Waves from Japan

The Matsui Family, Los Angeles 1938

The gargantuan earthquake that unleashed on March 11 under the Pacific Ocean just off the coast of northern Japan was so powerful that it shifted the axis of the earth and caused the planet to spin faster; it moved the entire island nation eight feet to the east. What this event did to the nation of . . . → Read More: Waves from Japan

VIDEO: Stories From Los Angeles

Stories from L.A_Still

Today we have a short featurette called “Stories From Los Angeles” featuring parts from two of our favorite interviews.

In the first part, noted author/historian George Sanchez (Becoming Mexican American) talks about one of L.A.’s most unique features and why it makes for such complex social interactions. Then we have long time Los Angeles resident Jack . . . → Read More: VIDEO: Stories From Los Angeles

Into LA’s Past: Interview with Connie Rothstein

13930037

It is easy to become another hyperbole-wielding booster for Southern California on those exquisite days in mid-winter when the temperature turns summer-like and balmy, the sky is crystalline, the views go on forever, and flower blossoms perfume the air. January 15th was such a day: It was paradise in a former citrus-growing corner of the San . . . → Read More: Into LA’s Past: Interview with Connie Rothstein

The Great Migration to Los Angeles

Sharecroppers in Segregationist South

On this Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday, it is important to remember that Los Angeles played a significant role in the saga of the African American struggle for civil rights. Los Angeles became a haven for African American families looking for refuge from the ugliness and terror aimed at them in the post-Civil War South. . . . → Read More: The Great Migration to Los Angeles

VIDEO: Interview with Rosa Maria Lemus Carlos

rosa_brickyard

Rosa Lemus Carlos grew up at Simons Brick Company Yard No. 3 in Montebello, California, her father a decades-long employee there. Simons Brick Company, established in the Los Angeles area before the turn of the last century, grew to become the biggest brick producer in the world, and to make the millions of bricks that were . . . → Read More: VIDEO: Interview with Rosa Maria Lemus Carlos