Category Archives: Countdown to Watts

July 7, 1938

Posted on July 7, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, 6th and Hill streets via Google maps’ street view feature.  "Prison Farm" … now there’s a title that leaves nothing to the imagination. According to imdb, Horace McCoy was an uncredited writer on the picture. Not on Netflix! olling … Continue reading →

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June 24, 1958

Posted on June 24, 2008 by lmharnisch

  t left, a nine-room home in an all-white neighborhood is heavily vandalized after being sold to an African American doctor and his family. The Times says vandals caused $15,000 ($109,315.53 USD 2007) damage to the newly redecorated home at … Continue reading →

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June 23, 1908

Posted on June 23, 2008 by lmharnisch
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June 11, 1938

Posted on June 11, 2008 by lmharnisch

s difficult as this may be to believe (and I’m sure it is), traffic is not a new problem in Los Angeles. The city’s streets were congested 50 years ago, they were congested 70 years ago and, yes, they were … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, City Hall, Countdown to Watts, Downtown, Freeways, Front Pages, LAPD, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

June 10, 1938

Posted on June 10, 2008 by lmharnisch

There are times when the old newspapers absolutely leave me speechless–and not in the good way. Yes, I realize this is a comic strip ("Tarzan") and yes, I realize it’s 1938 and not 2008. But good grief, I still find … Continue reading →

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June, 7, 1958

Posted on June 7, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above and at left, what do you do with an African American professor who is a faculty member at an African American school, Alcorn A&M College, and attempts to enroll at an all-white campus, the University of Mississippi at Oxford? … Continue reading →

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May 13, 1958

Posted on May 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, President Eisenhower tells African Americans to be patient about gaining civil rights … Below, Dr. Lawrence Michael Dillon, formerly Dr. Laura Maude Dillon, who was apparently the world’s first trangendered man, is interviewed in Philadelphia. In 1945, Dillon began … Continue reading →

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April 21, 1908

Posted on April 21, 2008 by lmharnisch

Below, an update in the saga of some "Hearstlings" who stole pictures of the Great White Fleet to be published in the Examiner … Note the story about the 1906 Brownsville, Texas, incident in which African American troops of the … Continue reading →

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April 7-8, 1908

Posted on April 7, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, David Belasco’s play, which closed on Broadway in 1906 after 224 performances, is staged in Los Angeles. Sadly, leading lady Alice Treat Hunt will die of pneumonia June 8, 1908, in her apartment on 9th Street near Figueroa. Below, … Continue reading →

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Former slave speaks

Posted on April 1, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, Aunt Lucy Chiviss. If you look closely, you’ll notice this page says "Wednesday" and "Sunday" and the caption type is pied. Someone was certainly having a bad day. Below, the story of Lucy Chiviss. Yes, I know slave narratives … Continue reading →

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March 28, 1908

Posted on March 28, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, the circus is coming to town–apparently. I can’t find any further mentions of "Towle’s Circus." Below, Rep. J. Thomas Heflin hates African Americans and he hates drinking, so you can imagine how he feels about African Americans who drink … Continue reading →

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March 15, 1958

Posted on March 15, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, integration in the Los Angeles City Fire Department is not going well  …  Below, the Coast Guard inspects ships in California’s ports on the theory that 50 men with suitcases could smuggle a terrorist weapon into the country (Gosh, … Continue reading →

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Feb. 23, 1938 — Editorial: U.S. Doesn’t Need Anti-Lynching Law

Posted on February 23, 2008 by lmharnisch

As noted elsewhere, I usually don’t republish editorials because they are often outdated and are frequently embarrassing. This one is an especially good example. The Times takes the position that the nation doesn’t need a federal anti-lynching law. Speaking of … Continue reading →

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Feb. 23, 1908

Posted on February 22, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Feb. 13, 1958

Posted on February 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

  The Metropolitan Transit Authority takes its first steps toward "a speedy mass transit system." Will it build a monorail from the Valley to downtown Los Angeles? Reporter Ray Herbert is going to look at the implications for bus and … Continue reading →

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Feb. 11, 1958

Posted on February 11, 2008 by lmharnisch

Weather makes the front page … Another youngster is stricken with a rare disease (The Times apparently never followed up on this story) … Fighting in the Mideast … And a new weapon in the Cold War against the Soviets … Continue reading →

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Feb. 9, 1958

Posted on February 9, 2008 by lmharnisch

  It’s Sunday in 1958, and The Times features a suburban tract home, designed with young (and growing) families in mind.  There’s no address for this house, so we don’t where it was. Click here to download the page: Download … Continue reading →

Posted in Countdown to Watts, Front Pages | 1 Comment

Paul Coates

Posted on January 29, 2008 by lmharnisch

Jan. 29, 1958 The Kingfish and I got a pretty fair raking over the coals a few days ago. And, somehow, I’m not quite sure that we deserved it. The man who did the raking is a colleague of mine–a … Continue reading →

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Raymond bombing

Posted on January 29, 2008 by lmharnisch

  An attorney for two LAPD officers charges that Assembly Speaker William Moseley Jones is exploiting the state vice inquiry to bolster his campaign for attorney general  … Diplomatic repercussions over a  sentry slapping a U.S. envoy in Nanking …  … Continue reading →

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Jan. 20, 1908

Posted on January 20, 2008 by lmharnisch

  More than 200 African Americans gather at First Methodist Church to protest the vandalism of a house on East 33rd Street that was rented to a black family (above, the original Jan. 16, 1908, story) …  A man on … Continue reading →

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