Angeles (including Evergreen), and they were relegated to a corner of potter’s field which was located adjacent to Evergreen (Evergreen gave the city a 9-acre area of the cemetery in 1877 to develop a potter’s field).&nbsp;&nbsp; The Chinese community constructed a shrine on the site in 1888, and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California purchased the shrine and its plot of land in 1992, and it was later declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.</p><p class=""><span><strong>Early Pioneers and Politicians</strong></span><strong>.</strong>&nbsp; The plots of some of our very early Los Angeles pioneers and politicians are buried here.&nbsp; For example, pioneers such as the Lankershim and the Van Nuys families – who owned most of the San Fernando Valley; The Coulter and the Robinson families – who owned a chain of departments stores throughout Los Angeles; the Workman and Hollenbeck families not only ventured into politics but also were large land developers/owners on Los Angeles’ east side; the Bixby family – who were instrumental in the development of Long Beach-- Bixby Park, Bixby Hill, Bixby Knolls and Bixby Village is named after the family.</p><p class="">Also laid to rest here you’ll find Los Angeles’ “first” of many…. The first African American journalist, the first African American Firefighter, and LAPD Officer, the first Women Librarian in Los Angeles, and the first University educated doctor to settle in Los Angeles.&nbsp; Also, Biddy Mason who came to Los Angeles as a slave and became an entrepreneur is buried in this historic cemetery, along with famous actors, singers, and circus performers (Evergreen has a large plot reserved for carnival and circus workers).</p><p class="">Despite being a cultural hub for centuries, the Mariachi Plaza we know today is fairly new! In 1992, on the feast day of Santa Cecilia, the patron Saint of great musicians, the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs announced plans to formally create a public square honoring the heritage, and today’s <em>Plaza del Mariachi de Los Angeles</em> was born. After years of racial strife, the city funded a true landmark honoring the area’s culture. The Plaza also serves as a bridge between countries. In 1998, the Mexican State of Jalisco funded the construction and design of the plaza’s Cantera kiosk. With this kiosk centering the Plaza, the connection between LA’s Mariachi Plaza and Mexico City’s Plaza Garibaldi is complete. Now a proper gathering space to celebrate, Mariachi Plaza can be accessible for all Angelenos as Metro also runs an extension of the E Line subway underground with a station directly entering Mariachi Plaza.</p>
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2210.                </a>
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2237.  <p class=""><em>1 &amp; 2 - Pacific Coast Showman's Association, 1922 &amp; 1930.&nbsp; Photo:&nbsp; Pebbla Wallace</em></p><p class=""><em>3 - Lankershim-Van Nuys Memorial.&nbsp; Photo:&nbsp; Pebbla Wallace</em></p><p class=""><em>4 - </em>Biddy Mason 1818-1891.&nbsp; Photo Pebbla Wallace</p>
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2267.  <p class=""><strong>Here is a list of just some of the people buried at Evergreen Cemetery:&nbsp;</strong></p><p class=""><span><strong>EDDIE “Rochester” ANDERSON</strong></span></p><p class="">1905-1977</p><p class="">Was an American comedian and actor. &nbsp;Performed in early radio and television and is best known for playing the character “Rochester” on the Jack Benny radio and television show. First African American to have a  regular role on radio.</p><p class=""><a href="https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/2/17/black-history-month"><span>CHARLOTTA  BASS</span></a><span>*</span></p><p class="">1874–1969</p><p class="">African American journalist, and first African-American woman to own and operate a   newspaper in the United States (The <em>California Eagle</em>)</p><p class=""><span><strong>MATTHEW BEARD JR.</strong></span></p><p class="">1925-1981</p><p class="">An actor who played “Stymie” in the TV Shows the Little Rascals from 1930-35.</p><p class=""><span><strong>JOTHAM BIXBY</strong></span></p><p class="">1831–1917</p><p class="">Jotham Bixby and the Bixby family were instrumental in the development of Long Beach.</p><p class=""><span><strong>CHARLES ADELBERT CANFIELD</strong></span></p><p class="">1848–1913</p><p class="">An American oilman and real estate developer. He pioneered oil drilling in California. He was one of the co-founders (along with a group of oilmen) of Beverly Hills and Del Mar, CA.</p><p class=""><span><strong>BENJAMIN F. COULTER</strong></span></p><p class="">1832-1911</p><p class="">Founded the Coulter's Department Store in Los Angeles (later brought by The Broadway). </p><p class=""><span><strong>MARY EMILY FOY</strong></span></p><p class="">1862–1962</p><p class="">First woman appointed as head librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library.</p><p class=""><span><strong>EARL BELL GILMORE</strong></span></p><p class="">1887–1964</p><p class="">He was an entrepreneur.   When he inherited his father’s oil company (Gilmore Oil Company), he made it the largest oil marketer in California.&nbsp; Mobil Oil purchased the company in 1943. </p><p class=""><span><strong>JOHN STROTHER GRIFFIN</strong></span></p><p class="">1816–1898</p><p class="">Was a pioneer physician that was the first university trained to settle in Los Angeles.&nbsp; He was also a major landowner and the founder of East Los Angeles.</p><p class=""><a href="https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/2/17/black-history-month"><span>SAM   HASKINS</span></a><span>*</span></p><p class="">1846-1895</p><p class="">The first African American Fire Fighter in Los Angeles, and the first to die in the line of duty. </p><p class=""><span><strong>JOHN EDWARD HOLLENBECK</strong></span></p><p class="">1829-1885</p><p class="">He was a businessman and investor.&nbsp; In 1876 he bought and invested 160 acres of land in the Boyle Heights community.</p><p class=""><span><strong>ISAAC LANKERSHIM</strong></span></p><p class="">1818-1882</p><p class="">He was a landowner and pioneer. In 1869 he purchased 60,000&nbsp;acres of the San   Fernando Valley from Pio Pico.&nbsp; These acres included what is now&nbsp;known as Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino,   Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys. and North Hollywood.&nbsp;   Lankershim Boulevard is named after him.</p><p class=""><span><strong>GILBERT WILLIAM LINDSAY</strong></span></p><p class="">1900-1990</p><p class="">Famous for working his way up from city hall janitor to becoming the first black City   Council member of Los Angeles.</p><p class=""><span><strong>JAMES “BIZ” MACKEY</strong></span></p><p class="">1897-1965</p><p class="">Baseball Hall of Famer who played for the American Negro League.</p><p class=""><a href="https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2022/2/24/biddy-mason"><span>BIDDY MASON</span></a><span>*</span></p><p class="">1818-1891</p><p class="">Former slave, nurse, real estate entrepreneur, and philanthropist, founder of the   First AME Church in Los Angeles.</p><p class=""><span><strong>WILLIAM HAYES PERRY</strong></span></p><p class="">1832-1906</p><p class="">Lumber baron,   and first president of LADWP.</p><p class=""><span><strong>GEORGE A. RALPHS</strong></span></p><p class="">1850-1914</p><p class="">Founder of Ralphs Supermarket </p><p class=""><span><strong>JOSEPH ROBINSON</strong></span></p><p class="">1846-1891</p><p class="">Founded a dry goods store called the Boston Store, which was later called Robinson's (which later became Robinson's May). </p><p class=""><span><strong>FREDERICK MADISON ROBERTS</strong></span></p><p class="">1879-1952</p><p class="">An American newspaper owner and editor, educator, and business owner.&nbsp; The first known African American elected to the California State Assembly.&nbsp; Roberts was the great-grandson of Sally Hemings of Monticello and President Thomas   Jefferson.</p><p class=""><a href="https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2022/10/2/law-order-perry-mason"><span>EARL ROGERS</span></a><span>*</span></p><p class="">1869-1922</p><p class="">He was an   American trial lawyer and professor in Los Angeles.&nbsp; He was famous for defending high-profile clients such as Clarence Darrow and Griffith J. Griffith.&nbsp; He later became the inspiration for Perry  Mason.</p><p class=""><span><strong>SHOWMEN’S  REST</strong></span></p><p class="">various</p><p class="">An area of   Evergreen Cemetery where over 400 carnival and circus workers/performers are   buried.&nbsp; The area is memorialized with   a decoration of a lion. It was established by the Pacific Coast Showmen’s Association   &amp; Women's Auxiliary Monument in 1922.</p><p class=""><a href="https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/2/16/robert-william-stewart"><strong>ROBERT WILLIAM STEWART</strong></a><strong>*</strong></p><p class="">1850-1931</p><p class="">First African   American LAPD Officer</p><p class=""><span><strong>CAMERON ERSKINE THOM</strong></span></p><p class="">1825-1915</p><p class="">He was a   Forty-Niner who came to California in search of gold. He was elected Los   Angeles' District Attorney in 1854-57, and re-elected in 1870 -1873 and   1877-1879. He served as a state senator from 1859-60.&nbsp; Co-founder of the City of Glendale</p><p class=""><span><strong>ISAAC NEWTON VAN NUYS</strong></span></p><p class="">1836-1912</p><p class="">He was an American businessman, farmer, and rancher.&nbsp; He owned the southern portion of the San   Fernando Valley now known as Van Nuys.</p><p class=""><span><strong>WILLIAM WORKMAN</strong></span></p><p class="">1839-1918</p><p class="">He was an American politician, banker, and businessman. He served two terms as the 18th Mayor of Los Angeles, California.</p><p class=""><strong>* Click for previous LACHS Blog articles on these historic people</strong></p>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/png" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1689624619290-U3JG9HEM4PCT4M82R9LJ/ceme.png?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="522" height="348"><media:title type="plain">The East Side - Evergreen Cemetery: Exhuming History</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>The East Side - The Legendary Sears Building:  How it was assembled, packaged, and delivered the American Dream</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 18 Jul 2023 05:56:00 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/7/17/the-east-side-from-native-refugee-site-to-marachi-plaza-1-n468c</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:64b5b582b077637d8503e0ed</guid><description><![CDATA[This blog will focus on the eastside of the City of Angels. When people
2268. think about the history of our city, many focus on our downtown area -
2269. Olvera Street, the Civic Center, El Pueblo de Los Angeles, and historic
2270. Broadway and Spring Street. But many of us forget about the eastside of Los
2271. Angeles - located east of the Los Angeles River. This includes historic
2272. neighborhoods such as Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights (one of the oldest
2273. neighborhoods in Los Angeles), and El Sereno.]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><strong>The Legendary Sears Building:&nbsp;</strong></h1><h1><strong>How it was assembled, packaged, and delivered the American Dream</strong></h1><p class="">By Lilly Morcos</p>
