Category Archives: Crime and Courts

Paul McCartney Rescues Motown Museum’s Steinway

Posted on October 30, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Stone chopping tool from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Credit: “A History of the World in 100 Objects.” Last year, BBC4 aired a program that tried to compress the history of the world into the stories of 100 artifacts from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Museums, Music | Tagged #Cowgirls, #History of the World in 100 Objects, #Motown, #Piano, #Rosetta Stone, #Sandra Day O'Connor | Comments Off

The Chinese Massacre: Oct. 24, 1871 — Part 4

Posted on October 27, 2011 by lmharnisch

The New York Daily Tribune of Nov. 11, 1871, also carried an account of the massacre. Chinese Massacre Part 1 | Part 2| Part 3 Wong Chin, a merchant, was the first victim of the hanging. He was led … Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Chinese Massacre, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged #1871, #Chinese Massacre | 1 Comment

The Chinese Massacre: Oct. 24, 1871 — Part 3

Posted on October 26, 2011 by lmharnisch

The San Francisco Bulletin’s Oct. 26, 1871, account of the lynching was published in the New York Times. Los Angeles, although boasting of being the City of the Queen of the Angels, is cursed with such another hotbed of crime … Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Chinese Massacre, Crime and Courts | Tagged #871, #Chinese Massacre | Comments Off

The Chinese Massacre: Oct. 24, 1871 – Part 2

Posted on October 25, 2011 by lmharnisch

Here’s the San Francisco Bulletin’s Oct. 25, 1871, coverage of the massacre, as republished in the Carroll (Iowa) Herald on Nov. 22, 1871. [This link works now but it may be broken eventually as Google tinkers with its newspaper archives]. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Chinese Massacre, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged #1871, #Chinese Massacre | Comments Off

The Chinese Massacre: Oct. 24, 1871 — Part 1

Posted on October 24, 2011 by lmharnisch

I hadn’t planned to get into the Chinese Massacre until I wrapped up the Zoot Suit Riots, but Google’s recent changes in its news archives pressed me to get the material online before the newspapers disappear. For decades, the average … Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Chinese Massacre, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged #1871, #Chinese Massacre | 3 Comments

Suspect in After-Hours Sex at Museum: ‘I Get Around’

Posted on October 23, 2011 by lmharnisch

Image: The Charleston Museum, where Michael L. Miller was arrested on charge of having sex at 3 a.m. Neale Gulley of Reuters reports that the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum in Buffalo, N.Y., is building Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1927 design … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Food and Drink, Museums, Music, Native Americans, Preservation | Tagged #Frank Lloyd Wright, #Native Americans, Bruce Springsteen, Museums | Comments Off

‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 11

Posted on October 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

Image: Harry Arnheim of the Hollywood Tropics, 1525 N. Vine St., protests being placed off-limits by the Navy. Credit: National Archives at Riverside. To recap briefly, I have been digging into the historical basis of the movie “Zoot Suit,” which … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Crime and Courts, Fashion, Film, Food and Drink, History, Hollywood, Stage, World War II, Zoot Suit | Tagged #1942, #film, #la, #Navy, #Stage, #World War II, #zoot suits | 3 Comments

Boston Policeman Killed Trying to Disarm Former Officer, 1921

Posted on October 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

The National Air and Space Museum in Washington is closed after antiwar demonstrators try to enter to protest an exhibit on drones. The crowd dispersed after being pepper-sprayed by a security guard coming to the rescue of another guard. Washington … Continue reading →

Posted in 1921, Crime and Courts, Homicide, Museums, Washington | Tagged #1921, #Protests, Boston | Comments Off

Restoration at Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Posted on October 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Wilshire Boulevard Temple, interior. Credit: Jim Winstead On the 140th anniversary of the Chicago fire, it’s a time to celebrate the city’s libraries. Rick Kogan explains in the Tribune’s Sidewalks blog. Jay Jones, writing for the Los Angeles Times, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art & Artists, Black Dahlia, Chicago, Crime and Courts, Downtown, History, Interior Design, Libraries, Mary Mallory, Museums, Preservation, Religion | Tagged #Judiasm, #preservation, #Wilshire Boulevard | Comments Off

John Wayne Gacy Victim to Be Exhumed for DNA Tests

Posted on October 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dec. 27, 1978: Four more bodies are found under the home of John Wayne Gacy. Adam Nagourney of the New York Times reports on the slow process of bringing a 21-foot granite boulder to the Los Angeles County Museum of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1978, Architecture, Art & Artists, Crime and Courts, Homicide, Museums, Obituaries, Transportation | Tagged #crossword puzzles, #John Wayne Gacy, #Schwarzenegger, Alcatraz | 2 Comments

