Community Organization

The Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research primarily documents and preserves the history of twentieth-century radicalism and social change through progressive movements in the greater Los Angeles area. The materials held by the library relate to the labor, peace, social justice, civil rights, women’s, gay and lesbian, and various other grassroots movements. While the library’s print holdings—numbering approximately thirty thousand books and three thousand periodical titles—range well beyond the subject of Los Angeles to socialism, Marxism, and the Cold War, its special collections focus on Los Angeles. These collections include twenty-five thousand pamphlets, fifteen hundred posters, two thousand photographs, one hundred documentary films, one hundred videos, thirty-five hundred audio tapes, organizational files for Los Angeles and national grassroots groups, and extensive subject files containing newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and reports. Among the library’s major archival collections are the papers of civil liberties defender Leo Gallagher, California Eagle editor and publisher Charlotta Bass, and Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research founders Emil and Tassia Freed, as well as papers from the Los Angeles chapter of the Civil Rights Congress, the Los Angeles Committee for the Protection of the Foreign Born, the Los Angeles International Ladies Garment Workers Union, and the Los Angeles Congress of Industrial Organizations. The archival collections on the Watts Rebellion of 1965, the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panthers, and Chicano activism are heavily used, as are the documentary films of the 1930s from the Film and Photo League and those of the 1960s from the Newsreel (SDS) collective. The library is committed to making its collections on the multicultural history of Los Angeles widely available and to working with other institutions and organizations to ensure that a broadly based historical record of the city’s people is preserved for future generations.

The UCLA Geography Air Photo Archives houses two of the most extensive collections of historic oblique aerial photography available to the pubic anywhere. Oblique aerials are taken at an angle and are easily understood. The Fairchild National Collection contains most cities in the United States and many towns circa 1922 through 1965. The Spence Collection contains coverage of the Western Region of the U.S. but is concentrated on Southern California circa 1920 through 1971.Together they comprise an unsurpassed visual record of mid-twentieth century American urban development. We have over 80,000 prints and 113,000 negatives. We also have Thomas Brothers map guides dating from the 1940s to the present. Please call for appointment @ (310) 206-8188.