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2373.                <img data-stretch="false" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1689653820638-A1PWVGK0NRT06IQ6M4Z1/SEARS.jpg" data-image-dimensions="624x458" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="" data-load="false" elementtiming="system-image-block" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1689653820638-A1PWVGK0NRT06IQ6M4Z1/SEARS.jpg?format=1000w" width="624" height="458" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 100vw" onload="this.classList.add(&quot;loaded&quot;)" srcset="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1689653820638-A1PWVGK0NRT06IQ6M4Z1/SEARS.jpg?format=100w 100w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1689653820638-A1PWVGK0NRT06IQ6M4Z1/SEARS.jpg?format=300w 300w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1689653820638-A1PWVGK0NRT06IQ6M4Z1/SEARS.jpg?format=500w 500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1689653820638-A1PWVGK0NRT06IQ6M4Z1/SEARS.jpg?format=750w 750w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1689653820638-A1PWVGK0NRT06IQ6M4Z1/SEARS.jpg?format=1000w 1000w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1689653820638-A1PWVGK0NRT06IQ6M4Z1/SEARS.jpg?format=1500w 1500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1689653820638-A1PWVGK0NRT06IQ6M4Z1/SEARS.jpg?format=2500w 2500w" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-loader="sqs">
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2383.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
2384.            <p class="">Boyle Heights Sears building with Sears gas station in foreground. Image, Courtesy of Water &amp; Power Archives</p>
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2401.  <p class="">Among the many landmarks found in East Los Angeles the former Sears, Roebuck &amp; Co. Mail Order Building in the Boyle Heights district, has been a national treasure in a local neighborhood for many generations for nearly a century.</p><p class="">&nbsp;</p><p class="">Situated on Olympic and Soto streets, with over 11 acres of warehouse space, it is one of the earliest Art Deco masterpieces in Los Angeles and was designed by architectural firm George Nimmens &amp; Company.&nbsp; The 9-story skyscraper was constructed in 1927 at a record speed of six months and completed just one year before City Hall.&nbsp; The building’s crowning tower stands at over 200 feet, and the Sears signage spelled out in cursive greeted onlookers in a neon green reminder of a prominent new symbol of national commerce and ingenuity.&nbsp; Decades later motorists on the freeway always knew how soon they would arrive home when passing the crowning tower as a compass.&nbsp; There was quite a dazzling opening celebration event and the newly inaugurated Sears was projected to be an economic catalyst for East Los Angeles and beyond. Sears continued to develop its store brands, manufacture products, textiles, and machinery helping to contribute to the industry explosion in the Pacific region and not just on the consumer level.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p class="">&nbsp;</p><p class="">The East Los Angeles location served as one of the retail chain’s distribution facilities set up in major cities across the United States to help deliver catalog orders faster and more efficiently. The fulfillment center brought hundreds of jobs to the area upon opening its doors. Throughout the years, residents found many employment options and career growth opportunities at what was known as their neighborhood Sears.&nbsp; The company was known for competitive wages and strong retirement packages. The local employees directly contributed to the success of this location and played a strong role in Sears’ reputation for high-level quality customer service with their connections to the neighborhood. </p><p class="">&nbsp;</p><p class="">Sears had a legendary impact on American consumerism as well as on Angelenos who came to depend on it for small appliances, general household goods, and auto services to support the emerging car culture. Its innovative spirit and catalog marketing prowess made it the original disruptor of its day. The Boyle Heights distribution center was no different. It was fitted with state-of-the-art features such as networks of conveyor belts and pneumatic tubes to transport merchandise throughout the massive building for loading onto freight elevators and delivery trucks. Employees on roller skates were a common sight to travel through the complex.&nbsp; Angelenos could flip through the catalog and place an order for nearly any product imaginable such as apparel, tools, furniture, and appliances (some issues were 1,500 printed pages!). Until the 1940’s pre-cut kit homes were available nationwide from catalog selections and shipped on rail boxcars redefining and expanding homeownership possibilities.&nbsp; </p><p class="">&nbsp;</p><p class="">The Sears Building has soared over East Los Angeles and miraculously survived the Great Depression.&nbsp; Sears was known for being a practical and utilitarian outlet, so when it came time to forgo glamour and focus on necessities, this pragmatic brand had a strong presence and remained standing firm in East L.A.&nbsp; This Sears location preceded two harrowing world wars and with the later advent of every modern convenience imaginable afterwards, Sears and its employees were ready to provide them to customers.</p><p class="">&nbsp;</p><p class="">Sears began as a small watch company in the Midwest, and then as a catalog mail-order company, eventually becoming one of the country’s greatest retail success stories.&nbsp; It seemed there was nothing that could stop its growth until the nationwide chain began filing for bankruptcy during the last decade due to corporate restructuring, new consumer tastes and fierce digital competition. </p><p class="">&nbsp;</p><p class="">The mail-order center on the upper floors of Sears in East Los Angeles ceased operations in 1992 and most of the features were removed.&nbsp; The retail store on the ground floor remained and was a fixture for residents within the surrounding community to continue to shop and work.&nbsp; But on April of 2021 the doors were locked for good.&nbsp; Sears was forced to have a liquidation sale after a 94-year run.&nbsp; The fate of the building’s future has been tangled in various controversial redevelopment proposals for many years. Developers first sought to convert the beloved building into a mixed- use commercial enterprise with luxury living condos which was met with resistance at many community hearings. The building was later sold and purchased by a new owner and their current proposal is for it to serve as a homeless housing for 5,500 residents along with a rehabilitation campus with various services.&nbsp; </p><p class="">&nbsp;</p><p class="">Many who grew up in the area have been posting their stories online of how Sears has been a household name since childhood and share fond personal memories of shopping with parents or grandparents who worked at the retail giant. While it is not clear what the outcome of redevelopment will become, East Los Angeles and greater Los Angeles are very active in trying to preserve the building’s rich legacy and ensure that its new iteration will also serve the nearby community in which it has had close ties with for nearly a century.&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2004, the building was listed as a Historic-Cultural monument and afterwards, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. </p><p class="">&nbsp;</p><p class="">Despite being deserted while the next chapter is being determined, the Sears building is very much a priority for those who live nearby and hope to see its new life managed by a proper caretaker who honors the legacy of the many people whose lives were impacted by our neighborhood Sears. Many people local and not-so-local will surely be keeping an eye on what the future holds for Sears and East Los Angeles.</p>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/jpeg" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1689653820638-A1PWVGK0NRT06IQ6M4Z1/SEARS.jpg?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="624" height="458"><media:title type="plain">The East Side - The Legendary Sears Building:  How it was assembled, packaged, and delivered the American Dream</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>The East Side - A Boyle Heights Teaching Career:  Ida Crum and Hollenbeck Junior High, 1925-1966</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 18 Jul 2023 04:24:47 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/7/17/the-east-side-from-native-refugee-site-to-marachi-plaza-1-n468c-ngtzf</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:64b6112ab347d74316e4a4ed</guid><description><![CDATA[This blog will focus on the eastside of the City of Angels. When people
2402. think about the history of our city, many focus on our downtown area -
2403. Olvera Street, the Civic Center, El Pueblo de Los Angeles, and historic
2404. Broadway and Spring Street. But many of us forget about the eastside of Los
2405. Angeles - located east of the Los Angeles River. This includes historic
2406. neighborhoods such as Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights (one of the oldest
2407. neighborhoods in Los Angeles), and El Sereno.]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><strong>A BOYLE HEIGHTS TEACHING CAREER:</strong></h1><p class=""><strong>IDA CRUM AND HOLLENBECK JUNIOR HIGH, 1925-1966</strong></p><p class="">By Abraham Hoffman</p>
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2530.  <p class="">          Given the complexities of present-day urban school districts, it is highly unlikely that a teacher would spend his/her entire career at one school.&nbsp; Most teachers work at several schools, or leave teaching for a position in private industry.&nbsp; The dedication required to remain at one site, through changes in the neighborhood, opportunities for advancement elsewhere, or just plain burnout makes the decision to stay in one place an exceptional one.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ida Crum made that choice.&nbsp; For more than forty years she taught at Hollenbeck Junior High School (HJHS) in a career that began with the presidency of Calvin Coolidge and ended with her retirement during the administration of Lyndon Johnson.&nbsp; During that time, she encountered the grandchildren of the students she had taught.&nbsp; Ida Crum was a teacher who made a difference.&nbsp; Her story, however, was also the story of the school where she worked and the community it served.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ida Crum’s education at Whittier College included a number of activities that in later years provided an added dimension to her service at HJHS.&nbsp; As a member of La Tertulia Espanola, a Spanish-speaking club at the college (Spanish was the only language allowed at club meetings) she put her major field of study to practical use.&nbsp; </p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Miss Crum’s beginnings at HJHS resemble in some ways the myths of ancient heroes.&nbsp; With characteristic consistency, she kept the exact starting date at the school obscure, preferring to awe new, wet-eared teachers by her presiding as social chairman at first-of-the-semester faculty meetings. A dusty yellowed 3x5 card in an obscure file is the slim bit of evidence that fixes Ida’s arrival at HJHS as February 16, 1925, with her college majors listed as Spanish and History.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; By 1926 HJHS had undergone several name changes, from Boyle Heights Intermediate School through Hollenbeck Heights Junior High to Hollenbeck Junior High.&nbsp; There were 85 teachers on the faculty, and the principal was Burt W. Reed, who had come over from Central Junior High with a number of teachers to get the new school underway.&nbsp; Miss Crum was given Class Room 207, and before long her opinions about her role as a teacher became known.&nbsp; When several teachers bobbed their hair, the conservative female faculty members still kept their crowning glory.&nbsp; Maybe Miss Feenan would have her hair bobbed, but Ida Crum would not.&nbsp; The spirit of fashion was captured in this poem in the school paper, with apologies to Lord Tennyson:</p><p class="">Bobs to the right of them</p><p class="">Bobs to the left of them</p><p class="">Black and blonde mingled</p><p class="">Theirs not to reason why</p><p class="">Theirs but to blow and fly</p><p class="">Windblown and shingled.