Category Archives: Labor

October 29, 1907: ‘Oh, God, The Bassoon!’ Musicians Union Dispute Becomes Operatic

Posted on October 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 29, 1907: A labor dispute forces an opera company’s performance of “Mignon” to use local players, almost entirely unrehearsed, leading the conductor to exclaim: “Oh, God, the bassoon!” Continue reading →

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Oct. 10, 1907: The Want Ads

Posted on October 10, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 10, 1907: George Sumi’s Japanese Employment Agency. Most reliable in the city. Continue reading →

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October 1, 1910: ‘A Terrible Roar’

Posted on October 1, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 1, 1910: The Los Angeles Times Building is bombed, killing 20 employees. Continue reading →

Posted in 1910, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Fires, Labor, LAPD | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Labor Day in Los Angeles, September 7, 1886

Posted on September 7, 2025 by lmharnisch

September, 7, 1886: The Times publishes a roundup of events marking  Labor Day, but there are no reports of any celebrations in Los Angeles. On the jump, Labor Day, 1891, is celebrated on the West Coast, but there’s nothing about Los Angeles. Continue reading →

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September 6, 1947: Mexican Workers Essential as Americans Refuse Stoop Labor, Ranchers Testify

Posted on September 6, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 6, 1947: Ranchers tell Congress that they cannot survive without importing Mexican workers. Americans won’t do “stoop labor,” the ranchers say. Continue reading →

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September 3, 1907: A Oration for Labor Day

Posted on September 3, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 3, 1907: The Times criticizes Hearst papers “for their persistent efforts to teach the working people of America that they are the slaves of the ‘predatory rich’; that every corporation is a conspiracy to rob; that all capitalists are brainless brutes; that the government of the United States is a corrupt glutocracy.” Continue reading →

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Labor Day in Los Angeles, 1886

Posted on September 7, 2020 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2011. Sept. 7, 1886: The Times publishes a roundup of events marking  Labor Day, but there are no reports of any celebrations in Los Angeles. On the jump, Labor Day, 1891, is celebrated … Continue reading →

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News Quiz, 1947: How Many Stories of the Year Do You Know?

Posted on December 30, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. I think of it as a report card from the past. For the last few months, the 47P has explored stories that seemed important or unusual, … Continue reading →

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October 29, 1907: ‘Oh, God, The Bassoon!’ Musicians Union Dispute Becomes Operatic

Posted on October 29, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. October 29, 1907 Los Angeles Given The Times’ view of unions, it’s a little difficult to determine precisely what went wrong with a production of Ambroise Thomas’ “Mignon” at the Auditorium, but … Continue reading →

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Oct. 10, 1907: The Want Ads

Posted on October 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

This is an encore post from 2006.

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September 6, 1947: Mexican Workers Essential as Americans Refuse Stoop Labor, Ranchers Testify

Posted on September 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. “Up from his 160-acre vegetable farm at San Juan Capistrano, veteran rancher H.L. Remmers informed the committee that he must “get Mexican workers” or “think about … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Food and Drink, Immigration, Labor | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

September 3, 1907: A Oration for Labor Day

Posted on September 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. September 3, 1907 Editorial, Los Angeles Times “I have no patience with the prejudices which exist between alleged classes when the classes themselves do not exist. There is no reason for hostility … Continue reading →

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June 20, 1907: Salesclerks Fight to Keep Shortened Work Hours on Saturdays

Posted on June 20, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 20, 1907 Los Angeles The salesclerks of Los Angeles are steaming—and not over the warming temperatures. Beginning last summer, all the department stores agreed that instead of closing at 10 p.m. … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: Thomas R. LeBlanc, Influential Figure in Los Angeles Music

Posted on May 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

LeBlanc’s Creole Band in an undated photo, via the Sentinel. May 8, 1947: I went down the research rabbit hole on the story of Thomas R. LeBlanc, who was featured in the Sentinel. This is a story that deserves more … Continue reading →

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Conservatives Sexually Frustrated, UCLA Daily Bruin Says

Posted on September 26, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 26, 1943: The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen ends its strike against the Pacific Electric, with workers returning to their jobs at 2 a.m. Their first task is to untangle a “freight jam which had threatened to undermine the entire … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Comics, Education, Film, Hollywood, Labor, Obituaries, Richard Nixon, Streetcars, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Navy Doctors Defuse ‘Human Bomb’

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 19, 1943: In a story delayed for wartime, the Associated Press reports that Allen L. Gordon, 23, of Rock Island, Ill., fire control operator third class, was struck Dec. 2 with a 20-millimeter antiaircraft shell that lodged in his … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, African Americans, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Hollywood, Labor, Medicine, Music, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Action by FDR Averts Streetcar Strike!

Posted on July 25, 2013 by lmharnisch

July 25, 1943: President Roosevelt intervenes in the planned Pacific Electric Railway strike, saying that he did not want to use Army trucks to transport war supplies. The strike centered on a raise of 13 cents an hour, which has … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Columnists, Labor, Streetcars, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Streetcar Strike Could Paralyze Los Angeles!

Posted on July 24, 2013 by lmharnisch

July 24, 1943: Labor problems threaten to paralyze mass transportation in Los Angeles. The Times says that 3,000 Los Angeles Railway workers have ended a 24-hour walkout while 2,500 Pacific Electric workers are scheduled to strike. Marion “More Curves Than … Continue reading →

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AFSCME Seeks to Organize LAPD

Posted on March 20, 2013 by lmharnisch

March 20, 1943: The AFSCME sets up a local for LAPD officers, an action opposed by Police Chief Clemence “C.B.” Horrall and Deputy Chief Joe Reed.  The Los Angeles Police Protective League, established in the 1920s, began bargaining on behalf … Continue reading →

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Doolittle Raiders Bomb Tokyo

Posted on April 18, 2012 by lmharnisch

April 18, 1942:  The Doolittle Raiders, flying from the carrier Hornet, bomb Tokyo. According to DoolittleRaider.com, the  five surviving crew members are scheduled to attend the 70th reunion, which is being held through April 20 at the National Museum of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, African Americans, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Labor, Streetcars, Tom Treanor | Tagged , | 3 Comments