Tal M. Klein was born in Israel, grew up in New York, and currently lives in Detroit with his wife and two daughters. When his daughter Iris was five years old, she wrote a book called I’m a Bunch of…
On June 20, 1947, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, the East Coast mobster who had relocated to and prospered in Los Angeles and was now intent on building up Las Vegas, sat in his girlfriend’s living room in…
Theodora Goss is a World Fantasy Award–winning author of short stories, poetry and essays. She has been a finalist for the Nebula, Locus, Crawford, Seiun, and Mythopoeic Awards, as well as on the…
The Fourth of July is a time when Americans remember their history, look toward the future, and celebrate the present. As the photo archives of the Los Angeles Public Library show, Southern California…
LGBT Pride Month gives us an opportunity to discover a fascinating character from the early days of French opera. The life of Julie d'Aubigny (1670-1707) became a subject of interest at a time when…
I am a refugee, an immigrant, an American. I came to the United States as a young girl and grew up in Los Angeles. My maternal grandparents were born in Cuba and were descendants of immigrants from…
“The people from Texas took Juneteenth Day to Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, and other places they went.”—Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other SunsWhen the emancipation proclamation was signed by…
I have been a fan of classic movies ever since I began checking out VHS tapes from my local library (Santa Maria Public Library) in my tween years at the dawn of the 1990’s. Cable was a luxury my…
Prior to the late 1970s, LGBTQIA coverage in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner (previously the Herald Express) was extremely limited. Any photos in our image archive from the newspaper focus exclusively…
The Herald Examiner and Valley Times were local papers, covering local news, but when the locale is Los Angeles, it's likely the town's topics will involve celebrities. Prompted by publicists and…
As we observe Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at Los Angeles Public Library, this is a good occasion to look at some of the interesting examples of Japanese cinema available to our patrons…
In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, why not read a mystery? Try these three great mystery writers of Asian Angeleño heritage who plot intriguing yarns and use the settings of Los…
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, a month in which we celebrate the culture, traditions, accomplishments, and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. It is…
To celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at the Los Angeles Public Library, we have occasion to show off one of the greatest pictorial maps ever created: The Pageant of the Pacific by the…
For 50 years, nationally recognized architect Norman Pfeiffer has applied creativity, innovation, and technical proficiency to an impressive portfolio of outstanding renovations and additions to…
Can't get enough of Star Wars? Immerse yourself in a galaxy far, far away with these Star Wars fiction series. The series below have been listed in approximate chronological order according to the…
April is National Poetry Month, and it's also the month that Major League Baseball kicks off a brand-new season. What better way to celebrate than by combining the two? So set your beret at a rakish…
Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953) is widely recognized both as the most important American woman composer of the Twentieth Century, and as a major figure in the study and preservation of American folk…
A highlight of our docent tours is Ann Preston's Illuminations, a series of lanterns that descend the southern escalator landings of the Tom Bradley Wing. Each lamp is 13.5' tall, and contains lights…
For many, the predominant image of the post-War woman is the suburban mother and consummate homemaker as immortalized in television characters of the period such as Donna Stone (The Donna Reed Show)…
March 8 marks International Women’s Day, a global celebration that has taken place yearly since the early 1900s. IWD celebrates women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements and…
“You do what you think is right and let the law catch up”—Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American appointed to the Supreme Court in 1967. On his way to serving on the high…
2017 marks the hundredth anniversary of the death, at the age of 49, of Scott Joplin, one of America's first great composers, and the composer of arguably the first important American opera…
What are "air rights," and why are they important to Los Angeles's iconic Central Library building? The short answer is that without the funds the City received for the sale of the development rights…