</p><p class="">&nbsp;</p><p class="">In 1927 Miss Crum sponsored the Spanish Girls’ Glee Club, composed of Spanish-speaking girls and girls who were taking the language course.&nbsp; Mr. Reed agreed for the school to buy Spanish-style costumes for the members.&nbsp; For many years the A9 (graduating) class and the faculty held receptions where the A9 classrooms, school clubs, and faculty members gave a program.&nbsp; The Glee Club, “dressed in flashing costumes, were as pleasant to the eye as the singing to the ears,” reported the <em>Siren</em>.&nbsp; Miss Crum also “sang most delightfully” at the performance.</p><p class="">On her return from summer vacation in September, she found the enrollment had reached 2,213, and that she was one of some 9,000 teachers in the Los Angeles City School District.&nbsp; The old designation “C.R.,” for Class Room, was changed to “H.R.,” for Home Room.&nbsp; Her previous Home Room had graduated—56 girls, “100% <em>Siren</em> subscribers,” (the student newspapers) with A9 class colors of blue and gold.&nbsp; Among these girls were a number who had acquired a reputation for pet sayings, such as Sarah Jane Morris, “Hot soup!” and Freda Cohen’s “You poor lobster!” and Rose Jolson’s “Must you know!”&nbsp; Space prevents a listing of what the other 53 girls said, but Miss Crum knew them all and their names and sayings were preserved in the June 1927 <em>Siren </em>annual.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Miss Crum was now in H.R. 110, taking over a B8 girls’ homeroom.&nbsp; The Spanish Glee Club was up to fifty members, and club pins, of a little man playing the guitar, were ordered.&nbsp; A student, Tomma Belinkoff, wrote a poem about teachers who had declared war on bad grammar.&nbsp; Miss Crum’s pet peeve was given as the person who said “this here”:</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The …bad error ‘this here’</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Was left alone to fight</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Miss Crum came along</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And put him out of sight.</p><p class="">&nbsp;</p><p class="">Miss Crum soon became identified with her announcing in Spanish class, “<em>Leccion para manana, escriba—</em>lesson for tomorrow, write!”&nbsp; The Spanish Glee Club sang at various assemblies.&nbsp; Members in 1928 included in their repertoire “La Golondrina,” “Linda Moreno,” and “Morir por tu amor.”&nbsp; Miss Crum could be counted on to sing a solo of “La Estrellita.”&nbsp; Home Room 110 had its own motto: <em>Degania, </em>meaning “truthful.”&nbsp; Most of the girls were interested in the Junior Red Cross, with 35 girls on the Junior Red Cross Honor Roll.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The year 1928 ran a close second to 1918 in its flu epidemic.&nbsp; Though this second flu attack is less known, it caused alarm in Los Angeles.&nbsp; Susan Miller Dorsey, superintendent of the school system, canceled all school assemblies, and absences running as long as three weeks for recuperation were not uncommon.&nbsp; At Hollenbeck, Miss Violet Thayer, the music teacher, died of influenza.&nbsp; Miss Crum was absent for a week with a “serious throat disease.”&nbsp; Her homeroom sent her flowers, and everyone wished her a speedy return, “as all miss her cheery self.”</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With the illness past, Miss Crum could be relied upon to sing at many programs and assemblies.&nbsp; Other songs in her repertoire included “Too Much Cake,” “The Lilac Tree,” and “Sympathy,” as well as “Alone.”&nbsp; Her Spanish Glee Club entertained the night school class in Spanish that Ida was teaching at Central Evening High, singing songs and presenting a Christmas play.&nbsp; In the spring of 1929 Miss Crum and Mrs. Brown, who also taught Spanish for many years at HJHS, took fifty students to see the Mission Play at San Gabriel Mission, a field trip that they repeated for several years.&nbsp; In June her second homeroom graduated, with A9 colors of crimson and white.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the early 1930s, Miss Crum attempted to expand the Spanish Girls’ Glee Club by including boys.&nbsp; This experiment lasted all of three months.&nbsp; Perhaps it was the Spanish costumes that caused male apathy.&nbsp; On the other hand, school fund-raising drives were more successful.&nbsp; The girls’ home rooms competed in a tin foil drive, the proceeds going to the Orthopedic Hospital.&nbsp; H.R. 110 collected four pounds of foil, but H.R. 118 won the competition with 25 pounds.&nbsp; Construction of a new cafeteria building was announced in 1932, to cost $80,000; it was finished in the same year.&nbsp; Also in 1932, a crossing tunnel underneath Soto Street was authorized and built, eliminating the danger of crossing the busy street.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On March 10, 1933, a major earthquake centered in Long Beach struck southern California, causing heavy damage to numerous homes and schools.&nbsp; Although nearby Theodore Roosevelt High suffered considerable destruction of its buildings, HJHS emerged relatively unscathed.&nbsp; However, it was obvious on inspection that new buildings were needed for the campus.&nbsp; For one thing, enrollment at HJHS was at an all-time high—2,528 in February 1937, the largest junior high school in the state.&nbsp; HJHS had been on double sessions, but a school bond campaign was successful, and in September 1936 construction began on five new buildings—East Academic, West Academic, Administration, Industrial Arts, and Girls’ Physical Education.&nbsp; Richard Neutra provided the plans for the buildings, which were also used for Emerson Junior High in West Los Angeles.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ida Crum spent Easter Vacation 1937 at Laguna Beach, walking on the promenade and visiting the art museum.&nbsp; During the summer she worked as a hostess at one of the camps in the Adirondack Mountains, followed by a visit to New York and the Atlantic Coast.&nbsp; When school began again in September, the new buildings were ready.&nbsp; At this time HJHS created many school traditions that lasted for many years, including the point system for earning athletic letters, and announcements (usually by the principal) ending with “That is all!” on the new speaker system in the buildings.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 1938 HJHS reached an enrollment of 2,652 students, representing thirty nationalities.&nbsp; Of these students, 1,122 were Spanish-speaking, the term then current for students of Mexican origin, and 867 were of the Jewish faith.&nbsp; Other ethnicities and races at Hollenbeck were Japanese, Russian, Italian, Armenian, German, Black, French, Greek Czechoslovakian, Scandinavian, Dutch, Polish, Austrian, Chinese, Hungarian, and fifteen others.&nbsp; Miss Crum was now the de facto social chairman for the faculty.&nbsp; Her sense of humor became apparent at the faculty tea to welcome new teachers when she remarked that “Mr. Whitely took a Scotch vacation by letting his mind wander; Mrs. McIrvin got her tongue sunburned; Mrs. Hartly is so magnetic because everything she has is charged; we must watch for symptoms of madness in Mrs. Traughbar because she was bitten by a mad dog.”&nbsp; In reference to the efforts of her students, she is known to have referred to their work by stating, “What coaches we have in here; I’ll have to pay you boys half of my salary.”</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Miss Crum’s new home was now in the East Academic Building, Home Room 120, a classroom she kept until her retirement.&nbsp; Principal Reed was gone, promoted to assistant superintendent, and replaced by W.J. Goodwin (later principal at San Pedro High).&nbsp; His place was taken by J.C. Reinhard, principal of the “new Hollenbeck.”&nbsp; After a decade as a girls’ homeroom teacher, Miss Crum now presided over an all-boys group.&nbsp; She encouraged them to compete in the school athletic programs as if their lives depended on it, and they acted as if that was the case.&nbsp; Over the years the walls of H.R. 120 were decorated with numerous triangular pennants as Miss Crum’s homeroom teams won championships in basketball, speedball, track, and softball.&nbsp; In February 1940, to celebrate the boys’ accomplishments, Ida threw a triple party—Valentine’s Day, the eighth-grade basketball championship, and the thrift banner being the reasons.&nbsp; Everyone received refreshments and comic valentines, “wisely and appropriately chosen,” to quote Miss Crum.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; World War II brought profound changes to the Eastside community.&nbsp; One hundred students of Japanese descent attending HJHS were moved to the Manzanar relocation center. Roosevelt High lost a third of its student body to the removal of Nisei students and their families.&nbsp; The <em>Siren</em> noted, “Our student government has been greatly affected.”&nbsp; Three of the four top student body officers were Nisei students.&nbsp; Before checking out, several returned to make invitations for the Mothers’ tea.&nbsp; Japanese Americans would return to HJHS after the war.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Miss Crum spent the summer of 1942 as a taster at the Val Vita Cannery, becoming an authority on the taste of peaches.&nbsp; She reported that “I never want to see another tomato puree for the rest of my life.”&nbsp; Such summer jobs were necessary for teachers on 40-week salaries.&nbsp; Ida also attended a county-sponsored workshop to study Mexican conditions in California, and she was active in the Whittier Eastern Star, attending a convention in Oakland.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; During World War II HJHS held several fund-raising drives, selling War Bond stamps and bonds, and contributing enough money for the building of a bomber, a P-38 Lightning, and an F-6F fighter plane.&nbsp; Miss Crum’s three nephews served in the armed forces, one in the air corps, and two in the army.&nbsp; Adults experienced gasoline rationing and the limited purchasing power of ration stamps for meat, sugar, and other food items.&nbsp; Students who patronized the school’s hash lines at lunchtime suddenly found that the usual wooden spoons were no longer to be provided.&nbsp; The War Priority Board limited wooden spoons to defense plants.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Miss Crum’s relationship with her Spanish classes seldom provided time for dull moments.&nbsp; During the Christmas season of 1942 her Period I class gave her a Christmas present.&nbsp; She opened it and was surprised by a coiled, rubber snake.&nbsp; The class “wanted to see her jump.”&nbsp; They were disappointed.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Following the war years, Mr. Fox replaced Mr. Reinhard as principal, and in turn, Edward Olmstead succeeded him.&nbsp; Most of the teachers who had been at Hollenbeck since Miss Crum’s arrival had by now departed, except for Mrs. Doris Rasmussen in the Art Department.&nbsp; Several teachers came to Hollenbeck around 1950 to see “Miss Crum’s last building” erected, including Mr. Raffetto, Mr. MacDonald, Miss Buller, Miss Youngren, Miss Snyder, Miss Holzboog (later Mrs. Guayante), Mr. Salas, and Miss Cornwell.&nbsp; In addition to teaching Spanish, Ida became a grade counselor.&nbsp; To let the students know that teachers could let their hair down on occasion, Miss Crum and the rest of the faculty put on a Faculty Talent Show in January 1952 that would be remembered by those who saw it for years afterward.&nbsp; Ida starred in a skit as the “fragile little Nell,” and Olmstead as the villain everyone hissed.&nbsp; There was also a can-can dance that received critical acclaim as well as criticism from those who thought the faculty had let its hair down a little too far.&nbsp; But the audience loved it.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the fall of 1952, HJHS started a Teen Club, with Mrs. Kennedy, Miss Walker, Mr. Meisner, Mr. Hodgens (later principal of Canoga Park High), and Miss Crum as the original sponsors.