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Peek in the Stacks: los angeles

The Cities of Destiny Oral History Project: India

The Cities of Destiny Oral History Project conducted interviews of immigrants and minorities living in Los Angeles. Students taking Liberal Arts 196 at CSUN during the Spring semester of 1982 conducted these interviews. These histories document lives and childhoods of the interviewees' in their native countries, how they came to the United States...

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CA 64 - The Valley’s Right of Way to the Beach

With the passage of the 1947 Collier-Burns Highway Act, the completion of a few early L.A. freeways (the Arroyo Seco Parkway, Ramona Boulevard, and the Cahuenga Pass), and the growing dependence on cars, freeways became massive construction projects in the 1950s and began transforming the L.A. landscape. The Albert Zoraster Collection contains correspondence, articles, editorials, reports, maps, telegrams, presentations, and aerial photographs regarding the proposed CA-64 Malibu-Whitnall Freeway

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(Re)Introducing the CSUN Snacketeria

The University Archives and Digital Collections in the University Library house a complete run of the campus newspaper, the Daily (and Summer) Sundial. A lot has happened in CSUN’s 64 years, and for some things our only record of them exists there. While that will hopefully change, for now let’s get (re)acquainted with the CSUN Snacketeria. 

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20th Century Images of the Central Avenue District

By the turn of the twentieth century the Central Avenue District was on its way to becoming the center of African American life in Los Angeles. It was a slow process that took several decades to complete. Several factors contributed to that development. The Central Avenue District was constructed by surrounding white neighborhoods that barred minorities from living in them.

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Area E Alternative School

n 1970, the notion of alternative or open schools under the public school system was proposed at the White House Conference on Children, and in 1972 Congress appropriated millions of dollars for cooperative education research. This concept of alternative schools was picked up by the education- and innovation-minded in California under the Los Angeles Unified School District’s wing and arose as a resolution to many educational problems in the state. This proposal coincided with....

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Francesca Lia Block & Irving Block

Francesca Lia Block published three books of poetry prior to her debut novel Weetzi Bat: Moon Harvest, Season of Green: Poems, and IV, Four Poems, when she was 15, 17 and 22, respectively. All three titles were published and printed by the Santa Susana Press, CSUN’s fine press which ran from 1973 to 1994, and are held in Special Collections and Archives.

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The Death of Ronald Stokes and the Birth of Black Power in Los Angeles

In 1930 W. D. Fard formed the Black religious and social movement known as the Nation of Islam (NOI) in Detroit, Michigan. When Fard mysteriously disappeared in 1934 his disciple, Elijah Muhammad, assumed control until his death in 1975. During the mid 1950s NOI national spokesman Malcolm X was instrumental in establishing Mosque No. 27 in Los Angeles, California...

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