@LAhistory

“In 1942, the discovery of the body of José Díaz in the Sleepy Lagoon of southeastern Los Angeles prompted the Times to level a rhetorical campaign against zoot suiters, inflaming public sentiment against young men of color in Los Angeles,” UCLA historian Eric Avila. #ZootSuitRiots #LAhistory

Aug 2, 1942: José G. Díaz was found murdered in Sleepy Lagoon. The police rounded up about 600 "zoot suiters" in an attempt to address this "delinquency problem." In Oct, 22 young men were tried for murder (largest mass trial in CA history).

Díaz is remembered in Maywood's Riverfront Park mural:

Yes! Sadly, the Carole & Barry Kaye Museum of Miniatures on #WilshireBlvd is gone, but there is a book from 1994 that shows some of its miniature displays, like this mini #HollywoodBowl (found this copy at LAPL).

What’s taking so long? Mulholland Fountain repairs face years of delays Los Feliz’s historic Mulholland Fountain may finally reopen in 2028—eight years after flood damage shut it down. Here's why it's taken so long.

"After being shut down almost four years ago, the Mulholland Fountain at Los Feliz Boulevard and Riverside Drive now has a tentative reopening date of 2028." @theeastsiderla.bsky.social:  www.theeastsiderla.com/neighborhood...

Excerpt from the biography: "The old Chief's closest friends and associates later acknowledged his affinity for the place when they chose it as the appropriate site for the William Mulholland Memorial Fountain, erected in his honor by the City of Los Angeles in 1940 and restored and rededicated in 1996." "In that shack by the river, he had, for the first time in his life, a place of his own. There, after a day of clearing brush and debris, removing dead animals from the stream, and keeping the flow in proper channels, he began the studies that ultimately led to his fame as a hydraulic engineer. Although the nearby Los Angeles River was no mighty stream such as one associates with great cities, it was, as Mulholland remembered affectionately, 'a beautiful limpid little stream with willows on its banks.' Originating in the western foothills of the San Fernando Valley thirty miles from the plaza and fed by the waters of the Tujunga Wash..."

The sepia-colored cover of Catherine Mulholland's book "William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles" shows an elderly William Mulholland standing in front of a number of men as he stares into the camera.

The site of the William Mulholland Memorial Fountain was chosen as it was near the shack where he lived as the Los Angeles Water Company's deputy zanjero.

From the #WilliamMulholland biography written by his granddaughter, Catherine Mulholland -> www.google.com/books/editio...

Postcard of the Mulholland Fountain, courtesy of the California State Library. https://csl.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma990015349800205115&context=L&vid=01CSL_INST:CSL

Newspaper photo of Patricia Mulholland standing near a portrait of her grandfather William Mulholland, from the Los Angeles Times (August 2, 1940)

Aug 1, 1940: Several thousand attended the dedication of the Mulholland Fountain at #LosFeliz Blvd & Riverside Dr and watched a young Patricia Mulholland press the button to start the fountain named in honor of her grandfather #WilliamMulholland. Postcard courtesy of @castatelibrary.bsky.social.

LA County wants Los Angeles General Hospital listed as a nationally recognized historic site The site is in early stages of redevelopment to include affordable housing, and is estimated to cost $1 billion.

The nat'l historic designation of Los Angeles General Hospital "would mean that as work continues, developers will have to keep the bldg’s #ArtDeco character, preserving the iconic cement sculptures...or the ceiling murals that depict the Greek god of medicine," @laist.com. laist.com/news/la-hist...

Teens spotlight stories of LA Chinatown seniors Chinatown teens, with support from librarian Lynn Nguyen and Conectopod, documented seniors’ stories through film, podcasts, and public forums.

The teen oral history project that’s saving #ChinatownLA stories, via @lapublicpress.bsky.social -> lapublicpress.org/2025/07/teen...

"From Nov 2023 to June 2024, teens interviewed elders in their native dialects, engaged with community leaders & created public archives of voices & visuals." #AAPI

Historic Hotel Glendale Reaches Century Mark A few years after opening its doors in July 1925, the six-story Hotel Glendale was touted as a "new ultra-modern hostelry," boasting luxurious, convenient, commuter-friendly and affordable accommodati...

This month, the #Glendale Historical Society celebrated the 100th anniversary of the historic Hotel Glendale by leading tours of the 1925 #BeauxArts building (located here -> maps.app.goo.gl/saCeRQ7vgLR8...). outlooknewspapers.com/glendalenews...

This rundown Hollywood motel gets a shiny new status: L.A. historic monument “It may have a 1.7-star TripAdvisor rating, but we don’t judge our landmarks by thread count,” one councilman said.

"This rundown Hollywood motel [designed by Joyce Miller] gets a shiny new status: LA #historic monument." www.latimes.com/travel/story...

LA Conservancy: “Joyce Miller is only the *third* woman to be listed as the architect of record for an HCM." www.instagram.com/p/DMwJZWqv_rT/ #womenshistory

The exhibit "Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community" opens tonight at Pasadena's ArtCenter College of Design. More info -> www.artcenter.edu/connect/even...

Learning California History Through Landmarks California Preservation Foundation

Thur @ 12pm: The California Preservation Foundation is hosting a virtual talk with Etan Rosenbloom titled “Learning #CaliforniaHistory Through Landmarks.” californiapreservation.org/events/ca-hi...

"Etan is on a mission to visit all 600+ #LACounty sites on the National Register of Historic Places."

You can hear @foohowser.bsky.social share more Los Angeles history, along with Hood Historian (Qione Holmes), Merch Motel (Barkev Msrlyan) and Charles Phoenix on August 17 (Sunday) at the @lapubliclibrary.bsky.social -> lapl.org/whats-on/eve...

Oliver Wang "documents how the availability of cars and trucks helped propel Japanese immigrants into professions such as farming and gardening to great success (at a time when the US wouldn’t let Japanese people own land)," @cmonstah.bsky.social. @kcrw.com: email.kcrw.com/cruising-j-t... #AAPI

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Sunday: El Pachuco Zoot Suits is screening the film "Zoot Suit" at 2pm (tho the community event starts earlier). www.instagram.com/p/DMqYh6sSS9Z/

This weekend marks the 83rd anniversary of the Sleepy Lagoon murder of José Díaz (Aug 2, 1942). @amexperiencepbs.bsky.social: www.pbs.org/wgbh/america...

Cole’s French Dip to Remain Open Until Mid-September 2025 Plus, the impact of ICE raids on LA restaurants, a dazzling pizza collaboration, and more

Cole's update: "Owner Cedd Moses shared with @eater.bsky.social that the outpouring of support in the last month will enable the 117-year-old restaurant to remain open for another 45 days," Mona Holmes. la.eater.com/restaurant-n... [h/t @esotouric.bsky.social]

The long line of people waiting outside Cole’s. Photo taken from across the street.

The Cole’s neon sign (as seen in the day time) that reads “Cole’s Originators French Dipped Sandwiches Since 1908. Cocktails.”

A stained glass window that reads “Cole’s Game Room.”

Paying my last respects to this beloved Los Angeles institution.

This was the line for Cole’s at 2pm today.

"Her name is ubiquitous in public spaces around Los Angeles: the Wallis Annenberg Bldg at the CA Science Center in #ExpositionPark, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in #BeverlyHills, the soon-to-debut Wallis #Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in #AgouraHills."

RIP Wallis Annenberg!

Aug 2 (Saturday): There are still a few tickets left for the annual open house at Bullocks Wilshire (now the Southwestern Law School). www.eventbrite.com/e/bullocks-w... #ArtDeco #WilshireBlvd

Sat @ 1pm: The Historical Society of Long Beach is hosting a “History Hangout” that will focus on lost landmarks of #LongBeachCA. Photo of Long Beach's Wise Building via HSLB's Instagram: www.instagram.com/p/DMglRuhBV_...

Retracing the Steps of Cheech and Chong’s 'Next Movie' in L.A., 45 Years Later ~ L.A. TACO The location manager from the classic stoner comedy walks us through the film's iconic locations, from the vanished Texaco on Sunset to an infamous massage parlor.