&nbsp; For Home Room 120 the late 1940s and 1950s were a time of winning more athletic pennants, attendance banners, and rag and paper drive competitions.&nbsp; Ever supportive of such contests, Ida provided her 1938 Dodge to bring the bundles of paper to the school, but the 1953 rag drive proved too much for the old car.&nbsp; In the rag drive of 1954, H.R. 120 collected the amazing figure of 853 pounds of rags.&nbsp; The boys won by Miss Crum’s application of “perspiration, persuasion, and paddle.”&nbsp; Comic books became very popular in the early 1950s before blue-nosed critics clamped down on the industry, and Miss Crum had her own collection that she generously provided for students who finished their work early.&nbsp; Just so that everyone knew where the comics came from, Ida stamped each cover with the words “Stolen from Miss Crum.”</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As her teaching career headed towards the sunset years, Ida accepted new challenges.&nbsp; In February 1959 she took charge of the school’s Non-English Speaking Program, working with students new to the United States.&nbsp; Although most were Spanish-speaking, some came from such countries as Japan and Iran.&nbsp; The NES program was later briefly renamed Foreign Speaking, but by the mid-1960s it had evolved into English as a Second Language (ESL).&nbsp; </p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It is, of course, impossible to trace every activity in which Ida Crum participated.&nbsp; Scant mention can only be given to her first real job, that of delivering milk, or the summer vacation she spent as a waitress and cook at a waffle shop at Whittier and Atlantic Boulevards.&nbsp; Of the thousands of students who entered her classroom, perhaps those should be mentioned who were parts of families that provided numerous brothers and sisters, spanning long periods of “dynasties” when HJHS did not seem to be without a Castrellon, Terrones, Averbuck, Abajian, Abramovitz, Ramos, Nakayama, Nakano, Behar, Savin, Ackerman, Mendoza, Cantor, Roybal, or Shubin, not forgetting the third generation of Felicitas Montoya to Eddie “Pookie” Arriola to Eddie, Jr.</p><p class="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And what of the many dedicated teachers who fought the learning battle beside Miss Crum for decades—Miss Butterfield, the librarian; Miss Kainke in Science; Miss Jones and her world travels; Miss Steimple in Science; and Hoist, Tower, Hickman, Coons, Sizemore, Stapp, Vaughn, Ochoa, Cramer, McNary, Souza, Bureloff, and so many, many others?&nbsp; When Mrs. Rasmussen retired in 1965 only Ida Crum remained as the sole teacher who came to Hollenbeck before Lindbergh made his flight, before movies talked, before the stock market crashed, and before liquor was made legal again.&nbsp; Present-day middle schools will forever miss having rag and paper and tin foil drives, competing for intra-mural sports pennants, after-school programs, and other activities.&nbsp; In April 1940 Los Angeles schools celebrated Public Schools Week.&nbsp; To welcome parents to its Open House, the Hollenbeck <em>Siren</em> printed its invitation to parents in four languages—English, Spanish, Yiddish, and Japanese.&nbsp; Diversity in Los Angeles is nothing new.&nbsp; But it would be nice to find teachers as dedicated and as wonderful as Ida Crum in her 41 years of working with children.</p>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/png" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/57889815-a305-4438-b727-2f068550c9e8/IDA.png?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="212" height="320"><media:title type="plain">The East Side - A Boyle Heights Teaching Career:  Ida Crum and Hollenbeck Junior High, 1925-1966</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>The East Side - Destruction and Resurrection: Hollenbeck Junior High</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 18 Jul 2023 04:21:54 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/7/17/the-east-side-from-native-refugee-site-to-marachi-plaza-1-n468c-ngtzf-p2xre</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:64b6113457eb016e8a3cd186</guid><description><![CDATA[This blog will focus on the eastside of the City of Angels. When people
2531. think about the history of our city, many focus on our downtown area -
2532. Olvera Street, the Civic Center, El Pueblo de Los Angeles, and historic
2533. Broadway and Spring Street. But many of us forget about the eastside of Los
2534. Angeles - located east of the Los Angeles River. This includes historic
2535. neighborhoods such as Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights (one of the oldest
2536. neighborhoods in Los Angeles), and El Sereno.]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><strong>DESTRUCTION AND RESURRECTION: HOLLENBECK JUNIOR HIGH</strong></h1><p class="">By Abe Hoffman</p><p class="">On March 10, 1933, a major earthquake struck the Long Beach area leaving 120 people dead and many more injured. However, in one sense Long Beach was fortunate. The earthquake hit at 5:44 p.m. Had it happened just a few hours earlier, casualties would likely have been in the hundreds if not thousands killed or severely injured. Those victims would have been the children in the county’s schools.</p>
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2646.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
2647.            <p class="">Source:&nbsp; Hollenbeck JH Yearbook</p>
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2664.  <p class="">Some 270 schools in the region’s epicenter were damaged, and another shake could have reduced school buildings into rubble.&nbsp; At Garden Grove High School, a girl waiting on the school’s front steps planning a party with a few friends died when bricks from the school’s façade fell on her when the earthquake hit.</p><p class="">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Schools outside the immediate area were also badly damaged.&nbsp; In the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Theodore Roosevelt High School’s administration building, four stories high, had its top floor so severely hit that it was subsequently removed.&nbsp; Classroom buildings were also affected, resulting in a tent city being set up while buildings were repaired, where classes would meet for a year. (1)</p><p class="">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Hollenbeck Junior High School, located at Sixth and Soto Streets and just a block away from Roosevelt High, was so destroyed that almost all of the buildings had to be razed.&nbsp; Only the School’s Home Economics Building, with the school’s cafeteria, survived the quake.&nbsp; An entirely new school would have to be built to replace the old one.</p><p class="">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Shortly after the earthquake, Assemblyman Don C. Field introduced the Field Act, which was passed by the legislature in just thirty days. The law required the construction of all California schools to meet earthquake standards (a loophole in the law did not cover schools constructed before the earthquake) (2).</p><p class="">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;In Los Angeles, the school district authorized the construction of several new schools, one of which was designed by Richard Neutra (1892-1970), a noted architect, to create a new school in Westwood, Ralph Waldo Emerson Junior High, completed in 1938. Meanwhile, Alfred E. Rosenheim (1859-1943), accepted the assignment for a new junior high school in Boyle Heights. (3).</p><p class="">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Born in Missouri, Rosenheim studied architecture in Germany and as his career evolved, he moved to Los Angeles where he designed some downtown office buildings. However, his career would be tarnished by a minor scandal. The owner of a jewelry store wanted an ornamental clock placed on the sidewalk outside his store. When he asked Rosenheim, a member of the city’s Municipal Arts Commission to approve the necessary plan, Rosenheim said he could get the proposal approved for $250. Word got out about the bribe, and he was removed from his position on the commission. He was also suspended temporarily from the local branch of the American Institute of Architects (4).</p><p class="">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Rosenheim overcame the scandal and went on to design other buildings in the city. He accepted the proposal to design a new Hollenbeck Junior High School on the grounds of the old one. It would be his last major commission. Some critics considered the design as “modern,” though Rosenheim felt his work less deserving of that description.&nbsp; After the construction was completed in 1938, he wrote the following statement:</p><p class="">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;“I do not consider the buildings particularly ‘modern’ although the administration and assembly hall units may possess something akin to the so-called ‘contemporary’ style. Personally, I do not hesitate to express the fervent hope that ‘modernistic’ architecture is not a permanent trend. I have a strong feeling that the bulk of modern work we see in the country has very little claim to architectural beauty.&nbsp; I am inclined to doubt whether it can strictly be regarded as architecture…But whatever one chooses to call the style of my Hollenbeck school, it seemed to appeal to the Board of Education and its architect”&nbsp;(5)</p><p class="">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Regardless of Rosenheim’s critical opinion of his work, Hollenbeck’s buildings stood the test of time for many decades. The campus consisted of an Administration building that included the school library and some second-floor classrooms, the East and West Academic two-story classroom buildings, a true Auditorium (6), an Industrial Arts building that included a Physical Education room, with lockers and showers (a separate Boy’s Gym would be built years later), and a Girl’s Gym. The classroom buildings featured a radiator that ran the length of the room below the wall where large boule windows provided fresh air. The upper window could be opened or closed by the use of a long pole—and generations of students considered it a great privilege to be assigned the pole to open or close the windows at the start or end of the school day!</p><p class="">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Students attending Hollenbeck included a diversity of races and religions, and recollections of Boyle Heights residents remembered that relations were generally harmonious (7).&nbsp;</p><p class="">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Changes in the architectural design in the 1960s included an English as a Second Language building that ignored the design of the 1930s campus, but was merely a box-shaped structure with a metal stairway to the second floor, and the creation of several cement “umbrella” posts to provide shade in the schoolyard that took years to complete. The Home Economics building lasted well into the 1970s.</p><p class="">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;In the 1980s the Los Angeles Unified School District established major changes in its grade system. Junior high schools became Middle Schools, with the sixth-grade elementary schools moving into the secondary level; Ninth-grade students moved from junior high to high schools. More recently, many schools in the district have been reconfigured as Magnet or special Center schools. Hollenbeck Middle School now has a Magnet STEEMM Program (8), and a Partnership program with other schools in the Boyle Heights area.</p><p class="">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Alfred Rosenheim’s original design has been modified by renovation and new construction to meet the concerns of Boyle Heights families who want their children to meet the challenges of 21st-century technological and educational challenges.&nbsp;To put it another way, what goes on inside its buildings is perhaps more important than what it looks like on the outside (9).</p>