Woman Jailed for Driving Too Slowly

Posted on October 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

Oct. 7, 1941: You’re probably wondering how fast Blanche Roberts was driving. The story doesn’t say anything more specific than “an exceedingly low rate of speed” on the Calabasas Grade. Apparently no one thought to query the reporter — the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Dodgers, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | Tagged #1941, #Jimmie Fidler, #la, #Lee Shippey, #Tom Treanor, #Traffic | Comments Off

Killer in 1964 ‘Kitty’ Genovese Case Up for Parole

Posted on October 6, 2011 by lmharnisch

March 28, 1964: New Yorkers shrugged as Catherine “Kitty” Genovese was killed. Winston Moseley, convicted in the infamous 1964 killing of Catherine “Kitty” Genovese, is up for parole and Sam Favate takes a look in the Wall Street Journal’s Law … Continue reading →

Posted in 1964, Art & Artists, Chicago, Crime and Courts, History, Museums, New York | Tagged #Kitty Genovese, #Sex Tape, #Steve Jobs, #Tupac | Comments Off

Louis Adamic: Aimee Semple McPherson’s Fight With Satan

Posted on October 5, 2011 by lmharnisch

Note: The Daily Mirror HQ recently acquired another issue of Haldeman-Julius Monthly with another piece by Louis Adamic, author of “Cecil B. DeMille: Movie Evangelist.” Here it is, courtesy of the OCR software of the HQ’s scanner. THE Reverend “Sister” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1926, Crime and Courts, Louis Adamic, Radio, Religion | Tagged #1926, #Hoax, #Kidnapping, #Louis Adamic, Aimee Semple McPherson | 3 Comments

Daily Mirror Lunch – Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Posted on October 4, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Kisses on the tomb of Valentino. Credit: Larry Harnisch/LADailyMirror.com The Daily Mirror lunch at Astro Burger and tour of Hollywood Forever Cemetery was a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Our distinguished guide, Karie Bible, showed us around … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Courts, Fashion, Film, Hollywood, Music, Obituaries | Tagged #Cemeteries #Hollywood, #Ramones, #Valentino, #Virginia Rappe | 4 Comments

Errol Flynn: ‘Everything Went Black’ in Mocambo Brawl

Posted on October 1, 2011 by lmharnisch

Oct. 1, 1941: Errol Flynn promises he won’t punch Hollywood columnist Jimmie Fidler anymore. The actor invoked the famous “everything went black” defense for the melee at the Mocambo, in which Fidler’s wife stabbed him with a fork.

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood | Tagged #celebrities behaving badly, #Errol Flynn, #everything went black, #film | 1 Comment

October 1, 1910: ‘A Terrible Roar’

Posted on October 1, 2011 by lmharnisch

Courtesy of University of Southern California, on behalf of the USC Special Collections. October 1, 1910: The Times Building in flames, as seen from Broadway just south of First Street. Notice The Times Eagle outlined by the fire. El Alisal, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1910, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Fires, Labor, LAPD | Tagged #1910, #Times bombing | 2 Comments

Silver Lake Hammer Murder – Part 3

Posted on September 23, 2011 by lmharnisch

Sept. 19, 1941: Valverda Booth visits her husband, Ernest Booth, while he is in custody in the Silver Lake Hammer Murder of heiress Florence Stricker. Is there anything more delightful to the heart of a research drudge than a notice … Continue reading →

Posted in 1927, 1929, 1941, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Libraries | Tagged #prisons, #Silver Lake Hammer Murder, authors | 4 Comments

British Library Digitizes Lewis Carroll’s Original ‘Alice’

Posted on September 22, 2011 by lmharnisch

Image: Page 37 of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground,” digitized by the British Library. Henry Chu writes a nondupe in the Los Angeles Times about unsuccessful attempts to gain access to Scotland Yard’s records in the Jack the Ripper … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Immigration, Libraries, Museums | Tagged #Immigration, #John Dillinger, Alice in Wonderland | 2 Comments

Columnist’s Wife Stabs Errol Flynn With Fork in Nightclub Brawl!

Posted on September 22, 2011 by lmharnisch

Sept. 22, 1941: Oh look what I found! Our own Jimmie Fidler mixing it up with Errol Flynn at the Mocambo. And Fidler’s wife, Bobbe, stabs Flynn with a fork!

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Nightclubs | Tagged #drinking heavily, #Errol Flynn, #Mocambo, #movie stars | 4 Comments

Coming Attractions: Lunch With the Daily Mirror

Posted on September 21, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Monument to Eliza A. Otis, 1833 – 1904, wife of Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Credit: Larry Harnisch/LADailyMirror.com Karie Bible has agreed to give the Daily Mirror’s Brain Trust a tour of Hollywood Forever Cemetery on a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1910, Brain Trust, Coming Attractions, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Obituaries | Tagged #brain trust, #Karie Bible, #Lunch With the Daily Mirror | 7 Comments