Category Archives: history

Archives Live! The 3rd Annual L.A. Archives Bazaar

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It used to be called the Westside – my grandmother at Echo Park Lake, 1957.

This Saturday the 3rd annual LA as Subject Archives Bazaar will be taking place at the USC Davidson-Conference Center. I’m sure you can find an old-timer there that will corroborate my statement above, as well as inform you of thousands of other historic facts about this great city of ours. I’ve attended every year and often discover new sources for research and different perspectives on our city’s history.

More on the bazaar:

What Is L.A. as Subject?

Hosted by the USC Libraries, L.A. as Subject is an alliance of research archives, libraries, and collections dedicated to preserving the rich history of the Los Angeles region. L.A. as Subject is working to increase the visibility of local archives and improve access to them for students, researchers, K-12 educators, and everyone else with a stake in Southern California history. L.A. as Subject promotes tools and mentoring to help its members with everything from preserving and cataloging materials in their collections to fundraising and public outreach.

To support this mission, L.A. as Subject organizes an annual Archives Bazaar and bimonthly Archives Forum. These events raise public interest in local history while providing opportunities for educators, community archivists, librarians, and historians to share ideas and help one another preserve the L.A. region’s diverse cultural heritage. The research alliance publishes an online directory of 288 local archives–organized by topic–guiding students, researchers, and the public to resources that can help them explore the complex subject that is Los Angeles.

Building on the USC Libraries’ commitment to preserving Southern California and Los Angeles history, L.A. as Subject is developing a variety of new resources to support L.A.-area historical collections and strengthen the involvement of local communities.

Book signings by Jonathan Gold, Jervey Tervalon, William Estrada, J. Michael Walker, Carina Monica Montoya and Icy Smith.

Film Screenings: Chicano Rock!, Chinatown Remembered, The Eastsiders and The New Los Angeles.

See you there!

Just added: Schedule—->>>
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Boyle Heights

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I saw Ruben “Funkahuatl”Guevara read this at an event at Teocintli. I caught up with him afterward to introduce myself because never in my life have I heard my home be described with such love and respect. I told him him how much admiration I had for his writing and he encouraged me to do it myself. I have yet to get around to it but reading his writing always makes me wanna start writing something. Even if it’s just for me. The following is from a piece he did for the L.A. Times magazine in ’06. it was about the different heights in L.A. I remember when he was explaining this to me that Lincon Heights was left out for some reason.  

                        ~ Funkahuatl doing his thing at Eastside Love ~

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A look back

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With the Dodgers so close in the playoffs, Angelenos are anticipating for their beloved team to bring home another World Championship!

It was 1988 when the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Oakland Athletics four games to one. It was by far an exciting time in Dodger history, but that was well over twenty years ago it’s time for for another well deserved victory!

Photo

I got to thinking what ever happened to the old Dodger Championship Mural that was located next door to The Original Texas BBQ KIng on N Cesar Chavez and Figueroa. I remember always looking and seeing the old faded mural when ever I passed by. Artist Peter Quezada painted the mural in 1988 shortly after the Dodger victory.

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Calling all [whatever is the preferred P.C. term because I’ve received complaints about the original name]!

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I’m in college and I am writing a research paper for a class on America in the 1950s. After giving it much thought, I’ve decided that I want to write it on Mexican women in Los Angeles County in the 1950s. If you know any women who lived or grew up in Los Angeles anytime the 1950s, let me know because I’d like to interview a few for this research paper!

What exactly am I looking for in these interviews? I want to ask about what they did for fun, their jobs (and if they ever felt any barriers in attaining jobs), the role community groups served in education, politics, job attainment, and other details. I am especially interested in anyone who moved around in the 1950s and why they did it.

I know some of you are anonymous, but don’t worry about that. You don’t have to tell me your relationship to the person I interview, I’d just like names and contact information. Contact me over at my site’s contact page.

EDIT Oct. 15, 2008: I forgot to mention this, but it is not relevant if they were born in Mexico, Los Angeles, or some other part of the United States. If they are of Mexican descent and were raised or spent part of the 1950s in Los Angeles, I am interested in interviewing them. Interviews would probably occur face-to-face in late-December or over the phone.

Image taken from UCLA’s Digital Collection.