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2694.  <p class=""><strong>NOTES</strong></p><ol data-rte-list="default"><li><p class="">Abraham Hoffman,&nbsp;<em>California’s Deadliest Earthquake: A History.</em>&nbsp;Charleston: The History Press, 2017, pp.69-72.</p></li><li><p class="">Ibid, p. 74.</p></li><li><p class="">Some writers, including this author, have erred in dealing with Richard Neutra’s Emerson Junior High design with the work of Alfred Rosenheim and Hollenbeck Junior High. Both lived in Los Angeles and designed many buildings and private homes. They both received commissions for creating junior high schools at approximately the same time, with similar plans suggested by the school district.</p></li><li><p class="">“Any Unseat and Cause Him to be Prosecuted as Well,”&nbsp;<em>Los Angeles Times</em>, February 21, 1921.</p></li><li><p class="">Alfred F. Rosenheim, “Half Century of Architectural Practice,”&nbsp;<em>Architect and Engineer</em>, April 1939.</p></li><li><p class="">Abraham Hoffman, Boyle Heights:&nbsp;<em>Recollections and Remembrances of the Boyle Heights Jewish Community of Los Angeles, 1920-1960s.&nbsp;</em>Los Angeles: Western States Jewish History, 2011. Originally published as a special issue of&nbsp;<em>Western States Jewish History</em>, 43 (Spring/Summer 2011).</p></li><li><p class="">Later schools in Los Angeles would be built with “multi-purpose” rooms, serving as a basketball court and a variety of meetings.</p></li><li><p class="">The acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Medical Magnet.</p></li><li><p class="">For a view of Hollenbeck a decade before the Long Beach Earthquake, see Paul R. Spitzzeri, “Read All About It While Getting Schooled in ‘The Siren,’ the Hollenbeck Heights Middle School Newspaper, Boyle Heights, 5 May 1926.” The Homestead Blog, https://homesteadmuseum.blog/?s=Hollenbeck. Earlier titles for the school vary: Boyle Heights Intermediate School, Hollenbeck Heights Junior High School, Hollenbeck Junior High School, Hollenbeck Middle School. The blog is incorrect in using “Middle School” in 1924.</p></li></ol>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/png" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/fabfe497-1945-4227-9517-a3fbcecbf6e8/JH.png?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="468" height="296"><media:title type="plain">The East Side - Destruction and Resurrection: Hollenbeck Junior High</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Marie Northrop Lecture Series - Driving Force – Automobiles and the New American City 1900-1930 – Darryl Holter &amp; Stephen Gee</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 17 Jul 2023 19:41:52 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/7/17/marie-northrop-lecture-series-driving-force-automobiles-and-the-new-american-city-1900-1930-darryl-holter-amp-stephen-gee</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:64b598dade79b44c8f81c1da</guid><description><![CDATA[The third lecture in the 2023 Marie Northrop Lecture Series was a
2695. discussion with Darryl Holter and Stephen Gee based on their new book
2696. Driving Force – Automobiles and the New American City 1900-1930 (Angel City
2697. Press).]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2><strong><em>RECORDED LIVE ON June 11, 2023</em></strong></h2>
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2727.  <p class=""><strong><em>The third lecture in the 2023 Marie Northrop Lecture Series was a discussion with Darryl Holter and Stephen Gee based on their new book Driving Force – Automobiles and the New American City 1900-1930 (Angel City Press).</em></strong></p><p class="">Driving Force: Automobiles and the New American City 1900-1930&nbsp;explores the explosive growth of L.A.’s passion for cars, ignited by an unlikely and visionary mix of entrepreneurs. Car dealers made&nbsp;the&nbsp;big difference, as they ventured into unknown territory. That “unknown territory” meant introducing the West Coast to the concept of dealerships with service bays for on-site car repairs; dealers conceived the notion of “used cars,” those vehicles buyers “traded in” so they could buy a new one; and dealers made commonplace the idea of financing cars, an idea that scared the car makers in Detroit until they saw the orders rolling in. Steps that dealers took to make buying cars affordable, possible and—most of all—desirable were ingenious ideas born in Los Angeles, ideas that turned the new American city into the brain center of automobile sales in America. Most importantly, car dealers were the early adopters who broadened the market and convinced the general public that cars were no longer simply a luxury, they were a modern necessity. And today, Los Angeles’s car culture has shaped the world’s preferences in automobiles.</p><p class=""><strong><em>About Darryl Holter&nbsp;</em></strong></p><p class="">Darryl Holter&nbsp;is the author of&nbsp;Workers and Unions in Wisconsin: A Labor History&nbsp;and&nbsp;The Battle for Coal: Miners and the Nationalization of Coal-Mining in France.&nbsp;He is a musician and singer-songwriter, a former labor leader, an urban developer, an adjunct professor of history at the University of Southern California, and a member of the Professional Musicians Union Local 47 in Los Angeles.&nbsp;He has managed auto dealerships, including Felix Chevrolet, and was the founding chairperson of the Figueroa Corridor Business Improvement District.</p><p class=""><strong><em>About Stephen Gee</em></strong></p><p class="">Stephen Gee&nbsp;is&nbsp;an award-winning&nbsp;writer and television producer based in Los Angeles. He is the author of&nbsp;Iconic Vision: John Parkinson, Architect of Los Angeles;&nbsp;Los Angeles Central Library: A History of Its Art and Architecture; and&nbsp;Los Angeles City Hall: An American Icon, and co-authored&nbsp;Driving Force.&nbsp;Gee has worked on numerous award-winning television productions and has directed and produced live coverage of high-profile news stories, including U.S. presidential elections, important court cases, Hollywood events, as well as disasters—including the 9/11 tragedy. A graduate of London’s City University, he began his career as a newspaper reporter in Norfolk, England. He has lived in Los Angeles since 1995.</p>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/png" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/ade21da0-089b-4a0e-bed5-5f545105b698/MNLS+2022-3+CollageFor16-9.png?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="1500" height="844"><media:title type="plain">Marie Northrop Lecture Series - Driving Force – Automobiles and the New American City 1900-1930 – Darryl Holter &amp; Stephen Gee</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>ONE Archives Foundation Webinar - PRIDE Month 2023 </title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 13 Jun 2023 15:34:49 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/6/13/rht3p56kmtxzjw97igg9k4cpn3y99n</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:64888b7ee549344191bfb035</guid><description><![CDATA[Rewatch our webinar presentation with the ONE Archives Foundation, the
2728. oldest active LGBTQ organization in the United States, based in West
2729. Hollywood. ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2><strong><em>webinar Recorded live on Tues June 8th, 2023</em></strong></h2>
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2759.  <p class=""><strong><em>Founded in 1952 as ONE Inc., the publisher of ONE Magazine, ONE Archives Foundation is dedicated to telling the accurate and authentic stories of LGBTQ+ people, history, and culture.</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>ONE  presented on LGBTQ histories of Los Angeles, including the leading role the organization itself has played in documenting history and securing freedoms for the LGBTQ community.&nbsp;</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>During World War II, widespread social changes gave way to the rise of queer communities in urban centers, especially in port cities like Los Angeles. Young men and women embraced newfound personal freedoms, even as medical institutions and government policies targeted homosexuals as psychological and moral deviants. This shift provided the conditions for a shared sense of identity and a movement for civil rights.&nbsp;</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>Key events covered are the 1958 Supreme Court free speech case ONE, Inc. v. Olsen, the 1959 Cooper's Donuts Uprising against police discrimination, and the transgender activism of Sir Lady Java in the 1960s.</em></strong></p><p class=""><strong><em>The presentation was followed by a Q&amp;A session. </em></strong></p>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/png" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1686670454732-STMUVEU6XMVFEV75P85Y/Beige+Scrapbook+Art+and+History+Museum+Presentation.png?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="1500" height="844"><media:title type="plain">ONE Archives Foundation Webinar - PRIDE Month 2023</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Marie Northrop Lecture Series - Preserving Los Angeles with Ken Bernstein</title><dc:creator>LACHS</dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 03 May 2023 23:21:32 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/5/3/preservinglosangeles</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:6452e7f37e0f9c047b529f90</guid><description><![CDATA[The second lecture in the 2023 Marie Northrop Lecture Series was a
2760. discussion with Ken Bernstein based on his book Preserving Los Angeles. The
2761. event was recorded and is now available to rewatch.]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2> Recorded Live on April 16, 2023</h2>
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2791.  <p class="">The second lecture in the 2023 Marie Northrop Lecture Series was a discussion with Ken Bernstein based on his book Preserving Los Angeles. The event was recorded and is now available to rewatch by clicking the above image link.</p><p class="">Los Angeles has developed one of the most successful historic preservation programs in the nation, culminating with the completion of the nation’s most ambitious citywide survey of historic resources. Across the city, historic preservation is now transforming Los Angeles, while also pointing the way for other cities to use preservation to revitalize their neighborhoods and build community. </p><p class="">Ken Bernstein, who oversees Los Angeles’s Office of Historic Resources, tells this under-appreciated L.A. story: how historic preservation has revived neighborhoods, created a Downtown renaissance, and guided the future of the city. Younger than many American cities, </p><p class="">Los Angeles has a remarkable collection of architectural resources in all styles, reflecting the legacy of notable architects from the past 150 years. As one of the most diverse cities in the world, Los Angeles is breaking new ground in its approach to historic preservation, extending beyond the preservation of significant architecture, to identifying and protecting the places of social and cultural meaning to Los Angeles’s communities.</p><p class="">Make sure to watch this space for information regarding our next in-person Marie Northrop Lecture, as well as our many events. If you’d like to become a member, please visit our “Support” link above.</p>]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/png" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/ce76a5a8-bde7-4f09-842d-2ad6f5989651/MNLS+2022-2+CollageFor16-9.png?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="1500" height="844"><media:title type="plain">Marie Northrop Lecture Series - Preserving Los Angeles with Ken Bernstein</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Black History Month - Los Angeles' Pioneers  and Trailblazers</title><dc:creator>Lennart Christofferson</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 17 Feb 2023 16:10:49 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/2/17/black-history-month</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:63efa3e27acbca6580b3c9fd</guid><description><![CDATA[by Pebbla Wallace, LACHS Board Member
2792.  
