In the history of the United States, religious freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment have frequently come under fire. In the 1920s, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in concert with restrictive immigration legislation, educational prohibitions, and economic scapegoating, resulted in growing anti-Semitism against Jews...
Hidden among the thousands of rare and unique publications in Special Collections and Archives are undiscovered treasures that tell the story of Los Angeles. One of these gems is Visit of His Excellency Most Rev. Diomede Falconio, Apostolic Delegate to the United States. This souvenir book was published to commemorate the dedication of St. Joseph’s Church, one of the most...
Historical accounts of the pueblo at Los Angeles first began to surface in the 1870s. Yet, aside from iterating the widely accepted facts related to Spanish exploration and the founding of the pueblo, early writers largely neglected the Spanish colonial period in Los Angeles history. These works were primarily regional histories created by boosters in an effort to glorify the city’s residents and promote...
On Tuesday, November 1st, the Valley Performing Arts Center welcomed famed comedy and theater group, Culture Clash in a one-night performance of "VOTE OR DIE LAUGHING: A Post-Modern Political Vaudeville." Special Collections and Archives is proud to be the home of the Culture Clash Collections, donated to the Library ....
Refugees are individuals who are outside the boundaries of their home nations, and are unable to return there safely. Some are forced to leave, while others flee for their own safety. Refugees are most commonly unable to return to their home countries because of persecution based on their race, ethnicity, or religion; because of their political affiliations; or because their home ....
A group of five unions, cigar makers, printers, tailors, carpenters, and bakers, organized the Los Angeles Federation of Labor on June 23, 1889. The following year, the Los Angeles Typographical Union procured a charter from the San Francisco Federated Trades in order to form the Los Angeles Council of Labor. In 1894....
Special Collections and Archives holds the papers of Links, Incorporated, Angel City Chapter, one of more than two-hundred eighty chapters across the United States. In 1946, Philadelphia residents, Margaret Hawkins and Sarah Scott, founded Links, Inc. envisioning a community service organization that would meet the needs and aspirations of inter-city African-American women. The ...
The Urban Archives, part of Special Collections and Archives, collects materials that document the history of Los Angeles, and includes the records of many labor unions, guilds, and affiliated labor organizations that have operated within Los Angeles since the early 20th century. Many of these collections include records documenting labor strikes, or work stoppages ....
In the United States, the 1968 East Los Angeles student walkouts began a rise of Chicano activism. A flash point was the Chicano Moratorium march on August 29, 1970 in East Los Angeles. On that day, the tragic deaths of four people included the celebrated Los Angeles Times journalist, Ruben Salazar. One organization to grow out of this turbulent period is Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional...
Members of the Portolá Expedition were the first Europeans to see the Los Angeles River, camping on its banks near what is now downtown Los Angeles in the summer of 1769. Franciscan missionary and diarist for the expedition, Fray Juan Crespi wrote, "...we entered a very spacious valley, well grown with cottonwoods and alders....