What’s Wrong with this Picture?

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Artist Harry Gamboa, Jr. said when he was a boy in East Los Angeles, all the streets were filled with beautiful trees, but in the 1960’s they were cut down to accommodate the Los Angeles Police’s helicopter surveillance program.  Remnants of what the trees may have looked like still exist on Cesar E. Chavez boulevard, on a strip between Evergreen and Indiana, which by the way, is flanked by a jogging path and the oldest cemetery in Los Angeles (see the first picture above).  These non-native Ficus Trees, a distant relative to Fig Trees, provide a great source of nutritional support to the wildlife in the area, cool fresh air during the hot summers and somewhat of a sound barrier from the traffic, to us residents.  I have lived here for a few years now, and have noticed the diligent pruning of the trees on my corner, several times a year.   On further investigation, it appears that the City of Los Angeles maintains the Ficus Trees on my corner excessively stubby year long, to give traffic visibility to a privately owned billboard situated between four trees (see the second picture above).  When the whole nation is looking at ways to keep our country “green”, I wonder why the community of Boyle Heights has to relinquish nature to corporate commercialism.

The Heroes of East LA

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In Quantum Physics, there is a Law of Attraction in which similar objects are attracted to each other. Since we humans are also part of the physical world, that theory would also apply to each of us.
I am fortunate to meet many great men and women during my usual week. They work quietly and diligently in the background, always steady, always faithful—adding more than their share towards the whole. It is not then surprising that two such similar beings should succumb to the Laws of Attraction even on the eastside.
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In Quotes: “Eastside as Homeland”

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I was looking for a quote from a Norman Klein book on google when I found this passage instead (in a book about TELACU by John Chavez published way back in that ancient era of 1998) which mentions the vague boundaries of the Eastside:

The Eastside as Homeland

Though the federal government once confined TELACU to a clearly delineated “special impact area,” the Eastside as a whole has vague boundaries. Most observers would agree that it includes at the least Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, and East Los Angeles; … Others would add Highland Park, Commerce, Montebello, and even Monterey Park. … Though not initially within TELACU’s purview, Eagle Rock, Vernon, Maywood, Huntington Park, and Bell also merit consideration as parts of the Eastside. … This political fragmentation is nevertheless obviated by a high degree of demographic and cultural unity, for the Eastside shapes distinctly Mexican-American Los Angeles. TELACU’s founders dedicated the institution to the recovery of this “homeland” in 1968.

Click here for a link to this text

I guess back in 1998, when we still hadn’t received the latest “fluidity” memo the boundaries were also vague, but oh so very far from Echo Park and Silver Lake. And a history lesson from 10 years ago? C’mon Mr. Chavez, new people just moved into the city a few years ago and they want to try their hand at defining their new playground. Who are we to dare such a minor resistance to this “erasure of memory“?

Speaking of resistance, the person that made the “This is Not the East Side” stickers got in touch with us and gave us a small stack (thanks Comrade!) which we plan to share with you, dear readers! Send us a mailing address via our contact page and you’ll get a few of your own.

Dionicio Morales, 1918-2008*

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Dionicio Morales, longtime activist for the citizens of the Eastside and a man who created opportunities for many throughout the years, passed away September 24 at Beverly Hospital in Montebello. He was 89.

Morales founded the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation in 1963 “to provide for the socio-economic betterment of the greater Latino community of California, while preserving the pride, values and heritage of the Mexican American culture. This is accomplished through programs in early childhood education and family services, job training, and senior lifestyle development throughout the multi-cultural communities served by MAOF,” according to the MAOF mission statement.

The Foundation provides different services to the communities it serves throughout Southern California, among them English classes, job training, and support for child care and cultural programs, among them ballet folklorico and mariachi groups.

Morales received a number of accolades in honor of his work for the communities of the Eastside, among them a Gold Line Eastside station named in his honor.

A private funeral reception will be held tomorrow, September 30, at 9:30 a.m. at St. Mariana de Paredes Church, Pico Rivera. Funeral mass begins at ten a.m. A public memorial will be held Friday, October 3rd, details pending. For more details on the public memorial, contact Vanessa Velez at vanessa.velez[at]promericabank.com or check the Dionicio Morales website.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to:

Que en paz descance don Dionicio Morales.