2793. In February Los Angeles (and the United States) celebrates Black History
2794. Month.  In doing so, the LACHS would like to recognize some of our
2795. historical pioneers, and the major contributions they have made to the City
2796. of Angels.]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1>Black History Month - Los Angeles' Pioneers  and Trailblazers</h1><p class="">by Pebbla Wallace, LACHS Board Member</p><p class=""><br>In February Los Angeles (and the United States) celebrates Black History Month.&nbsp; In doing so, the LACHS would like to recognize some of our historical pioneers, and the major contributions they have made to the City of Angels.</p><p class="">The celebration of Black History first began on the second week of February in 1926 when it was recognized as “Negro History Week”.&nbsp; The week was started by educator Dr. Carter G. Woodson who was concerned about “the miseducation of the Negro” when many textbooks distorted black history with ugly racial stereotypes and ignored their tremendous contributions to America.</p><p class="">The date was originally chosen to encompass the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass and honored them for their beliefs on freedom.&nbsp; In the beginning, very few cities or states recognized this date.&nbsp; But during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and 1970s it began to grow, and became Black History Month.&nbsp; In 1976 President Gerald Ford became the first president to officially recognize Black History Month, with a proclamation, and subsequent presidents followed.</p><p class="">Today we dedicate this month to recognize the impact that individuals of African descent have made to enrich America in all parts of our society.</p>
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2906.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
2907.            <p class="">Sam Haskins<em><br>Courtesy of the African American Firefighters Museum</em></p>
2908.          </figcaption>
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2911.        </figure>
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2924.  <h3><strong>Sam Haskins (1846-1895)</strong> – Los Angeles’ First Black Firefighter</h3><p class="">Sometimes history can be a discovery that happens completely by accident.&nbsp; That is exactly what happened when Joe Walker, a crime analyst from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD), was researching the genealogy of someone else who died the same year as Sam Haskins.&nbsp; He found an article about Haskins that indicated he died while in the line of duty as a firefighter in 1895.&nbsp; For years, Los Angeles had always recognized George Bright as the first Black firefighter who was appointed in 1897.&nbsp; But this article about Sam Haskins death in 1895, was two years before George Bright become a firefighter.&nbsp; After further research it was found that Sam became a firefighter in 1888 (assigned to engine company No. 2), making him the first Black Firefighter in Los Angeles and California.</p><p class="">Sam Haskins was born into slavery in Virginia in 1846.&nbsp; Haskins moved to Los Angeles around 1880 and became a member of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) as a “call fireman” (part-time, on-call basis).&nbsp; Because a call fireman was not a full-time job, Haskins also worked as a porter at the Union Depot Hotel.</p><p class="">Not only was Haskins a pioneer of his time as being the “First”, he was also unfortunately the first firefighter to die in the line of duty.&nbsp;&nbsp; The Los Angeles Herald described this about Haskins death on November 19, 1895:</p><p class="">“An alarm was rung at 5:55 p. m., and two minutes later the engine and hook and ladder wagon were tearing along over the paving stones and car tracks.&nbsp; Sam Haskins, the Herculean colored fireman, jumped to his place on the engine but, owing to the roughness of the pavement, the numerous car tracks, the rapidly drawn engine was so unsteady that the unfortunate fireman lost his balance, flung his arms about wildly for a moment, then fell between the left hind wheel and the boiler and was crushed to death.&nbsp; The engine was stopped at once, but it was fully ten minutes before the wheel was taken off and the mangled and dying man removed.&nbsp; Drs. Choate and McCarthy were summoned, and under their direction, the dying man was carried to the engine house, where he was placed upon a mattress.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Efforts were made to revive him, but he died about five minutes after he was removed from the engine.”&nbsp; </p>
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3034.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
3035.            <p class="">Miriam Matthews (1920)<br><em>Photo Credit:&nbsp; Shades of LA Collection/Los Angeles Public Library</em></p>
3036.          </figcaption>
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3038.      
3039.        </figure>
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3052.  <h3><strong>Miriam Matthews</strong> – First African American woman (credentialed) to be hired by the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL). </h3><p class="">Miriam was born in Florida and moved to the Los Angeles area when she was two years old.&nbsp; After graduating from Los Angeles High School, she attended UCLA and later transferred to Berkeley where she received a degree in Spanish and a certificate in Library Science before being hired by the Los Angeles Public Library.&nbsp; Realizing the lack of resources regarding African American History at the library, she was an integral part of collecting African American history resources for the library.&nbsp; From 1949 to 1960 she served as regional librarian for LAPL and supervised twelve branches in Los Angeles.&nbsp; Miriam died in 2003.</p>
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3082.  <h3><strong>Joseph Henry Green – </strong>The other first Black LAPD Officer</h3><p class="">Little is known about Joseph Green who was one of the first Black police officers along with Robert Stewart (see <a href="https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/2/16/robert-william-stewart">Robert Stewart</a>&nbsp;blog)&nbsp;to have served on the Los Angeles Police Department on March 31, 1889. Unfortunately, Joseph’s career was short-lived.&nbsp;&nbsp; Less than a year after his appointment, Joseph and nine other officers were laid off when the department was ordered to reduce its numbers. </p><p class="">But what we do know about Joseph through various records, is he was born in North Carolina on October 30, 1851 (according to his tombstone DOB). &nbsp;He lived in North Carolina until 1876, and later that year moved to San Francisco where he worked at the Palace Hotel as a waiter.&nbsp; Following his waiter job, he worked for the widow of rich railroad tycoon Mark Hopkins Jr.&nbsp;&nbsp; Green moved to Los Angeles around 1883, where he worked at the Pico House as the head waiter.&nbsp; Around 1887 he worked at City Hall as a janitor before being appointed as a police officer in 1889.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p class="">After his layoff at the LAPD, he continued to work as a waiter until his sudden death in 1903.&nbsp; Joseph was survived by his wife Amanda, and his two daughters Lauretta and Cecil (his son Adolph died in 1889 at age 5).&nbsp; His daughter Lauretta Green Butler became a known musician in Los Angeles and opened the first Black professional dance studio in Los Angeles.</p>
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3191.          
3192.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
3193.            <p class="">Georgia Ann Robinson<br><em>Photo Credit:&nbsp; Security Pacific Natl. Bank Collection/Los Angeles Public Library</em></p>
3194.          </figcaption>
3195.        
3196.      
3197.        </figure>
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3210.  <h3><strong>Georgia Ann Robinson</strong> – First African American woman appointed to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), and one of the first African American police officers in the United States (1919)</h3><p class="">Georgia was born in 1879 in Louisiana where her parents died when she was very young.&nbsp; She was later raised by her older sister and then at a Catholic convent.&nbsp; At eighteen she moved to Kansas and became a governess.&nbsp; She later met her husband Morgan Robinson and moved to Los Angeles.</p><p class="">In 1916, when the LAPD was in desperate need of officers due to the lack of men because of World War I, they began to recruit women.&nbsp; Georgia was recruited by the department first as a volunteer, and then three years later as the first African American woman to become a full-time police officer, which also made her the first African American woman police officer in the U.S. At the time of her appointment, there were only four other female LAPD officers.</p><p class="">Her first assignment was working as a jail matron, and then on juvenile and homicide cases. Her career ended abruptly in 1928 after suffering a serious head injury while trying to break up a fight between inmates. The injury caused her to lose her eyesight and forced her into early retirement. She died in 1961.</p>
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3311.  
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3319.          
3320.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
3321.            <p class="">Charlotta A. Bass (1952)<br><em>Photo Credit: Shades of Los Angeles Collection/Los Angeles Public Library</em></p>
3322.          </figcaption>
3323.        
3324.      
3325.        </figure>
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3338.  <h3><strong>CHARLOTTA AMANDA SPEARS BASS – </strong>First African American Newspaper Woman</h3><p class="">Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass – Was the first woman to own and operate a newspaper in Los Angeles.&nbsp;&nbsp; She was also the first African American woman to own and operate a newspaper in California and the United States.&nbsp; She published the California Eagle in Los Angeles from 1912 until 1951.&nbsp; </p><p class="">Charlotta was born in South Carolina in 1874.&nbsp; In 1910 she moved to Los Angeles where she worked for the California Eagle by selling subscriptions of the newspaper.&nbsp; When the owner of the paper died in 1912, Charlotta took over as Editor and later as the owner when she purchased the paper at auction for fifty dollars.&nbsp;Besides containing various news stories, the paper’s original concept was to assist new migrants in Los Angeles with housing, jobs (especially those African Americans fleeing the deep south).&nbsp; Charlotta’s husband, Joseph Bass, was later named the editor until his death in 1934.&nbsp; </p><p class="">Charlotta was also a political activist in Los Angeles in the 1940s, promoting multiethnic politics and civil rights among, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Mexican Americans.&nbsp; Charlotta died in 1969 at the age of 95.</p>
3339.  
