urban archives

Area E Alternative School

August 16, 2022

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....

Women’s History in the Stacks

March 01, 2022

March is Women’s History Month in the United States and CSUN Special Collections & Archives holds a number of collections created by women and women’s groups. In honor of women’s history we will highlight an amazing group of women whose history lives on in here in the archives: Mothers of East Los Angeles (MELA)...

urban archives

archives

los angeles

Southern California Arbitration Case Files Collection

November 02, 2021

Legal court proceedings are notorious for taking months, and sometimes years, to finalize. For the sake of time and simplicity, many employers stipulate in their employment contracts that they will use an alternative: arbitration. Arbitration is a method of dispute resolution in which two parties elect a neutral third party to settle the issue...

Early Childhood Educator Associations

September 21, 2021

The issues of childcare and early childhood education have been a hot topic in national conversations during the pandemic, but they are by no means new issues. In 1925, after several years of discussions and planning, a group of concerned nursery professionals founded the National Committee on Nursery Schools and held the first conference in 1926...

Campo de Cahuenga

May 11, 2021

The Campo de Cahuenga Historical Memorial Association Collection contains materials related to Campo de Cahuenga. It includes correspondence documenting the San Fernando Valley Historical Society’s failed efforts to have the park recognized as a national park and monument. Rancho Cahuenga, a former....

A Look Back at a Previous LA Housing Crisis

April 06, 2021

According to the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, in 2019 the number of unhoused people in Los Angeles County rose 13% from the previous year to over 66,000 people. It remains to be seen what the numbers will look like for 2020, which saw the highest rise in unemployment on record since....

Northridge: the Early Years

March 30, 2021

The pre-mission San Fernando Valley was peopled by the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. Their descendants continue to live, work, learn, and grow here. In 2020, CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison, in consultation with tribal President Rudy Ortega Jr., and professor Scott Andrews (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma), composed, approved, and made public the following land...

Poetry at Bebop Records & Fine Art

February 23, 2021

Richard Bruland’s Bebop Records & Fine Art was a place of community for musicians, poets, and those interested in finding a small venue to watch artists up-close. Though the locale has been closed since 1990, some of the materials...

urban archives

archives

san fernando valley

The Gridiron: Oppression Means Stagnation and Freedom Means Progress

February 09, 2021

The Gridiron, volume 1, number 1 debuted on December 17, 1926 with a subtitle proclaiming it the gridiron, "Over which the gold of truth is separated from the dross of error." The weekly paper was published locally and initially focused on public utility reform...

urban archives

publications

los angeles

Coralie Hewitt Tillack Collection

February 02, 2021

The Hollywood Burbank Airport was built in 1930 and initially served as Los Angeles' primary civil airport. On its opening day it was known as United Airport, but over the decades it went through a number of name changes before its most recent renaming in 2017 to better connect it to its geographic location. It has also been known as...