Content
“My five-year tenure in the majors was one of satisfaction and gratification at having conquered the biggest challenge in my life and in some measure opening the door for black umpires. I feel proud having been an umpire in the big leagues not because I was the first black man but because major league umpires are a…
Content
When a piece of Los Angeles history disappears, it's often lost forever - preserved only in our collective memory and in the region's photographic archives. But in some rare cases, that history is only hidden, preserved by accident for later generations to rediscover.
Today, the façade of downtown's historic Clifton's…
Content
Usually, when historic landmarks fall to the wrecking ball, they are lost forever, preserved only in our memory—and in our region's archives. But soon memory will once again take physical form when several historic landmarks from L.A.'s past reappear thirty miles to the south, at Disney California Adventure in…
Content
On October 8, L.A. as Subject will hold a joint meeting with SurveyLA, a citywide effort to identify historically significant structures, neighborhoods, and places.
Landmarks and other historically-significant structures are not only reminders of the city’s past, but also provide a context for understanding the human…
Content
The USC Libraries announced on Thursday, October 7 that they are now home to the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives research collection. The collection is the largest in the world on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history and culture.
The ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives is an L.A. as Subject…
Content
The first product of a new collaboration between L.A. as Subject and public television station KCET is now live. L.A. as Subject's first post on KCET's SoCal Focus blog illustrates how the archives of Southern California's cultural institutions and private collectors inform the story of regional boosters.
Beginning in…
Content
L.A. as Subject recently contributed its second post to KCET's new SoCal Focus blog, featuring visual artifacts from member archives related to Jerry Brown's first tenure as governor, which lasted from 1975 to 1983. An excerpt:
On January 3, Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr. was sworn in as California's 39th governor,…
Content
It's as true about archivists and archives as it is about activists—their influence often exceeds their fame. Southern California activists have profoundly shaped regional—and national—history through their advocacy. Of course we see the legacy of activists partly in improved social conditions, greater equality, and…
Content
It was easy to be alarmed by the U.S. Geological Survey's recent prediction that a catastrophic winter storm—statistically improbable yet inevitable—would pummel the Golden State with a month of hurricane-force winds and up to 10 feet of accumulated rainfall. (See "5 Things You Need to Know About the ARkStorm,…
Content
Chinatown and China City in Los Angeles by Jenny Cho and Chinese Historical Society of Southern California (CHSSC)
This book chronicles the representations of Chinatown and China City in Los Angeles in historic postcards.
In the early twentieth century, postcards were an inexpensive means of keeping in touch. …
Content
L.A. as Subject's latest contribution to KCET's SoCal Focus blog looks at the long history of bicycles in Southern California, which includes an era when bicycle paths rather than freeways connected the Southland's communities:
Earlier this month, advocates of alternative transportation cheered as the City of Los…
Content
L.A. as Subject's latest contribution to KCET's SoCal Focus blog looks at the history of Los Angeles baseball stadiums, from the ballparks that hosted the Hollywood Stars and Los Angeles Angels to the controversial creation of Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine:
Last week, major league baseball returned to Dodger…
Content
L.A. as Subject's latest contribution to KCET's SoCal Focus blog featured archived photos and other visual artifacts from Civil War-era Southern California:
One hundred fifty years ago this week, a dispute over a federal fort located in the seceded state of South Carolina erupted into the Civil War. That war would…
Content
L.A. as Subject's latest contribution to the KCET SoCal Focus blog examines how Southern California archives can help us discover the region's seismic history:
This past Monday was the 105th anniversary of a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that left much of San Francisco in ruins. In the age of Twitter and ubiquitous camera…
Content
A new collaborative project between Historypin and LA as Subject was announced at the LAAS April 12 General Membership meeting. Please read on to find out more information about this exciting project.
What is Historypin? Historypin, from the non-profit organization We Are What We Do, “is about bringing people together…