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3365. <hr />]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/png" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1676651309982-6SLAYLODCHVLYCGMAO5M/BlackHistory16x9BlogHeader.png?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="1000" height="563"><media:title type="plain">Black History Month - Los Angeles' Pioneers  and Trailblazers</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Black History Month - Robert William Stewart</title><dc:creator>Lennart Christofferson</dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 16 Feb 2023 16:42:00 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/2/16/robert-william-stewart</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:63efabe67784935165125534</guid><description><![CDATA[by Pebbla Wallace, LACHS Board Member
3366.  
3367. Robert William Stewart (1850-1931) – the forgotten story of first African
3368. American police officer in California serving at the Los Angeles Police
3369. Department (LAPD)]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1>Black History Month - Robert William Stewart</h1><p class="">by Pebbla Wallace, LACHS Board Member</p><p class=""><br><strong>Robert William Stewart (1850-1931) – </strong>the forgotten story of first African American police officer in California serving at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)</p>
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3478.          
3479.          <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper">
3480.            <p class="">Robert Stewart <em><br>Photo Credit:&nbsp;Security Pacific National Bank Collection / Los Angeles Public Library</em></p>
3481.          </figcaption>
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3483.      
3484.        </figure>
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3497.  <p class="">The story of Robert Stewart may have been forever lost if not for the diligent research of historian Mike Davison who first came across Stewart’s name in 2015.&nbsp; While researching the history of one of our earlier City Halls located near 2nd and Spring Street, which later became the headquarters of the LAPD for approximately 11 years, Davison stated that he came across his name purely by accident in an 1889 record that showed Stewart as becoming a LAPD Officer - but no one knew what had happened to him after that.&nbsp; Davison and some fellow researchers (including retired LAPD Lt. Rita Knecht) were able to obtain information through official documents, various newspaper articles, and genealogy records.&nbsp;</p><p class=""><span><strong>Stewart’s Beginnings</strong></span><strong>.</strong>&nbsp; Stewart’s early life was difficult to piece together because of very little documentation, and the fact that most early census records before 1870 rarely list slaves as people, but as property.&nbsp; But just like most African Americans during this period, Stewart’s story begins when he was born into slavery (by Stewart’s own account).&nbsp; He was born in Garrard County Kentucky on March 1, 1850, to Faulkner Stewart and Ellen Doty. &nbsp;He later gained his freedom shortly after the Civil War. &nbsp;The 1870 Census records indicate Robert was able to both read and write, which was rare for a former slave at the time. Sometime around 1871 he met and married Louise Coffey (also a former slave).&nbsp; Robert and Louise stayed in Kentucky where Robert worked as a laborer.&nbsp; In 1877 they had a son named William Malcom Edgar Stewart – their only child.&nbsp; In 1880, Robert and Louise lived in the household of a widowed white farmer in Stanford where they both worked as servants.&nbsp; Sometime later, Robert and his family moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana where he worked for the Ohio Falls Car Company. According to the California Voter records, they lived in Los Angeles as early as 1884 – where Robert worked mostly as a janitor and a laborer, and then in 1887-1889 for a freight-hauling company.&nbsp; </p><p class="">Stewart was also a member of the Colored Republican Club which was an influential political group in Los Angeles at the time, and which was persuasive in getting many politicians elected to office.</p><p class=""><span><strong>Stewart’s Time at the LAPD</strong></span>.&nbsp; On March 31, 1889, Robert Stewart and Joseph Green were appointed as Los Angeles LAPD Officers – the first Black officers in California and the City of Los Angeles.&nbsp; (Note: Green’s career was short-lived when a little over a year he was among nine officers that were laid off).&nbsp; &nbsp;</p><p class="">Originally, Stewart and Green had been placed in minor positions at the LAPD.&nbsp; There were major complaints by Los Angeles’ Black community, and on April 2, 1889, a Letter to the Editor was published in the Los Angeles Times that stated, “I ask permission to make the inquiry through your paper why only two of the applications from colored men to be placed on the police force were considered, and why the city authorities are dilatory in placing the two Colored men appointed on the force to active duty, and why they should be relegated to janitor duty in the city buildings?”</p><p class="">Shortly after this letter was published, Stewart was assigned to traffic duty on First and Spring Street (the busiest intersection at the time) directing traffic, and then later as foot-patrolman around the same area.&nbsp; Originally there were both negative and positive reactions to seeing a Black person wearing the blue uniform. &nbsp;Stewart’s 6’4, 240-pound frame (considered extremely large at the time), gave way to some offensive headlines, referring to Stewart as “the big colored policeman”, or “the colored giant in blue”.&nbsp; Some insulting headlines blended into complete racist remarks including a July 22, 1897, LA Times article depiction of Stewart capturing a team of runaway mules, stating, “the burly policeman sunk his Ethiopian heels into the cobblestones”.&nbsp; In other articles there were references to Stewart as the “dusky copper” “or the “thickness of his African skull”.&nbsp; But as time went on, there were many articles that praised Stewart’s bravery.&nbsp; For example, in a November 30, 1895, article in the Los Angeles Times it stated, “Officer Stewart is the only colored man on the force, but he has a record for bravery and good conduct that has never been questioned.”</p><p class="">Stewart became a well-respected officer in the community by many, according to hundreds of articles in the Los Angeles Times and Herald.&nbsp; Stewart was mentioned in the local papers on a regular basis, and his police career was followed by the news media both on the streets of Los Angeles and in the courtroom where he testified regularly.&nbsp; </p><p class="">His respect went beyond his career as an officer when he also endorsed medical devices in the local papers that assisted in relieving various ailments. For example, a July 29, 1896 ad in the LA Times stated “Mr. R.W. Stewart, a well-known police officer of this city tells of his cure by Dr. Sanden’s Electric Belt”.</p><p class=""><span><strong>Nomination for Constable</strong></span>.&nbsp; Around 1892 much of Los Angeles County was divided into smaller districts called townships which were policed by elected peace officers called constables.&nbsp; The Los Angeles township at the time had two white constables.&nbsp; Prior to the re-election period, the Los Angeles County Republican Party was persuaded by various Black leaders, the founder and editor of the oldest Black newspaper in the west John Neimore, and the Los Angeles’ Negro Republican Club to nominate Stewart to one of the constable positions.&nbsp;&nbsp; Stewart became the County’s first major-party Black candidate to be nominated for an elected office.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p class="">Stewart resigned from his position at the LAPD after his nomination to concentrate on his election.&nbsp; Stewart spoke at various Republican rallies throughout the city in an attempt to obtain votes.&nbsp; But in the end, he lost and came in third.&nbsp; There were many complaints by the Los Angeles Black community.&nbsp;&nbsp; In a November 27, 1892, Letter to the Editor in the Los Angeles Herald, it stated, "the shameful manner in which the Republicans treated our friend, Mr. R. W. Stewart, candidate for constable on the Republican ticket. The Republicans are loud in promises to the colored people, but when it comes to fulfillment we have, in the defeat of Mr. Stewart, an evidence of their insincerity." &nbsp;&nbsp;Stewart was reappointed back as an officer in January 1893.&nbsp; </p><p class=""><span><strong>The Event that Changed Stewart’s Life</strong></span>.&nbsp; Stewart served as an LAPD Officer for almost 11 years, when his career ended with a major injustice that has long been forgotten by most Angelenos for more than 120 years.</p><p class="">On May 10, 1900, Stewart was arrested and charged with the rape of a 15-year-old white girl name Grace Cunningham.&nbsp;Cunningham claimed that sometime on May 9 around midnight, she met Stewart.&nbsp; When Stewart was escorting her home, he took her to a secluded area and raped her.&nbsp; Stewart declared his innocence.&nbsp; He did admit meeting her, but denied touching her or even walking her home.&nbsp; </p><p class="">The following day Stewart was arraigned and bail was set at $1,500 –which his friends helped obtain.&nbsp; Most of his friends and much of the Black community expressed disbelief regarding the charges.&nbsp; Even the May 12th issue of the Los Angeles Times noted “Stewart has long been one of the foremost men of his race in this city". &nbsp;Stewart was represented by two well-respected attorneys Le Compte Davis and Judson Rush, who were both former L.A. County Deputy District Attorneys. At Stewart's preliminary hearing, Black Angelenos packed the courtroom.&nbsp; </p><p class="">During the preliminary hearings cross-examination on May 21, Grace Cunningham changed much of her original testimony from her original statement on May 10.&nbsp; One of the major changes is that she now claimed that Stewart had offered her money for sex, and instead of going straight home as she originally indicated, she now claimed she spent the next hour and a half afterward talking to a tamale vendor.&nbsp; There were other inconsistencies in her statement during the hearing, and her character was often called into question.&nbsp; Also, during this preliminary hearing, Stewart’s bail was raised to $3,000 – double what was set originally.&nbsp; Unable to afford the additional bail, he was sent to jail to await his trial.</p><p class=""><span><strong>Stewart Dismissal from the LAPD</strong></span>.&nbsp; Sometime after the charges against Stewart, Police Chief Charles Elton suspended Stewart and forced him to surrender his badge and equipment.&nbsp; He also recommended that the police commission fire him. &nbsp;On June 5, 1900, with a vote of 3-2 in favor, the commissioners’ officially fired Stewart from the LAPD.</p><p class=""><span><strong>Trial No. 1</strong></span>.&nbsp; After a major delay, Stewart’s trial began on October 22, 1900.&nbsp; According to the LA Times, most of the courtroom's seats were taken up by many in the Black community, and it was standing room only. The jury of 12 white men was chosen and carefully questioned for their impartiality, racial biases, and other issues.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p class="">Grace Cunningham was the first witness. She duplicated approximately the same testimony from the preliminary hearing.&nbsp; She was then cross-examined by the defense. [Note:&nbsp; Although the local papers reported detailed information regarding Cunningham’s testimony and her rape by Stewart, they did not report or provide any information regarding any of her cross-examination by the defense.]