1000 image , Color, HD digital archive by 50 artists working and living in Southern CA. Under the direction of Helen K. Garber and in collaboration with MINARC/Gallery Skaart, each artist documented their residential city over the course of the year 2009 and each story was edited to 20 images by Nancy-Louise Jones and presented as part of the Group SC 2009 Installation. 4 rear projection screens were set up at 90 degree angles surrounding the center projection hub consisting of a 1955 trailer. The was found abandoned in the forest in Idyllwild, reclaimed and refurbished as a mixed media mobile projection hub. Duce, a renowned LA based graffiti writer, created a 4 side mural depicting the economic climate of the time, now nicknamed, the Great Recession. Miss Lucy the trailer, now resides in the permanent collection of the San Diego Automotive Museum, Balboa Park. The inaugural installation was at Opening Night, Month of Photography, 2010, Bergamont Station, Santa Monica, CA, Autumn Lights Festival, Pershing Square, 2010 and the Medium Festival of Photography, San Diego, 2013. The installation was designed to break down and move easily. The original concept was to exhibit the installation at all locations covered and then drive the installation across the country to the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY. Photographers used to go on a journey and bring back the documentation to home, here we reversed the concept by bringing the documentation of the photographers' homes on a journey. We also wanted to invite the artists to join in the journey, document along the way, create a sequel exhibition. Miss Lucy travelled no further than San Diego as monies were not to be found for cultural pursuits during the Great Recession, the project was set aside, and the trailer/screens donated to the San Diego Automotive Museum. The collection still owns the 4 projectors and DVD players that are needed to present the installation. Artists and cities covered: NORTH William Cates: Santa Ynez Valley Attasalina Dews: Ojai Kyoshi Becker Mckizzie: Antelope and Santa Clarita Valleys Colleen Caamaño/Joe Keppler: Shadow Hills Judith Ann Warren: Eagle Rock/Glendale Titano Cruz: Balboa Park Humming Birds, Encino Donald Loze: Santa Monica Mountains Lillian Elaine Wilson: Commuting: Burbank – Brentwood Rae Threat: North Hollywood Rose-Lynn Fisher: Abandoned Couches, Hollywood First Shots Fired: Hollywood Meg Madison: Hancock Park/Westlake WEST Jonas Jungblut: Isla Vista Jane Gottlieb: Santa Barbara Vinit Satyavrata: Ventura Joe McDougall: Malibu Cindy Bendat: Santa Monica Pier Helen K. Garber: Ocean Park, Santa Monica Nancy Louise Jones: Venice Chris Quilisch: Venice Alleyways Sara Jane Boyers: Santa Monica Airport Aline Smithson: West Los Angeles, Westwood, Cheviot Hills Nick Martinez: West Hollywood EAST Andrew Ty Lee: Koreatown Kiet Thai: Chinatown First Shots Fired: Downtown Los Angeles Stuart Rapeport: North Figueroa St, Highland Park Leslie Rosenthal: Rose Parade, Pasadena Don Davidson: Redlands Elizabeth Walker: Apple Valley/Victorville Rex Bruce: Twentynine Palms Nancy Baron: Palm Springs Jonde Northcutt & Helen K. Garber: Idyllwild SOUTH Dingo: Tattoo Parlors Nancy Louise Jones, Helen K. Garber: Trailers Shelley A. Gazin: Marina del Rey Tom Paiva: Culver City/Playa del Rey Ronnie Clark: Vermont Knolls, South Central Tom M. Johnson: Lakewood Nick Capaci: Santa Ana Jonde Northcutt: Santa Ana Gina Genis: Laguna Woods Retirement Community Lisa Folino: Newport Steven Churchill: San Diego At Night Thomas Antel: Anza Borrego TRAILER PAINTER Duce

The collection at the museum is an eclectic assortment of items from the 1800's through the 1900's. There are tools for the home and farm, furniture, household accessories, office equipment, documents, photographs, and all types of clothing. Many items have been contributed by local residents over the years and have a direct connection to the "Upper San Gabriel Valley" and its residents.

The Aerospace Legacy Foundation is a volunteer 501c3 organization dedicated to preserving the history of the Aerospace Industry of southern California. We maintain archives of documents, graphics, photographs, and artifacts from the industry and especially the original Downey Industrial site. Collections include; Emsco, Vultee, North American Aviation, Rockwell, Boeing, NASA, etc. A number of personal collections have been donated by individuals who worked at the Downey site.

The Orange County Historical Society (OCHS) is a non-profit group which collects, preserves and shares the history of Orange County, California for the benefit of its members and the general public.

Los Angeles was the western terminal of the trail, which served commerce and immigration between Santa Fe, NM, and Los Angeles. Much archival data about the OST resides at the Huntington Library, the Autry National Museum and other So Cal institutions.

The Sierra Madre Historical Archives collects, preserves, and provides access to a variety of materials that tell the Sierra Madre story: photographs, slides, postcards, scrapbooks, city directories, maps, letters, periodicals, posters, works of art, sound recordings, moving images, and ephemera. The archives collection includes the Sierra Madre Oral History Project in which residents describe Sierra Madre social life and customs. The collection's subject area strengths include San Gabriel Mountain resorts accessible via local trails and Sierra Madre art and artists. The local history collection is built on a partnership. It is jointly owned and maintained by the Sierra Madre Historical Preservation Society and the Sierra Madre Public Library.

Little Tokyo Historical Society commemorates the Japanese American history and heritage related to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles through archival collections, photos, videos, gallery exhibits, lectures, and workshops. "Los Angeles's Little Tokyo (Arcadia Publishing, November 2011). "Little Tokyo: The 1930's Golden Years", 2013 calendar now on sale at www.littletokyohs.org.