UPDATED 9/30/2008: The public memorial will be held Friday, Oct. 3rd, at nine a.m. at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral, Downtown Los Angeles.

*Updated with information provided by Urbanista.

For more information, read his obituary at the L.A. Times’ website. You can also read more at his personal website and the MAOF website. Image above taken from his website.

Yabba Dabba Doo!

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Sarah Palin is quoted as saying that “…Dinosaurs and Humans walked the Earth at the same time…”

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-palinreligion28-2008sep28,0,1440865.story

It looks to me like the Governor has learned her Earth History from watching a certain TV family from Bedrock.

We can only assume then, that this may be Governor Palin’s vision for our country’s future in Science and Space Exploration…..

Still going on

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I grew up listening to music in Spanish, mostly anything with a mariachi, banda, or conjunto norteño, never even hearing those “oldies” organic to Los Angeles. I’ve had a musical exploration reverse to many people my age or of previous generations. Many I know grew up listening to music in English and started to explore music from México or Latin America later in life (if they ever did), while I started to explore music in English when I was about fourteen. Even now, I mostly listen to  and explore different music from México, but that’s due to me playing in mariachis for the past eight years.

Imagine my surprise yesterday when a post over at Guanabee came up on my RSS feed. I scour the internet for news relating to mariachi, especially this week, when the San José Mariachi and Latin Music Festival is on. [During mariachi festival time, new & interesting things come to light, like Rubén Fuentes, longtime former member and director of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán (64 years and counting), and songwriter extraordinaire, gave an interview (he is very reclusive) and stated that the future of mariachi music was in the United States.] One of the festival’s concerts, last night’s, was headlined by Ersi Arvizu, a name I did not recognize. As I read on, however, it became clear I already knew who she was. Continue reading →

In Quotes: Eastside Stories

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Ralph’s Market, Five Points-Lincoln Heights circa 1920’s

From the Los Angeles Times, September 16, 1919:

STATION RENAMED

Old East Side Police Quarters Now “Lincoln Heights”

The name of the East Side Police Station is to become a matter of ancient history. Henceforth this place is to be known on all official records as the Lincoln Heights Police Station. The Police Commission yesterday complied with the request of improvement associations in Lincoln Heights and officially changed the name.

In 1917 a section of East Los Angeles was renamed “Lincoln Heights.” As endearing as the new name was to become, it was still common for residents to refer to their neighborhood as “The East Side.” To this day, when older Angelenos talk about the Lincoln Heights, they’ll often say “You know, The Eastside.”

A Quiet Celebration

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El Grito

The annual El Grito celebration will take place tonight at City Hall. For those not in the know, here’s a description from a city website:

El Grito, which translates to “The Cry,” celebrates the cry for Mexican Independence from Spain. The annual tradition includes food, fun, and Mexico’s President ringing the bell that was originally used by the Mexicans who shouted the cry for independence that started the revolution in the early 1800s. El Grito has also become a Los Angeles tradition, with our city’s mayor sounding the chimes of freedom by ringing a bell at a local ceremony.

Of course, the real El Grito happens at the Zocalo in Mexico D.F, where pride of La Patria is taken seriously. Forget the words of the excruciatingly long national anthem and in Mexico you can be fined. Jenni Rivera, who infamously flubbed the lines at the Los Angeles Grito celebrations a few years ago was lucky to have an audience of fans who didn’t care.

Monday, September 15, 2008
El Grito festivities tonight at 7:00 p.m.
Los Angeles City Hall (200 N. Spring Street in Downtown Los Angeles)

Where are the flags?

Usually every year around El 16 de Septiembre, Mexican flags small and large can be seen waving from car windows, houses, poles and various other places around Los Angeles, except this year they aren’t. In fact, every year I notice less and less flags. Even after 9/11 in 2001 when everyone had the small American flags on their cars, I saw folks with Mexican and American flags. It seems though all the propaganda by anti-immigration groups and right-wingers has made Mexicans have second thoughts about displaying La Bandera Mexicana. Last year in Lincoln Heights around this time, I counted two flags on cars, this year not even one. In years previous, I couldn’t count the amount of Mexican flags I saw around town. How about the rest of you? Notice any difference this year?