Author Archives: lmharnisch

Unknown's avatar

About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Black L.A. 1947: Sentinel Refuses Ads From Central Avenue Club Over White Cashier

Posted on January 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

4201 S. Central, the location of the Downbeat Room, via Google Street View. Notice the Dunbar Hotel next door. The famous Club Alabam’ was nearby at 4215 S. Central.   Jan. 9, 1947: Mabel Scott and Gerald Wilson open the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Music, Nightclubs | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Black L.A. 1947: Sentinel Refuses Ads From Central Avenue Club Over White Cashier

Jan. 8, 1947: Judge Denies ‘Hollywood’ Divorce for Actress Virginia Engels ‘The Orchid Queen’

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project. Jan. 8, 1947: The apartment was so small that her husband, James Robert Dennis, asked her to go home to live with her parents. He said he’d call … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Art & Artists, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: Meet the Honor Students of Jefferson High

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1947: The Sentinel publishes the photos of four Jefferson High students on the front page: Florence Smith, Ivan Baldwin, Gen Lew and Walter Richard Lumpkin. Here we meet four young people — and a significant research challenge: What … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Education, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A Cold Dose of Reality

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 8, 1907 Los Angeles Perhaps Mayor Arthur C. Harper and the incoming slate of officials are focused on how they will divide the spoils of the city and assign patronage jobs, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Food and Drink, LAPD, Pasadena, Photography, Streetcars | Comments Off on A Cold Dose of Reality

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1951 Swedish film “Miss Julie,” from the play by August Strindberg, with Anita Bjork, Ulf Palme, Marta Dorff, Lissi Alandh, Anders Henrikson, Inga Gill, Ake Fridell, Kurt-Olof Sundstrom, Max Von Sydow, Margareta Krook, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 36 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Studio City Motels, Then and Now

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

  The Carlton Motor Lodge, via Google Street View. The evolution of a community can often be acknowledged through the types of businesses along its main streets. Simple buildings from its days as an unpretentious neighborhood or small town often … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jan. 7, 1947: Man Uses Same Coffee Cup for 27 Years

Posted on January 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project. Same Coffee Cup Used 27 Years WHITTIER, Jan. 6—Truman B. Carl, a city employee, today rounded out 27 consecutive years of coffee drinking from the same oversized china … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Comics, Music, Obituaries | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Jan. 7, 1947: Man Uses Same Coffee Cup for 27 Years

TLC

Posted on January 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 7, 1907 Long Beach Elizabeth Mahler, a dainty brunette with a “sunny and jolly disposition,” is one of the bright spots at Long Beach Hospital. She had many male suitors and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Religion, Streetcars | Comments Off on TLC

Jan. 6, 1947: Artist Dies While Hanging From Ceiling to Ease Spinal Pain

Posted on January 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project. Jan. 6, 1947: Charles Clyde Atchison, 66, a sculptor and stone mason, had back problems—at least that’s what he told his sister Leona of 1110 W. 30th St. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Music, Obituaries | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Jan. 6, 1947: Artist Dies While Hanging From Ceiling to Ease Spinal Pain

Architectural Ramblings

Posted on January 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

A Trip to Oxford Avenue Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Here’s an interesting contrast: Oxford Avenue between Washington Boulevard and the Santa Monica Freeway and Oxford Avenue north of Washington. South of Washington, Oxford seems a bit … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Architecture, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Freeways, LAPD, Streetcars | Comments Off on Architectural Ramblings

Engine Company 10 Weeps

Posted on January 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 6, 1907 Los Angeles The Los Angeles Fireman’s Relief Association is staging a benefit for the young widow of ladderman Adolph Hermansen, who plunged out a window and fell five stories … Continue reading →

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

Jan. 5, 1947: Two Black 15-Year-Olds Set for Electric Chair After Losing Plea

Posted on January 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project. Jan. 5, 1947: “The majority of Americans belong to one minority group or another,” said Dr. Will Durant, author and lecturer, yesterday in outlining the scope of the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Crime and Courts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Examiner, Mirror Fold; L.A. Becomes Two-Newspaper Town

Posted on January 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Jan. 5, 1962: A dark, painful day in the history of Los Angeles journalism. Virtually overnight, the city becomes a two-newspaper town. The evening Mirror ceases publication Jan. 5, merging with The … Continue reading →

Posted in 1962, Columnists, Front Pages | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: Mary Lou Williams ‘Waltz Boogie’

Posted on January 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

“Leon Wheaton of 1011 E. 43rd Place, Los Angeles, one of the latest local victims of police brutality,” in a photo published Jan. 2, 1947, in the Los Angeles Sentinel.  Unfortunately, there is no further information in the Sentinel about … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Music | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Black L.A. 1947: Mary Lou Williams ‘Waltz Boogie’

A Fatal Can of Beans

Posted on January 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 5, 1907 Los Angeles Charles Edward Abbott, 23, of Artesia had lived his entire life in California without seeing snow except on faraway mountains and suggested that Mabel Carter, 28, and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, LAPD, Streetcars | Comments Off on A Fatal Can of Beans

Jan. 4, 1947: Angry Sailor Sets Fire to Skid Row Hotel After Being Rolled

Posted on January 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947Project. Jan. 4, 1947: Suppose, for a moment, that you are a 19-year-old mess cook second class stationed in San Pedro. Suppose further that while you are on leave … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Black Dahlia, Crime and Courts, Fires, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Black L.A. 1947: 10 Black Doctors Admitted to Leading Surgical Society, Raising Number to 14

Posted on January 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Leon H. Washington Jr., left, publisher of the Sentinel, marches in a picket line with a sign that says “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” in a photo published Jan. 2, 1947. Jan. 2, 1947: At its convention in Cleveland, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Medicine, Obituaries | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Black L.A. 1947: 10 Black Doctors Admitted to Leading Surgical Society, Raising Number to 14

The Mayor Departs From His Prepared Remarks

Posted on January 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 4, 1907 Los Angeles Mayor-elect Arthur C. Harper stood before 200 members of the Municipal League and their friends in a dinner at Levy’s who were eager to hear what he … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, City Hall, LAPD, Streetcars | Comments Off on The Mayor Departs From His Prepared Remarks

Jan. 3, 1947: Actress Helen Walker Hurt in Crash That Kills Soldier, Injures 2 Others

Posted on January 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Yes, this is the Jan. 2, 1947, comics page, which pops up for Jan. 3, 1947. Note: This is a post that I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project. This is one of those days where there’s too much to … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Music, Transportation, Vietnam | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: First African American Named to L.A. Police Commission

Posted on January 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 2, 1947: The Los Angeles Sentinel publishes the photo of Charles H. Matthews on Page 1 as part of its roundup of major stories from 1946. Matthews, a former deputy district attorney and an NAACP executive at the time, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1946, 1947, African Americans, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Black L.A. 1947: First African American Named to L.A. Police Commission