I’m familiar enough with the history of this country to be aware of and repulsed by the prevalent use of racially restrictive covenants that prohibited property ownership and occupation — a completely legal practice that stood in place until it was overturned by the US Supreme Court in 1948. A restrictive covenant is basically a …
I blew it. Missed the centennial anniversary of the oldest familial object in my possession. For several years, bestowed upon me by my mother who’s kept it I don’t know for how long, I’ve had a remnant of my grandmother’s father’s life: a Gordon pipe clamshell case seen below (click it for the bigger picture): …
A Facebook friend of mine, Eric Beteille, updated his status with an amazing search of the 1940 Census Archives to find who lived in his house then. Not previously knowing such a treasure trove of info was available online I, of course, did the same thing, and this is what I discovered (actual page cropped, …
It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of historic vintage maps of Los Angeles. I love pouring over high-resolution versions of the documents and one I’ve spent some time with is a fantastically detailed bird’s-eye view of the city from back in 1909 that I found here on the incredible Big Map Blog about a …
On May 1 1969, when I was 4, Fred Rogers appeared before a US Senate subcommittee to fight for the half of the $20,000,000 in funding that President Richard Nixon wanted cut from PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that year. Watch him below as he charms the pants off of the subcommittee’s chairman …
It’s not like me to go more than a couple days between posting anything, and my excuse is that it pretty much took me the weekend to recuperate from the all-nighter I pulled Friday shadowing the 340-ton rock between South Los Angeles and its destination at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on the …
Above is a shot taken yesterday from Broadway of the landmark Higgins Building on the southwest corner of Second and Main, looking east at its backside bathed beautifully Hopper-esque in the afternoon light. Susan and I had a wonderful excursion that started with lunch at Cole’s, and then a stroll up to this building so …