Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Feb. 12, 1907: Alhambra Acres and Vermont Avenue Square

Posted on February 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Feb. 12, 1907 Los Angeles Imagine the surprise of Mrs. Robert Jackson, who was about to move into her new home on Vernon Avenue and discovered that the contractor had built it … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Blogging "Black Dahlia Files" Part 10 — The Riddler

Posted on February 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Pages 12-15 Here’s a riddle: Let’s suppose for a moment that you are writing a historical piece; nothing terribly esoteric for a scholarly journal but something for the average reader. You have … Continue reading →

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Feb. 11, 1907: Woman Fractures Skull Leaping From Streetcar That Passed Her Stop

Posted on February 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Feb. 11, 1907 Los Angeles   The Eastside gets a new Baptist Church and 2nd Street and St. Louis. Like Tom and Huck A large pond 7 feet deep at Normandie and … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Blogging "Black Dahlia Files" Part 9 — A Moment of Silence, Please

Posted on February 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Today is the anniversary of the Feb. 10, 1947, Jeanne French murder. Frequently linked to the Black Dahlia in the popular imagination and absurdly claimed as one of the umpteen victims of … Continue reading →

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Feb. 10, 1907: Architectural Ramblings

Posted on February 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Feb. 10, 1907 Los Angeles The Times features a hillside home “near the ostrich farm” in Pasadena. Presumably that was the Cawston farm in South Pasadena. (What, South Pasadena, again?) Unfortunately, many … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: Black Passenger Sues Greyhound After Driver Has Her Arrested for Not Giving Up Seat

Posted on February 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

  At left, a three-unit property at 3509 5th Ave., listed for sale in 1947 at $17,500. Above, the property sold for $600,000 in 2016, according to Zillow. Feb. 6, 1947: The Sentinel reports on a lawsuit filed by Alpha … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Blogging "Black Dahlia Files" Part 8 — Neutral Milk Hotel

Posted on February 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. I was at a signing at Book Soup last night for Kim Cooper’s “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” (important note: there’s parking behind the store, otherwise you have to contend with … Continue reading →

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Feb. 9, 1907: George M. Cohan’s ’45 Minutes From Broadway’ at the Mason Opera HouseCohan

Posted on February 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Feb. 9, 1907 Los Angeles

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Black Dahlia: Blogging "Black Dahlia Files" Part 7 — A "C" From the Health Inspector

Posted on February 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Page 8 In those days Leimert Park was a nice, middle-class neighborhood on the fringe of the more fashionable Adams District west of downtown Los Angeles. Here, in a few words, “Mogul” … Continue reading →

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Feb. 8, 1907: Peace Returns to Buena Vista Street

Posted on February 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore from 2007. Feb. 8, 1907 Los Angeles About 1903, Charles E. Donnatin, former Pacific Electric Railway superintendent, apparently said something about the young woman across the street at the Stewart home, Savoy Street and Buena … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: Ascot Hills Rapist, Shot by Police, Faces 51 Counts

Posted on February 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Minton R. Scott, the Ascot Hills Rapist, after being shot in the head by police. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive. Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA Feb. 6, 1947: Minton Robert Scott is accused of being … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Blogging ‘Black Dahlia Files’ Part 6 — The Boy on the Bicycle

Posted on February 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Page 7 What’s this? Another day on Page 7? Theological scholars don’t scrutinize the Bible this carefully and this is a book you could read in a few hours waiting for a … Continue reading →

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Feb 7, 1907: Cop Killer’s Widow Arrested in Liquor Raid

Posted on February 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Feb. 7, 1907 Los Angeles   A Child’s Testimony Charles Babbitt is sentenced to 30 days in jail on charges of domestic violence after the testimony of his 6-year-old son. “Papa hit … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Streetcars | 1 Comment

Black L.A. 1947: Black, Jewish Protesters Picket Disney’s ‘Song of the South’ at RKO Hillstreet

Posted on February 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Above, the “trackless trolley,” which was powered by overhead cables but used tires rather than running on rails, is coming to Central Avenue. The trackless trolleys solved streetcars’ problems of maneuverability (passengers could board and disembark at the curb rather … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Blogging ‘Black Dahlia Files’ Part 5 — Weather Report

Posted on February 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Page 7 (Continued) If the temperature dropped below 35 degrees F in the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, the ranchers had to go out and light their smudge pots to ward … Continue reading →

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Incendiary Ramblings

Posted on February 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Feb. 6, 2007 Los Angeles Here’s an architectural drawing of the O.T. Johnson Building, which burned in yesterday’s fire.  

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Bonus Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on February 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

David Wade (@LODaveWade on Twitter) is asking whether anyone can identify this photo. Brain Trust?

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Black L.A. 1947: Dodgers Organization Signs 3 More Negro League Stars

Posted on February 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Feb. 6, 1947: Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey Sr. signs three more stars of the Negro baseball league: Monty (Monte) Irvin and Larry Doby of the Newark Eagles and Bus Clarkson, formerly of the Philadelphia Stars who most recently played … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on February 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1934 MGM film “The Show-Off,” with Spencer Tracy, Madge Evans, Henry Wadsworth, Lois Wilson, Grant Mitchell, Clara Blandick, Alan Edwards and Claude Gillingwater. The screenplay was by Herman J. Mankiewicz from a play … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 34 Comments

Black Dahlia: Blogging ‘Black Dahlia Files’ Part 4 — Sniff Test

Posted on February 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. And how are we doing? Some glaring omissions, a few mangled facts and some major errors. In all, the book isn’t doing well and we’re only on Page 6. If this were … Continue reading →

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