"When #CheechandChong were making what became their uproarious feature film debut, 'Up in Smoke' (1978), the filmmakers didn’t make a point to call attention to the movie’s overall setting: Los Angeles," Jared Cowan. @lataco.bsky.social: lataco.com/cheech-and-c... #filmlocations

ICE Is Staging on Terminal Island, Where Japanese Americans Were Once Abducted ~ L.A. TACO Protesters are gathering from dawn until dusk at the Japanese Fishing Village Memorial today, a San Pedro monument built to honor the local community of Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed by...

Reports of ICE presence on Terminal Island is an act that chillingly echoes the shameful forced removal of Japanese Americans from that very place eighty-three years ago. This dangerous pattern signals a willful failure to heed the lessons of wartime incarceration. lataco.com/ice-is-stagi...

Photo illustration of the Golden State Mutual Home Office designed by Paul R. Williams, courtesy of UCLA Library: https://calisphere.org/item/71061da3-522f-4a64-b26b-58d59438ba33/?order=0

"In 1948, [Golden State Mutual] commissioned African American architect Paul R. Williams to design the building that stands to this day as an historic landmark on the corner of Western & Adams Blvds,” California African American Museum. caamuseum.org/exhibitions/...

@uclalibrary.bsky.social image:

Golden State Mutual Company's first home office at 1435 South Central Avenue in Los Angeles, via UCLA Library.

Golden State Mutual Company founders George A. Beavers, Jr., William Nickerson, Jr., and Norman O. Houston (1945) via UCLA Library.

July 23, 1925: George A. Beavers Jr., William Nickerson Jr., & Norman O. Houston established the Golden State Mutual Co. 100 years ago today. This LA insurance company became one of the largest Black-owned companies in the US.

GSM photos via @uclalibrary.bsky.social: calisphere.org/item/0cb6bb4...

All That You Touch, You Change: The Life and Legacy of Octavia E. Butler Helena Ramsaroop Octavia E. Butler passed away nearly twenty years ago, but her legacy lives on in every reader she touched with her words. She is often regarded as one of the most important writer…

“This book is unique among the books written about #OctaviaEButler because of @lynellgeorge.bsky.social's envisioning of Butler’s daily life. It’s an opportunity to get to know Butler and an invitation to pay attention to the world as she did.” ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/07/08/a... #BookSky

Black & white portrait of Raymond Thornton Chandler (1950s) courtesy of the UK's National Portrait Gallery, https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw150492/Raymond-Thornton-Chandler?LinkID=mp95082&role=sit&rNo=0

Author Raymond Chandler "stopped the Los Angeles kaleidoscope; he arrested the spinning, so confusing to most writers who have tried to see the city clearly; and then he fixed in prose of poetic intensity the brilliant bits and pieces," Lawrence Clark Powell.

#RaymondChandler was born #onthisday.

The flowers over #OzzyOsbourne’s handprints at Hollywood's Guitar Center (via the music store's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/GuitarCenter...) #PrinceofDarkness #SunsetBlvd

RIP Ozzy Osbourne!! www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

In 1992, #OzzyOsbourne left his handprints at the Rockwalk located at the front entrance of Hollywood’s Guitar Center on Sunset Blvd. Photo (1992): www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-... #LosAngeles

Jul 31 @ 8pm: “Bordering on Insanity: A Screening of Cheech Marin’s 'Born in #EastLA'” at the Velaslavasay Panorama to benefit the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights & the Los Angeles Street Vendor Solidarity Fund. Info -> panoramaonview.org/events/borde... #CheechMarin

Artistry in Architecture: A Millard Sheets Bus Tour - LA Conservancy Join us for an exciting bus tour featuring the unforgettable, iconic work of Millard Sheets in Los Angeles.

Sun @ 10am: Artistry in Architecture: A Millard Sheets Bus Tour
www.laconservancy.org/tours-events...

The LA Conservancy is hosting a bus tour of #MillardSheets locations led by historian @adamarenson.bsky.social, author of "Millard Sheets and #Midcentury Commercial Architecture in California."