Category Archives: History

#cold cases, #history, #museums, #religion, 8|2|2011

[Update: A previous version of this post had a 1972 headline about another hijacking. Thanks to Dewey Webb for pointing out the error.] Nov. 26, 1971: D.B. Cooper bails out with $200,000. Credit: Los Angeles Times SPOTLIGHT Tera W. Hunter … Continue reading

Posted in 1972, Art & Artists, History, Museums, Politics, Religion, Television | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on #cold cases, #history, #museums, #religion, 8|2|2011

#history, #magazines, #museums, 8|1|2011

Photo: Letter allegedly by Lord Byron that was revealed as a fake. Morristown, N.J., National Historical Park SPOTLIGHT Cara Buckley of the New York Times writes about the closing of New York’s famed Chelsea Hotel. Bruce Japsen of the Chicago … Continue reading

Posted in Chicago, Crime and Courts, History, Libraries, New York | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on #history, #magazines, #museums, 8|1|2011

#history, #museums, 7|31|2011

Photo: The former MGM film exchange at Hyde and Eddy streets in San Francisco. Credit: Adithya Sambamurthy/The Bay Citizen The Bay Citizen used the upper photo with the story while NYTimes.com used the lower photo. I might have gone with … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Film, History, Museums, New York, San Francisco | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

#books, #museums, #history 7|29|2011 [Updated]

NEWS [Updated at 7:25 a.m. The archives of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks reveal an account of an attempted rape by a white neighbor who employed her as a housekeeper. Associated Press via Washington Post.] Historian Barry Landau and assistant … Continue reading

Posted in Books and Authors, Chicago, Crime and Courts, History, Museums, New York | Tagged , , | Comments Off on #books, #museums, #history 7|29|2011 [Updated]

#history, #libraries, #museums 7|28|2011

Image: Battle of Manila Bay. Credit: Wikipedia NEWS Justin Jouvenal in the Washington Post’s Buzz, writes that the Patsy Cline Historic House is opening in Winchester, Va., on Aug. 2. The Independence Seaport Museum has made an emergency patch on … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Artists, History, Libraries, Museums, Music, Preservation, Retro, Transportation | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

#film, #history, #museums, 7|26|2011

Photo: “Dear Friend Hitler.” Tripti Lahiri writes in the Wall Street Journal about “Dear Friend Hitler.” Based on the previews, the movie is “Gandhi” meets “Downfall“  meets “The Sound of Music,” in Hindi with an all-Indian cast. A less charitable … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Artists, Crime and Courts, Film, History, Hollywood, Museums, Obituaries | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

#genealogy, #history, 7|25|2011

Image: Manhattan c. 1626. Credit: New England Historic Genealogical Society via the New York Times. SPOTLIGHT Alison Leigh Cowan takes a look at the history of the Van Dusen family in Sunday’s New York Times. Andrew Van Dusen learned that … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Courts, Genealogy, History | Tagged , | 1 Comment

#architecture, #books, #history, #museums, 7|23|2011 [Updated]

Photos: Josef Mengele’s notebooks. Credit: Alexander Autographs. RECOMMENDED Randy Kennedy of the New York Times catches up with famous/notorious graffiti artist/tagger TAKI 183 at a book signing for “The History of American Graffiti.” Rex Huppke’s ‘I Just Work Here’ Column … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Books and Authors, History, Immigration, Museums, Religion, World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on #architecture, #books, #history, #museums, 7|23|2011 [Updated]

#history, #museum, 7|21|2011

Photo: IBM Selectric stamp. Credit: U.S. Postal Service SPOTLIGHT Chicago Tribune cultural critic Julia Keller reflects on the 50th anniversary of the IBM Selectric typewriter, which is being honored with a commemorative stamp. [Does anyone remember the ORATOR font?] She … Continue reading

Posted in 1961, Architecture, History, Museums | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Time Traveling With the L.A. Daily Mirror [Updated]

Photo: Pier Angeli and friend with a reminder on Daylight Saving Time, 1958 I decided to import my old lmharnisch blog, devoted mainly to dissecting “The Black Dahlia Files” by Donald “Fake Document” Wolfe. Now there are posts going back … Continue reading

Posted in 1947, 2008, 2009, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, Film, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Photography | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

paper.li: Not Ready for Primetime

The bots at paper.li that automatically assemble “newspapers”  from Twitter feeds had an attack of the vapors,  so after two days of nothing I deleted the paper and started over. If you have bookmarked it, replace it with this one.

