Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

May 9, 1907: Shriners Present a Colorful Array

Posted on May 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. What, you might ask yourself, did Shriners do before the advent of those little cars and Harley-Davidson Electra Glides? The elaborately costumed men staged precision, close-order drills accompanied by marching bands. The … Continue reading →

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Black L.A., 1947: Racial Tensions at Fremont High Boost Homeowners’ Efforts to Keep Neighborhood White

Posted on May 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

March 1947: Students who walked out of classes at Fremont High School to protest the presence of six African American students stand next to a figure labeled “No Negroes” hung from a lamp post at 77th and San Pedro streets. … Continue reading →

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Kissing, the Old-Fashioned Way

Posted on May 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: 23rd San Francisco Silent Film Festival Salutes World Cinema

Posted on May 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

  “The Man Who Laughs” will screen May 30 at the Castro Theatre as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Image courtesy of the SFSFF. Bigger and better than ever, the 23rd Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on May 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1934 Soviet film “Jolly Fellows,” also known as “Moscow Laughs.” I chose it because it was shown last Sunday at the George Eastman Museum as part of its Nitrate Picture Show. “Jolly Fellows” … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 37 Comments

May 8, 1947: Mixed Marriage Was Illegal, Louisiana Court Rules, Ordering Woman to Vacate Home for New Owner

Posted on May 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Daisy Lee Wade, 14, shows off a bike she won in a contest to name a bicycle. Her winning entry: A Master Chaser. May 8, 1947: Tony Rice and Azelia Barthelmy (sometimes Berthlemy) were married by the Catholic Church of … Continue reading →

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May 7, 1907: A Poem for La Fiesta de los Flores

Posted on May 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. John Steven McGroarty, The Times columnist and staff poet, offered this tribute to the annual La Fiesta de los Flores, which coincided with the national Shriners convention. The fiesta featured four parades … Continue reading →

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May 4-6, 1907: Barney Oldfield’s Green Dragon Blazes Through Los Angeles

Posted on May 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. What is it about Angelenos that as soon as you put them behind the wheel of a car, they want to see how fast it will go? But it’s true. Great-grandpa was, … Continue reading →

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May 5, 1907: The Shriners Ban Water Except for Bathing

Posted on May 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Singing loud praises to Allah that strike a curious note in 2006, the special train of Shriners is flying across the Nevada desert brimming with Freemasons and their families pondering the ancient … Continue reading →

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May 4, 1907: Author’s Hardest Sentence — 4 Months in Jail Over ‘Research’

Posted on May 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. In grappling with a novel about life in prison, writer Ernest Filer of Chicago decided that he should experience imprisonment for himself , thus he hatched the idea of breaking a window … Continue reading →

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From 1937: A Rape Victim’s ‘Night of Horror’

Posted on May 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

And here’s where we go down the research rabbit hole from the L.A. Sentinel, 1947: The California Venereal Disease Control Act of 1937. Which brings us to “California and Western Medicine,” July to December 1937.

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Black Dahlia: Elizabeth Short Was Last Seen Alive at — Record Scratch

Posted on May 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Wow. Sorry, Uproxx, this is totally wrong. Elizabeth Short was last seen alive at — before you say the Hotel Cecil —  she was last seen alive at the Biltmore.

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May 3, 1907: Fleenor, Accused ‘Barefoot Bandit,’ Says LAPD Got Him Drunk to Gain Confession

Posted on May 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

  Note: This is an encore post from 2006. On the witness stand, accused “Barefoot Bandit” James G. Fleenor complains that police got him drunk to gain a confession. Fleenor, who was black, had been part of an attempted jailbreak … Continue reading →

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May 3, 1907: Shriners Are Coming to L.A.!

Posted on May 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Preparations are nearly complete for the Shriners Convention, which begins May 7 with the city’s Al Malaikah Temple hosting the gathering. Among the events planned is a parade of Imperial Potentate Alvah … Continue reading →

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May 2, 1907: New Restaurant Inspector Strikes Fear in L.A.’s Dirty Kitchens

Posted on May 2, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Nicholas “Nick” Schwegel (sometimes misspelled Schwegal), the city’s new restaurant inspector, issued a report to the Board of Health that left officials sick to their stomachs—so ill, in fact, that one board … Continue reading →

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Black L.A., 1947: ‘Behold a Cry’ and an Exploration of the ‘Estate of James Crow’

Posted on May 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

May 1, 1947: The Sentinel publishes an ad for Alden Bland’s “Behold a Cry.” (Available on 14-day loan from Archive.org). The New York Times said: ALDEN BLAND, the Negro author of this short novel, has none of the power of … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival Salutes the Written Word With Unique Programs

Posted on May 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

Martin Scorsese is presented with the first Robert Osborne Award for film preservation. In its ninth year of celebrating classic film, the 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival highlighted the written word and how film speaks to audiences through a wide … Continue reading →

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Time Clock

Posted on May 1, 2018 by lmharnisch
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May 1, 1907: Runaway Horses and a Fleeing Motorcyclist on the Dangerous Streets of L.A.

Posted on May 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

Motorcycle Hits Her Miss Gertrude Young, who lives at No. 525 Wall St., was knocked down by a motorcycle yesterday as she stepped from a streetcar at 7th and Hope streets. The rider of the machine hastened away. Miss Young … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on April 30, 2018 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1932 MGM picture “Polly of the Circus,” with Marion Davies, Clark Gable, C. Aubrey Smith, Raymond Hatton, David Landau, Ruth Selwyn, Maude Eburne, Little Billy, Guinn Williams, Clark Marshall and Lillian Elliott. From … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 47 Comments