Category Archives: Religion

January 7, 1907: TLC

Posted on January 7, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 7, 1907: Elizabeth Mahler is one of the bright spots at Long Beach Hospital. Though she was engaged, she was courted by a patient’s business partner. The engagement was broken and wedding bells chimed…. Nine years later, divorce court. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Religion, Streetcars | Leave a comment

December 26, 1907: Minister Rejects New ‘Godless’ U.S. Coins

Posted on December 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 26, 1907: The Rev. W.A. Jones of Knoxville Presbyterian Church refuses the congregation’s gift of $100 because it consists of newly redesigned $20 gold pieces that do not bear the motto “In God We Trust.” Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1908, Religion | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

December 25, 1947: The Times Christmas Poem

Posted on December 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 25, 1947: The Los Angeles Times publishes a front-page poem for Christmas by James Warnack, who called himself “a theoretical Christian but a practical pagan.” Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Obituaries, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

December 18, 1947: Jacobowicz Brothers, Orphaned in Holocaust, Arrive in L.A. (Also Turkey Stuffing With Fritos)

Posted on December 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 18, 1947: Orphaned in the Holocaust, the Jacobowicz brothers—Karl, 16, Joseph, 13, and Rudolph, 10—arrive in Los Angeles on the final leg of their journey from Vienna. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Food and Drink, Frightening Food From the 1940s, Immigration, Religion, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on December 18, 1947: Jacobowicz Brothers, Orphaned in Holocaust, Arrive in L.A. (Also Turkey Stuffing With Fritos)

December 14, 1907: L.A. Schools Ban Mention of Christ at Christmas (Uh-Oh)

Posted on December 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

Dec. 14, 1907: Los Angeles residents are furious after the school superintendent bans the mention of Christ at Christmas. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Education, Music, Religion | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on December 14, 1907: L.A. Schools Ban Mention of Christ at Christmas (Uh-Oh)

December 13, 1907: The Annual Rite of ‘Messiah’ at Cold, Drafty Shrine Auditorium

Posted on December 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 13, 1907: An unidentified Times critic attends a performance of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ at Shrine Auditorium. An exercise in decrypting a music review of another era. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Music, Religion, Streetcars | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on December 13, 1907: The Annual Rite of ‘Messiah’ at Cold, Drafty Shrine Auditorium

December 8, 1907: Jewish Refugees, Fleeing Russian Persecution, Come to L.A.

Posted on December 8, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 8, 1907: Three members of the Schiffman family who are Jewish refugees from Baku, Russia: Sigmund, the father; Benjamin, 15; and Emella [or Emelia], 10. They have been brought to Los Angeles as part of the Galveston Plan, in which Jews were taken to Galveston, Texas, for dispersal throughout the West because New York was overcrowded. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Education, Immigration, Religion | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on December 8, 1907: Jewish Refugees, Fleeing Russian Persecution, Come to L.A.

December 1, 1938: California prepares to execute two killers at San Quentin

Posted on December 1, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 1, 1938: California prepares to use the new gas chamber for two executions rather than the previous method of hanging. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1938, @news, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Politics, Religion, Sports | Comments Off on December 1, 1938: California prepares to execute two killers at San Quentin

Black L.A. November 13, 1947: Little Miss Cornshucks; St. Paul Baptist Church Plans a New Building

Posted on November 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 13, 1947: Little Miss Cornshucks is at the Last Word, 4206 Central Ave. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Architecture, Music, Religion | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Black L.A. November 13, 1947: Little Miss Cornshucks; St. Paul Baptist Church Plans a New Building

November 12, 1947: Pasadena Girl Recovers From Mystery Illness

Posted on November 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 12, 1947: Andrea Brodine, 6, for whose life many have prayed since she was stricken by a deadly paralysis two weeks ago, walked again at the Huntington Memorial Hospital yesterday—supported by a mechanical carrier device but strongly on the road to full recovery. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Medicine, Pasadena, Religion | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on November 12, 1947: Pasadena Girl Recovers From Mystery Illness

November 9, 1941: Roosevelt Declares Early Thanksgiving

Posted on November 9, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 9, 1941: President Roosevelt moves up the date of Thanksgiving to add an extra week of Christmas shopping. Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Columnists, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Religion, World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on November 9, 1941: Roosevelt Declares Early Thanksgiving

November 7, 2008: Jews celebrate survival of Holocaust Torah

Posted on November 7, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 7, 2008: Nearing the somber 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, Los Angeles Jews celebrate the story of a Torah that was pieced together from scattered texts smuggled into a Nazi labor camp. Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Religion | Comments Off on November 7, 2008: Jews celebrate survival of Holocaust Torah

November 3, 1958: 44 shopping days until Christmas

Posted on November 3, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 3, 1958: Only 44 shopping days until Christmas. And check out those aluminum trees! Continue reading →

Posted in Fashion, Food and Drink, Religion | Comments Off on November 3, 1958: 44 shopping days until Christmas

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – ‘Auction of Souls’

Posted on October 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory looks at the life of Aurora Mardiganian and the film ‘Auction of Souls’ Continue reading →

Posted in 1915, 1919, Brain Trust, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Religion | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – ‘Auction of Souls’

October 28, 1956: Charlton Heston on the ‘Ten Commandments’

Posted on October 28, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 28, 1956: Religion writer Dan Thrapp interviews Charlton Heston about his role as Moses in “The Ten Commandments.” Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Religion | Comments Off on October 28, 1956: Charlton Heston on the ‘Ten Commandments’

October 25, 1982: Millennial Moment: Iranian Exiles Find a Bit of Home in Santa Monica Park

Posted on October 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 25, 1982: Times staff writer Bill Overend profiles Iranian exiles who gather in Santa Monica’s Palisades Park on Sunday afternoons, hundreds of people — mostly Jews and some Muslims — who came to the U.S. because of the Iranian revolution. Continue reading →

Posted in 1982, Immigration, Millennial Moments, Parks, Religion | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on October 25, 1982: Millennial Moment: Iranian Exiles Find a Bit of Home in Santa Monica Park

October 19, 1938: Mystic vision

Posted on October 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 19, 1938: Meet the Rev. Violet Greener “The Ghost of Hollywood,” a psychic who was consulted by many people in the industry. Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Religion | Comments Off on October 19, 1938: Mystic vision

October 1947: Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian Armies Gather at Palestine Border for Possible Invasion

Posted on October 10, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 9, 1947: (U.P.)—The Lebanese and Syrian governments have ordered various units of their armies to mass along the Palestine borders for a possible invasion of the Holy Land, and the first units already have started marching, it was announced tonight. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Comics, Middle East, Religion | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on October 1947: Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian Armies Gather at Palestine Border for Possible Invasion

October 6, 1965: Koufax chooses faith over Dodgers

Posted on October 6, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 6, 1965: Sandy Koufax sits out Game 1 of the World Series because it falls on Yom Kippur. Continue reading →

Posted in Dodgers, Front Pages, Religion | Comments Off on October 6, 1965: Koufax chooses faith over Dodgers

September 25, 1947: It Was a Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.

Posted on September 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 25, 1947: Five Japanese war criminals are hanged in Guam for practicing cannibalism on American POWs. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Religion | Tagged , , | Comments Off on September 25, 1947: It Was a Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.