D.J. Waldie is a historian of Los Angeles, a memoirist, and a translator. He is the author of Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir (1995),...
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Celebrate Pi Day With These Mathematical Reads
It’s not the loneliest number, but it might be the most famous. Pi (or π) is commonly defined as the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.
Strong Female Protagonist: Women in Comics
The comic book world has long been the domain of men. Both in readers and writers. That is slowly changing, and it’s good news!
World’s Strongest Teenager: Interview With the Director of "Supergirl"
At first glance, Naomi Kutin looks like a typical American teenager—until you see her squat a barbell over twice her body weight.
The Eye and the Image: Women Photographers of Los Angeles
Photo Friends, Friday, March 2, 2018
As March is Women’s History Month, it is only appropriate to celebrate some of the women who helped document Los Angeles – big events and small moments – for all to see.
African American Mystery Writers and Their African American Detectives
They work in Watts, Chicago, Oakland, and Harlem, go on vacation in Provincetown, MA, and return home to Otis, South Carolina (pop. 5,000). They include an Ivy League professor, an ex-CIA agent, a volatile ex-cop, a journalist, a domestic worker, an attorney, a Ph.D.
The Liberator: Librarians Work to Preserve Early 20th-Century L.A. African American Newspaper
The Liberator is an early 20th-century Los Angeles African American newspaper, whose owner and editor, Jefferson Lewis Edmonds, was formerly enslaved and spent twenty years in bondage before Emancipation.
The Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company
In 1920s Los Angeles, insurance companies considered black Americans to be either uninsurable or extremely high risk. As a result, black people were routinely denied coverage or charged exorbitant premiums.
A City Engaged: Los Angeles in the Civil Rights Era
Los Angeles has always been a city of rich cultural diversity, often serving as a beacon of prosperity for migrants and immigrants around the globe.
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue Part III: Cheltenham Comes to Central Library
After nearly a century, the Los Angeles Central Library still reflects architect Bertram G. Goodhue's vision that buildings should be “literate,” using symbolic expressions to make them distinctive and eternal.
A Tribute to Maria Callas: Scenes From Verdi's "La Traviata" & Bellini's "Norma"
Callas was not only an esteemed opera diva, she was one of the 20th century's most prominent celebrities, socialites, and an international icon of style and fashion.