Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Architecture, Preservation and Noir

Posted on July 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Architecture, murder and hardboiled writing. Do you suppose McCoy had the 1947 Project in mind when he knocked off this forgotten little tale? (Note the first-person … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947 ‘I Didn’t Think I Had a Friend in the World,’ Dora Jones Testifies in Slavery Case

Posted on July 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

July 10, 1947: The Sentinel devotes a significant part of its front page to the San Diego slavery trial with a story by Clinton M. Arnold. The Sentinel said it was the only black weekly in the U.S. devoting so … Continue reading →

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Historic L.A. in ‘Illegal’ | Part 4

Posted on July 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

I suppose you prop guys at Warner Bros. think this is very funny.

Posted in 1955, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The @NYTIMES Can’t Get L.A. Right

Posted on July 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

“California Today,” by Tim Arango and Charles McDermid, presents a strange bit of nonsense: The Mirror (the sister paper of the Los Angeles Times published in the afternoon) folded “partly because the old streetcars went away as the city embraced … Continue reading →

Posted in 1962, 2018, Another Good Story Ruined, Architecture, New York | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

July 12, 1907: Man at Gas Co. Scalded by Fall Into Vat of Boiling Water

Posted on July 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 12, 1907 Los Angeles Gas Co. employees found a man scalded over the lower half of his body wandering the yards at Center and Aliso after he fell into a vat … Continue reading →

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Historic L.A. in ‘Illegal’ | Part 3

Posted on July 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

Here’s another shot of the California State Building lobby and the bank of elevators as Hugh Marlowe exits.

Posted in 1955, Architecture, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: Postal Worker Finds Body of Rosenda Mondragon

Posted on July 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

July 10, 1947: The Sentinel publishes a picture of Newton Joshua, who discovered the body of Rosenda Mondragon. I don’t recall ever seeing his name in coverage of the killing.

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July 11, 1907: Arts Education Will Be Seen as Essential — Someday

Posted on July 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 11, 1907 Los Angeles Among the presentations at the current educators convention is a seminar on teaching the arts. If you have ever attended a colloquium on arts education or listened … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Education, LAPD, Streetcars | 1 Comment

Black L.A.: Lynchings Increase for 1946

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1947: The Sentinel reports on the rise in lynchings in 1946 in data compiled by the Tuskegee Institute. The institute said six African Americans were lynched in 1946, contrasted with one in 1945. “The offenses charged were stealing … Continue reading →

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1947: Bookstore Owners Fined for Selling Obscene ‘Memoirs of Hecate County’

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. In the days when I lived in Hecate County, I had an uncomfortable neighbor, a man named Asa M. Stryker. He had at one time, he … Continue reading →

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June 14, 1947: U.S. Customs Bars Welcoming Committee From Greeting Mexican Official

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Finger-pointing gestures and assurances that the State Department and other higher echelons will hear protests were features of an “international incident” yesterday when Dr. Francisco Villagran, … Continue reading →

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July 9, 1947: Rosenda Mondragon Strangled With Stocking

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Here’s a perfect illustration of the difference between The Times and the Examiner, which has a completely different version of Antonio Mondragon’s actions on the night … Continue reading →

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Historic L.A. in ‘Illegal’ | Part 2

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Here’s the footprint of the demolished California State Building, as seen from space in 2011 via Google Earth. Our crime buddy Nathan Marsak also took a tour of the remains, posted on SkyscraperPage.com. Here’s a shot of the bank of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1955, Architecture, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Black L.A. 1947: No Black Writers Invited to Preview of ‘Black Narcissus’

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

July 10, 1947: Earl Griffin, the Sentinel’s Hollywood Spotlight columnist, writes of a press premiere of “Black Narcissus” at the Carthay Circle Theater and notes that “the Negro press has been conspicuous by their absence (not being invited).” Griffin salutes … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Columnists, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

July 10, 1907: L.A. Times to Native Americans ‘Work or Starve’

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

  Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 10, 1907 Los Angeles Among the features of an educational conference being held in Los Angeles is a group of Native American students brought by Francis E. Leupp, the commissioner … Continue reading →

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Historic L.A. in ‘Illegal’ | Part 1

Posted on July 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

If you are cursed with the memory of having seen “Gangster Squad,” you may recall this ridiculous shot of Spring Street from City Hall. In last week’s mystery movie, “Illegal”  (1955) we have the actual location, now occupied by Grand … Continue reading →

Posted in 1955, Architecture, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘Sins of Hollywood – Tinseltown’s First Sordid Look at Scandal

Posted on July 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

“The Sins of Hollywood,” via Archive.org. Note: This is an encore post from 2015. From its very beginnings, the motion picture industry has endured protests and censorship attacks from conservative members of the American public, those scandalized at seeing women … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on July 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1939 RKO picture “Fixer Dugan,” with Lee Tracy, Virginia Weidler, Peggy Shannon, Bradley Page, William Edmunds, Edward Gargan, Jack Arnold, Rita LaRoy, Irene Franklin, John Dilson and Edythe Elliott. Photography was by J. … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 38 Comments

July 9, 1907: L.A. Converts Abandoned Church to House Inmates From Crowded Jail

Posted on July 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 9, 1907 Los Angeles Grace Methodist Episcopal Church on Hewitt Street was barren; the pastor had gone away and the congregation had moved on. And so the City Council, in struggling … Continue reading →

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July 7, 1947: 4,000 Bikers in ‘Gypsy Tour’ Wreak Havoc in Hollister

Posted on July 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

“Hey, Johnny, what are you rebelling against?” “What’ve you got?”

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