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Peek in the Stacks: archives

Richard Bruland Bebop Records Art Posters Collection

Los Angeles is known for its music scene, with legendary clubs like the Troubadour and the Roxy hosting and even launching some of the biggest acts in the history of popular music. While many people think of Hollywood as the hub for rock music in LA, in the 1980s some of the best acts actually came to play half an hour away in Reseda ....

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Julian Nava Collection

The Julian Nava Collection documents Nava's wide personal and professional interests in education, Mexican American affairs, Latin American history and Chicano politics. Dr. Julian Nava (1927- ) was born and raised in Boyle Heights to Mexican immigrant parents. In 1945, he volunteered for the US Navy Air Corps at the age of seventeen and was accepted as a pilot candidate, however the war ended before ...

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Richard Neutra's Fine Arts Building

This week's blog post focuses on the Richard Neutra Fine Arts Building, which was completed in early 1960 and was demolished in 1997 after the damage it received from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. You can find images of the no longer standing Fine Arts building and many other campus buildings in the Library Digital Collections. ..

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Saint Patrick in the Archives

Originally, Saint Patrick’s Day was a religious celebration of the life of the patron saint of Ireland. The March 17th celebration that bears his name is believed to be his death date in the year 461 CE. Saint Patrick is known for having brought Christianity to Ireland and, to a certain degree, to the Anglo-Saxon world.  As a young man in what is now the United Kingdom, he was abducted and enslaved in Ireland. During this period, he leaned on his Christian faith for solace...

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Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Community Relations Committee Collection, Part 5

The Los Angeles Community Relations Committee (CRC) was founded in the early 20th century to work with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), B'nai B'rith, the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the American Jewish Congress, the Council of Jewish Women, and other Zionist organizations to fight anti-Semitism in the United States. The core mission of the organization's founding continued as a through line, but by the close of the 20th century CRC's focus expanded to include additional pressing international issues...

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Slavery and the Law

Laws protect the rights of a nation's citizens, but with regards to American slavery, were used as a tool to advance both pro- and anti-slavery efforts. Our understanding of the arc of American slavery and its aftermath is informed, in part, by the push and pull of laws that mark shifting social, political and economic environments. For instance, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 added Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. This guaranteed equal slave-state to free-state representation in the United States Senate, and also imposed geographical restrictions on where slavery could be practiced...

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Japanese-American Internment and Civil Rights

Born from the wartime hysteria of World War II, the internment of Japanese Americans is considered by many to be one of the biggest civil rights violations in American history. Americans of Japanese ancestry, regardless of citizenship, were forced from their homes and into relocation centers known as internment camps. The fear that arose after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor created severe anti-Japanese prejudice, which evolved into the widespread belief that Japanese people in America were a threat to national security...

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Celebrating 100 Years of Veterans Day

Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, intended to recognize the end of World War I at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. It was first celebrated in 1919, and continued as Armistice Day until 1954, when the holiday was renamed Veterans Day in order to recognize all service personnel in the United States Armed Forces. Unlike Memorial Day, which recognizes military personnel who died in service, Veterans Day celebrates...

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Method Books and the Classical Guitar in America

During the 18th and early 19th centuries, the guitar was not considered a serious concert instrument in America. Classical music in general was not as popular as the many folk forms that were in vogue, further contributing to the scarcity of the classical guitar. In order to gain insight into the evolution of American style classical guitar, we can examine... 

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Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Community Relations Committee was founded in the early 20th century to work with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), B'nai B'rith, the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the American Jewish Congress, the Council of Jewish Women, and other Zionist organizations to fight anti-Semitism in the United States. In 1941 ....

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