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International L.A.
Los Angeles has been a multi-cultural, polyglot city from the earliest times. In 1781, the pobladores, a small group of racially diverse farmers from Sonora, Mexico, arrived near the banks of the Porciuncula River at a place that would later become Los Angeles.
The Language of Heraldry
I recently completed an online heraldry class conducted by the University of Strathclyde, and I learned a great deal that will be helpful to me as a genealogy librarian.
Mystery of the Hope Street Tunnel
Did you know that when Central Library opened in 1926, the entrance at 530 South Hope Street was both the "front door" and mailing address? Patrons entered the gates at Hope Street and walked up a long sloping ramp to a circulation desk at the center of the lower level.
Historical L.A. Health Fads
For decades, Los Angeles (and the rest of Southern California) loved to market itself as a place where you could improve your health in the optimal climate of the region. (Pay no attention to the smog.) But much of the health information, good and bad, from the pre-smog era was hard to come by.
Remembering Joseph Hansen: Father of the Gay Mystery Novel
“The point of fiction is to give the reader for a few hours the chance to be somebody else, to broaden and deepen his understanding of himself and the strangers among whom he has to pass his days. The best novels do this now as they have always done it. It is a noble thing.”
Happy 90th Birthday, Goodhue Building!
In July of 1926, Angelenos eagerly awaited the opening of the Los Angeles Central Library's new building, the first permanent home for the fifty-year-old library.
Gay Downtown Los Angeles
Previously, in writing about Pershing Square I neglected to describe the essential role the place had in the Gay history of Los Angeles. This post is an attempt to redress that lack of research and to recognize LGBT month at Los Angeles Public Library.
Celebrating the Career of Greg Louganis Through the Lens of the Herald Examiner
The 1984 Olympic Summer Games were a considerable success for the United States as both a host and competitor.
Revisiting East Adams
If you drive through the neighborhood around the intersection of Adams and San Pedro Street today, you will see a strip mall and on the opposite corner a clothing store. Everywhere you look, there are businesses with signs in Spanish, reflecting the predominantly Latino population.
April 29 Marks 30th Anniversary of 1986 Fire
This year, 2016, marks the 30th anniversary of the most catastrophic fire of a library building in the U.S. It occurred at our Central Library.