In the late 19th century, a series of federal government policies were adopted with the intent of displacing Native communities from their land and culture. One such policy in the history of forced…
Photographer Harry Quillen loved the circus, and during the 1940s, he enthusiastically captured the light-hearted spirit of the traveling show with his large format camera. After his death in 1972…
Images, Misinformation, and Sherlock Holmes: misinformation is designed to mislead, but with a couple of tools, you too can have the confidence of a fictional detective. Arthur Conan Doyle Portrait…
For a look at Los Angeles in the 80s and 90s, the Carol Westwood collection is an indispensable resource. Christina Rice, Senior Librarian of the Photo Collection, pulls a few highlights in this video…
"I found this... what will you find?"Cataloging is a very interesting and detail-oriented task. I have been doing it for almost two years now and I still feel like a newbie. There can be so much going…
In this video, archivist Wendy Horowitz of the library’s Photo Collection discusses the Jay More Collection. More was known for documenting historic Los Angeles buildings before they were demolished…
112 years ago a remarkable event took place on Dominguez Hill in what is now the City of Carson, Los Angeles County. A scant six years after the Wright Brothers’ historic flight at Kitty Hawk, North…
Thirty years ago the Los Angeles Public Library embarked on a ground-breaking, collection-building project—reaching out to the diverse communities of the region for family photographs that would…
Rolland J. Curtis needs your help—well, ok. Maybe photographer Rolland J. Curtis does not need your help, but the library certainly does! Let me set the scene for you: Have you ever looked at a…
Happy birthday robots! The word "robot" is now 100 years old, as first introduced in Karel Čapek’s dystopian play R.U.R. (Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti / Rossum's Universal Robots) which debuted in…
Stand aside muffler men! Fresh milk from a Guernsey cow, high octane fuel fit for an Indy 500 winner, and steak dinners from a stockade-themed eatery are just a few of the products that early…
The ill-omened day is at hand! Or is it? In Spanish and Greek culture, Tuesday the 13th is the ill-omened day, and in Italy, it’s Friday the 17th. Well, at least we can agree that the number 13 is ill…
History is more than government documents, statistical reports, and newspaper headlines. History isn’t just the chyrons running across the bottom of your television screen. It is the stories of…
