Peek in the Stacks

Peggy Gilbert was a jazz saxophonist who, beginning in the 1930’s, formed several all-female bands, and through her work represented women in the world of jazz performance. Originally from Sioux City, Iowa, Gilbert was an active member of the Los Angeles Musicians Union, local 47, remaining a trustee after retiring from her performing career. She formed her most successful group, the Dixie Belles, at the age of 69. The Dixie Belles toured throughout the U.S from...

Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi) gained control of the German state in 1933, after which the systematic and deliberate exclusion of Jews rapidly escalated. In 1933 Hitler called for a ban on Jewish business and the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service banned Jewish people (and some political opponents) from the...

Handmade and personalized birthday and holiday cards often have an endearing quality. They can capture the spirit, interests, and aesthetics of the recipient and the maker, while opening windows to the past. The L. Clarice Davis Collection does this; Davis bought and sold art books and the collection includes photographs of cards made by comic artists from King Features Syndicate for its owner, William Randolph Hearst that were...

The Coalition for Women's Economic Development (CWED) began emerging in the United States in the mid- to late-1980s to provide better economic options for micro-entrepreneurs. CWED was the first organization of its kind in the city of Los Angeles and one of the first in the United States. The organization borrowed strategies from Grameen Bank, a Bangladeshi community bank which provided micro-credit loans to those living in abject poverty. CWED engaged in...