Posted in History, Museums | Comments Off on paper.li: Not Ready for Primetime

James Curtis: L.A. Voices

Photo: Dick Lane and Helen Wallace in “Sioux City Sue,” 1946. In 1975, while still in college, I did a short series of interviews. There was no real purpose to these, other than they were with people who interested me … Continue reading

Posted in 1975, Books and Authors, Film, Found on EBay, History, Hollywood, James Curtis, L.A. Voices, New York, Stage, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Bill James’ ‘Popular Crime’: Another Good Story Ruined

I have procrastinated about looking at Bill James’ “Popular Crime” because, as curious as it may seem, I don’t care much for “true” crime books. Even when they are well done (which is almost never) the subject matter is depressing … Continue reading

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Slash and Burn History: Mike Davis on Gen. Otis

Photo: Times President Gen. Harrison Gray Otis. Credit: Press Reference Library, 1912 Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, the favorite pinata of Los Angeles historians, is the subject of a new biography by Mike “City of Quartz” Davis, now being serialized in … Continue reading

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Downtown, History, Libraries | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

#history, #museum 7|17|2011

Photo: Mail sent by airplane from the 1912 Aviation Meet at Dominguez Field.  Credit: New York Public Library   7|17|2011DEATHSArdis Butler James, 85, co-founder of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska. Margalit Fox in … Continue reading

Posted in 1912, Aviation, Baseball, Books and Authors, History, Museums, Music, Obituaries | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on #history, #museum 7|17|2011

#history, #museum 7|16|2011

Photo: The Dodge House. Credit: latimes.com SPOTLIGHT The New York Times’ Michael Kimmelman visits the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. Kimmelman writes: Devised like most true collections from somebody’s crazy obsession, the Mütter dressed up good old ghoulish midway spectacle in … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Artists, History, Museums | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

7|14|2011 #LA, #history, #museums

Photo: Los Angeles Public Library. Credit: LAPL FEATUREDA celebration will be held at the downtown library on Monday at 9:30 a.m. as the L.A. library system restores Monday service at all branches. Sunday closures are continuing, however. Saturday will be … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Books and Authors, Coming Attractions, Crime and Courts, Film, History, Libraries, Museums, Preservation | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on 7|14|2011 #LA, #history, #museums

7|13|2011 #history, #museum

Photo: Pierre Loti’s house. Credit: Discover Poitou Charentes RECOMMENDEDElaine Sciolino’s new travel column Lumiere in the New York Times takes a look at the house museum of Pierre Loti. Sciolino says: “On an unremarkable street in the unremarkable town, the … Continue reading

Posted in Books and Authors, Film, History, Hollywood, Museums, Religion, World War II | Tagged , , | Comments Off on 7|13|2011 #history, #museum

7|12|2011 #history #museum #cold cases [Updated]

Sept. 19, 1890: Edison’s talking doll in the Sydney Journal. RECOMMENDEDRon Cowen in the Washington Post has a great story about scientists using optical scanning to recover a primitive recording made by Thomas Edison about 1889 for a talking doll. … Continue reading

Posted in Cold Cases, History, Homicide, Museums | Tagged , , | Comments Off on 7|12|2011 #history #museum #cold cases [Updated]

7|11|2011 #history, #museum

Nov. 26, 1936: Ambrose Schindler in The Times as USC and UCLA prepare to play for the first time in six years. My colleague Jerry Crowe at The Timeshas a nice profile of Ambrose Schindler, former USC quarterback, stuntman on … Continue reading

Posted in Books and Authors, Fashion, History, Museums | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments