Category Archives: #courts

Clarence Darrow at the Higgins Building

Los Angeles Times file photo Landmark alert! Clarence Darrow had an office on the ninth floor of the Higgins Building, in the southwest corner, on the west side of the hall.  –People vs. Clarence Darrow, Page 721.

Posted in #courts, 1910 L.A. Times bombing, Architecture | 3 Comments

Google and History

Clarence Darrow, the lead defense attorney for the McNamara brothers in The Times bombing,  vs. Gloria Allred in Google searches for the last 12 months.

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San Francisco Labor Leaders Accuse The Times of Libel

July 19, 1910: "Jailbird" … "pinhead" …  A typical Times editorial about labor. Sept. 4, 1910: San Francisco labor leaders file a libel suit against Times Editor and General Manager Gen. Harrison Gray Otis and Assistant Manager Harry Chandler. It’s … Continue reading

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The Well-Informed Public, 1911

Los Angeles Times file photo 1911: James B. McNamara’s defense team leaves the courthouse. At left, Samuel Gompers, famous head of the American Federation of Labor, is eating a snack and holding a cigar. The fellow on the right is … Continue reading

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Pages of History

Isn’t this a great cover? I love the lettering. I’m going through the transcripts of jury selection in the McNamara trial, which is dull, tedious,  fascinating work. It’s difficult to convey the experience of having a 1911 typewritten manuscript – … Continue reading

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On Assignment

Los Angeles Times file photo Clarence Darrow addresses jurors during his trial on charges of jury tampering. have spent the last few days at the Huntington Library going through transcripts of the trial of James B. McNamara in the 1910 … Continue reading

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San Francisco Labor Leaders Visit Los Angeles

Aug. 25, 1910: In vastly different ways, The Times and the Herald report the arrival of San Francisco labor leaders. The Times said: "The worthies registered at the Hayward, and almost immediately the big boss who pulls the strings which … Continue reading

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On Assignment

Los Angeles Times file photo The trial of Clarence Darrow. Do you recognize the young Jerry Giesler to Darrow’s left?  riends … I have spent this week at the Huntington Library going through material on the 1910 bombing of the … Continue reading

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On Assignment

Los Angeles Times file photo Clarence Darrow addresses the jury during his 1912 trial in Los Angeles on charges of attempting to bribe jurors while defending the McNamara brothers in the 1910 bombing of The Times. [Update: This photo was … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, 1910 L.A. Times bombing, Photography | 3 Comments

Paul Coates, Aug. 12, 1960

  Aug. 12, 1960: Paul Coates examines the implications of a Columbia University professor’s demand to be paid for translating a letter written in Uzbeki. Also on the jump, a column by Carter Barber on a Navy inquiry into the … Continue reading

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Striker Sentenced for Violating Picketing Law

A woman runs off with a man who has no legs? Somebody at The Times had a grim sense of humor. Aug. 11, 1910: A judge sentences E.P. Kreamer to a $50 [$1,136.94 USD 2009] fine or 50 days in … Continue reading

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Burned Bones Indicate Grim Fate of Missing Family

  Aug. 4, 1910: The San Francisco Call. Isn’t that a great font? And two kinds of “Ms.” Aug. 4-5, 1910: The Kendall family disappears from a ranch outside Santa Rosa and investigators find grisly evidence that they were slaughtered. … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, Countdown to Watts, Homicide, Religion | 2 Comments

L.A. Makes Theater Censor Billboards for Play

  Aug. 3, 1910: Remember that beer is a health drink – like “liquid bread.” On the jump, the manager of the Grand Operahouse is arrested for violating the city’s billboard laws over posters for “Queen of the Highway.” Accompanied … Continue reading

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The Case of ‘Tiger Man’ Figueroa

   Above, George E. “Tiger Man” Figueroa, as portrayed in a courtroom sketch by The Times. At right, Figueroa’s recent bride, Sarah, who was badly beaten and shot in the head.   July 21, 1910: The Times publishes the sensational … Continue reading

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Earl Rogers and L.A.’s Picketing Ban

Los Angeles Times file photo Attorney Earl Rogers, who drafted L.A.’s ban on picketing and defended Clarence Darrow on charges of attempting to bribe jurors in the trial of the McNamara brothers in The Times bombing.    July 16-19, 1910: … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, 1910 L.A. Times bombing, City Hall, LAPD | 1 Comment

Ohio Mob Lynches Private Detective

July 9, 1910: Charles Etherington, one of several detectives sent to Newark by the Ohio Anti-Saloon League, is lynched in the public square by a mob of men and women after the former police chief, who owned the Last Chance … Continue reading

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Jack Johnson Gets Hero’s Welcome

Photograph by Julian Robinson / Los Angeles Times Jack Johnson and his wife, Irene, after winning a legal battle to avoid being evicted from their home at 2015 Hyperion Ave. because he was black, March 31, 1943. July 8, 1910: … Continue reading

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Found on EBay – Brenda Allen

Most people have only seen photos of 1940s Los Angeles  vice queen Brenda Allen that show her in sunglasses and a hat with a veil, like the photo at right. This unusual photo at left, that shows what she actually … Continue reading

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Paul V. Coates, Confidential File, July 5, 1960

  July 5, 1960: I have to hand it to Paul Coates. For this column, he tries to beat an 80-year-old con woman at her own game. Here’s his Jan. 28, 1960, piece about her. Notice the Page 1 story … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, #gays and lesbians, Columnists, Front Pages, Homicide | 1 Comment

Missouri Mob Lynches Two Blacks

July 4, 1910: Charleston, Mo. — "Those in the yard — the women and children — could hear the sounds of a sledge hammer as the lock was knocked off the cell door. In a few moments a shout announced … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, Countdown to Watts | 4 Comments