&nbsp; </p><p class="">Stewart's defense called respected character witnesses such as a judge and Stewart’s wife.&nbsp; Stewart testified in his defense and the LA Times indicated that Stewart "made a favorable impression." According to the LAPD Museum, during his testimony “Stewart claimed that at the time of the alleged assault, he was patrolling another part of his beat, which covered the blocks between Fifth and Tenth Streets and Broadway and Hill Street. He admitted meeting Cunningham and scolding her for being out so late, but he had not walked with her or had any physical contact with her”. &nbsp;In the defense closing argument, Stewart's lawyers claimed that Stewart couldn’t have assaulted Cunningham based on the timeline of events as attested to by the witnesses. </p><p class="">The jury deliberated for 1½ days and reported to the judge that they could not agree and were hung.&nbsp; It was later revealed that the initial vote of the jury had been 7 to 5 to acquit Stewart.&nbsp; The judge declared the jury hung, but the District Attorney decided to retry Stewart.&nbsp; The judge reduced Stewart’s bail from $3,500 to $1,000. &nbsp;&nbsp;Stewart’s friends were able to come up with the bail and Stewart was released from jail.&nbsp;</p><p class=""><span><strong>Trial No. 2</strong></span>.&nbsp; The second trial began on December 28, 1900, with Grace Cunningham and her mother testifying.&nbsp; &nbsp;According to various papers, they repeated the same testimony from the first trial.&nbsp; But according to the Los Angeles Evening Express, Stewart's lawyers were able to poke holes in Grace's testimony, "riddling her story until it looked but a skeleton of its former self." The other papers rarely reported information regarding the second trial.&nbsp; Closing arguments began on December 31 and then were submitted to the jury that afternoon.&nbsp; The jury came to a verdict in less than 40 minutes proclaiming Robert William Stewart “not guilty”.&nbsp; &nbsp;Stewart’s innocence was only briefly reported in the papers.&nbsp; </p><p class=""><span><strong>Post-Trial</strong></span>.&nbsp; Stewart served honorably for almost 11 years as an LAPD Officer and was well-respected among both Black and White Angelenos.&nbsp; &nbsp;But even though Stewart was cleared of all charges the LAPD denied his reinstatement into the department.</p><p class="">The false accusation against Stewart ruined his reputation and the profession that he loved so much.&nbsp;It also stripped him of a police pension which he so rightly earned and deserved.&nbsp;After the trial, Stewart worked mostly as a janitor in Los Angeles until his death on July 27, 1931, when he died of prostate cancer. The headlines in the major black newspaper the California Eagle stated “Pioneer was first Negro Policeman in this city”.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Robert W. Stewart, a resident of this city since 1885 is well known and a great fraternal worker and useful citizen, passed to his reward at his home.&nbsp;Known far and wide for his staunch and dependable character, Stewart was honored for his integrity and public-spirited citizenship.”&nbsp;The other local papers barely mentioned Stewart’s death.</p><p class=""><span><strong>Stewart Reinstated as LAPD Officer</strong></span><strong> – Over 120 years too late? </strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;On February 2021, the Los Angeles Police Commission voted unanimously to reinstate Robert Stewart, recognizing the injustice of his termination and naming a room after him at Police Headquarters.&nbsp; “This was one way we could show that Black folks in this country have made a difference,” said William Briggs, the police commissioner who brought the motion for reinstatement. </p><p class="">Unfortunately, there is no one left of the Stewart family to see this LAPD reinstatement.&nbsp; The Stewart family is now dead and buried – his wife died in 1933 and his only child William died in 1936 (his son had no children).&nbsp; So how do we rectify this wrong?&nbsp; By continuously telling his story.</p><p class="">Davison states about Stewart’s life, “He suffered what happened to him in silence…he’s a pioneer. He should be remembered like Biddy Mason or any of the other early African American pioneers in Los Angeles.”</p>
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3524. <hr />]]></content:encoded><media:content type="image/png" url="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adf409cd39c3b55facd701/1676652124713-GCKJH8X1V956W9CZRVEM/Robert+Stewart16x9BlogHeader.png?format=1500w" medium="image" isDefault="true" width="1000" height="563"><media:title type="plain">Black History Month - Robert William Stewart</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>LACHS Webinar - Photography of Los Angeles Transit Construction - A talk with Ken Karagozian </title><dc:creator>Lennart Christofferson</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 20 Jan 2023 07:23:00 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2023/1/19/lachs-webinar-ken-karagozian</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:63d0ac7c1952d35dd7fd1dd0</guid><description><![CDATA[Watch the recorded presentation Photography of Los Angeles Transit
3525. Construction - with Ken Karagozian and guest speaker Richard McLane]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>LACHS Webinar from January 19, 2023</h2><p class="">A presentation with photographer Ken Karagozian. Ken has been documenting Los Angeles transit project construction for about 30 years and showcases photographs from past and current projects. </p><p class="">The presentations will be on the Hollywood Red Line which go back to the early 1990’s when he started photographing the underground subway projects.</p><p class="">He will also discuss other projects including the Regional Connector, the 6th St Bridge, and the Purple Line extension along Wilshire Blvd.</p><p class="">Guest speaker: Richard McLane, Traylor Bros., Inc. Richard was the Tunnel Construction Manager for Section 1 of the Purple Line Extension.</p><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" class=""></p><h2>Links mentioned in the presentation:</h2><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" class=""></p><h3>PHOTOGRAPHER KEN KARAGOZIAN</h3><p class="">Ken’s website: <a href="https://www.kenkaragozian.com/" target="_blank">www.kenkaragozian.com</a></p><p class="">Photographer Ray McSavaney: <a href="https://www.raymcsavaneyphotography.com/" target="_blank">www.raymcsavaneyphotography.com</a></p><p class="">Ken’s early photographs from Rose Bowl Flea Market - LA Times article about artist John Woods’ McArthur Park art project: <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-17-me-15035-story.html" target="_blank">www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-17-me-15035-story.html</a></p><p class="">Ken’s 2020-2021 exhibit “Deep Connections” at Union Station Passageway Art Gallery (includes link to exhibit catalog): <a href="https://art.metro.net/artworks/exhibitions/deep-connections/" target="_blank">art.metro.net/artworks/exhibitions/deep-connections</a></p><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" class=""></p><h3>REGIONAL CONNECTOR TRANSIT PROJECT</h3><p class="">Metro’s project web site: <a href="https://www.metro.net/projects/connector-2/" target="_blank">www.metro.net/projects/connector-2</a></p><p class="">See the massive drill tunneling a subway under LA (2017 CNN video): <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/cnnmoney/2017/05/03/see-the-massive-drill-tunneling-a-subway-under-la-cnnmoney.cnnmoney" target="_blank">www.cnn.com/videos/cnnmoney/2017/05/03/see-the-massive-drill-tunneling-a-subway-under-la-cnnmoney.cnnmoney</a></p><p class="">Climb inside the massive tunnel 60 feet below downtown L.A. (2017 LA Times article including video and photos): <a href="https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-metro-tunneling/" target="_blank">www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-metro-tunneling</a></p><p class="">History of Hollenbeck Hotel: <a href="https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/15311/" target="_blank">pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/15311</a></p><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" class=""></p><h3>SIXTH STREET VIADUCT REPLACEMENT PROJECT</h3><p class="">City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering’s project website: <a href="https://www.sixthstreetviaduct.org/" target="_blank">www.sixthstreetviaduct.org</a></p><p class="">Los Angeles City Historical Society’s Marie Northrop Lecture on June 22, 2022 (scroll down). Includes video links to City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering's documentary "Bridging Los Angeles," along with the post-screening discussion with City Engineer Gary Lee Moore and the filmmakers: <a href="https://www.lacityhistory.org/marie-northrop-lecture-series" target="_blank">www.lacityhistory.org/marie-northrop-lecture-series</a></p><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" class=""></p><h3>PURPLE (D LINE) EXTENSION TRANSIT PROJECT</h3><p class="">Metro’s project website: <a href="https://www.metro.net/projects/westside/" target="_blank">www.metro.net/projects/westside</a></p><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" class=""></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>LACHS Webinar - LACHS 2022 Scholarship Presentations – CSU Long Beach</title><dc:creator>Lennart Christofferson</dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 07 Dec 2022 07:45:00 +0000</pubDate><link>https://www.lacityhistory.org/blog/2022/12/6/lachs-webinar-scholarships</link><guid isPermaLink="false">59adf409cd39c3b55facd701:59ae0cc6579fb377b9b4d28b:6390c6968d8b6937edb082bf</guid><description><![CDATA[Watch the recorded presentations with two of our 2022 LACHS Scholarship
3526. recipients:
3527.  
3528. Militant Machismo: Hypermasculinity & The Brown Berets
3529. Hector Gamboa
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3531. The San Diego Blood Sisters: Highlighting Queer Women’s Activism During the
3532. AIDS Epidemic
3533. Zachery Roethlisberger]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>LACHS Webinar from December 6, 2022</h2><p class="">A webinar with our 2022 LACHS Scholarship recipients from Cal State Long Beach. The students present their essays followed by a Q&amp;A session.</p><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" class=""></p><p class=""><strong>Hector Gamboa - CSU Long Beach<br></strong>Militant Machismo: Hypermasculinity &amp; The Brown Berets </p>
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3563.  <p class=""><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><p class=""><strong>Zachery Roethlisberger - CSU Long Beach<br></strong>The San Diego Blood Sisters: Highlighting Queer Women’s Activism During the AIDS Epidemic</p>
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3593.  <h2 data-rte-preserve-empty="true"></h2><h2>About the LACHS Scholarship Program</h2><p class="">In 2019, the Los Angeles City Historical Society implemented a program to award scholarships to outstanding history graduate students at local universities and colleges. We hope that LACHS members and friends wish to support the program by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lacityhistory.org/donate"><span>donating funds</span></a>&nbsp;to the program. &nbsp;Please note that 100% of all donations will go to students.&nbsp;</p><p class="">The Board recognizes the critical value of the study and analysis of history to our democracy and seeks to encourage outstanding students in the field.</p><p class="">For more information about the LACHS Scholarship Program and to read the students’ essays, please visit <a href="https://www.lacityhistory.org/scholarship">lacityhistory.org/scholarship</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>