Category Archives: Religion

August 30, 1907: Rabbi Leads Campaign to Open Hebrew University in L.A.

Posted on August 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 30, 1907: Rabbi Alfred Arndt of Congregation Beth Israel leads an effort to open what The Times describes as “the only Hebrew university within the entire United States.” Continue reading →

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August 24, 1959: Paul V. Coates — Confidential File

Posted on August 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 24, 1959: A profile of “The Great Imposter,” Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr., by Paul Coates. Continue reading →

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Aug. 4, 1907: Galveston Plan Brings Russian Jews to Southwestern U.S.

Posted on August 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 4, 1907: In July, 50 Russian Jews arrived in Galveston, Texas, aided by the Jewish Territorial Organization. The Galveston Plan brought about 10,000 Jews to America between 1907 and 1914. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – ‘Auction of Souls’

Posted on April 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

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

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

Posted on December 24, 2024 by lmharnisch

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

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on February 6, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1940 Twentieth Century-Fox picture Brigham Young, by Louis Bromfield. With Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Brian Donlevy, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Mary Astor, Vincent Price, Jean Rogers, Ann Todd and Dean Jagger as Brigham Young.

Posted in 1940, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 43 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – ‘Auction of Souls’

Posted on April 25, 2022 by lmharnisch

Photo: June 23, 1919, “Auction of Souls.” Credit: Los Angeles Times Note: This is an encore post from 2011. Los Angeles has long been a haven for refugees and artists, particularly those fleeing political and militaristic struggles.  As early as … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – United Artists Theatre

Posted on February 7, 2022 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Los Angeles and Hollywood have been the Mecca and Medina of movies, where their acolytes came to worship, work and learn in the teens and 1920s.  After making movies, reverent places of … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – ‘Auction of Souls’

Posted on January 24, 2022 by lmharnisch

Photo: June 23, 1919, “Auction of Souls.” Credit: Los Angeles Times Note: This is an encore post from 2011. Los Angeles has long been a haven for refugees and artists, particularly those fleeing political and militaristic struggles.  As early as … Continue reading →

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Dec. 25, 1947: The Times Christmas Poem

Posted on December 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. The Times’ front-page Christmas and Easter poems are as forgotten today as their author, James M. Warnack. I’ll leave it to my theological betters to parse … Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Dec. 14, 1907 Los Angeles The madman who calls himself the superintendent of the Los Angeles schools has touched off an absolute firestorm of anger by ordering teachers not to mention Christ … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hugo Ballin, L.A. Muralist

Posted on March 29, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photographs by Larry Harnisch / LADailyMirror.com Mural in the Los Angeles Times Globe Lobby, dated July 19, 1934, by Hugo Ballin Note: This is an encore post from 2011. Hugo Ballin is one of the greatest muralists in Los Angeles … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – ‘Convention City’

Posted on February 8, 2021 by lmharnisch

Jan. 11, 1934: “Convention City” opens at the Warner Bros. Hollywood and Downtown. Note: This is an encore post from 2012. The early days of the talkie film industry saw plenty of life situations covered realistically and explicitly on celluloid, … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s movie was the 1951 Twentieth Century-Fox film “I’d Climb the Highest Mountain,” with Susan Hayward, William Lundigan, Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates, Gene Lockhart, Lynn Bari, Ruth Donnelly, Kathleen Lockhart and Alexander Knox. Screenplay by Lamar Trotti from a … Continue reading →

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Pearl Harbor Survivor Kills Himself

Posted on December 7, 2020 by lmharnisch

Can’t draw? You too can be a famous cartoonist. Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Jan. 10, 1942:  Pearl Harbor survivor William Parks kills himself in San Francisco after going AWOL. “His note to his wife indicated that … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Immigration, Religion, Tom Treanor | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – ‘Peter the Hermit’

Posted on November 2, 2020 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2011. Like Blanche Dubois, Peter depended upon the kindness of strangers to augment his spare existence working odd jobs and living in a shack in the Hollywood hills. He wore simple white shirts … Continue reading →

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Rose Parade Encounter Leads to Killing of Arcadia Woman

Posted on January 1, 2020 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013 Aug. 9, 1963: “In Saigon, 400 miles to the south, police geared for trouble as a young, unidentified monk announced plans to burn himself to death in the continuing Buddhist struggle for … Continue reading →

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Dec. 25, 1947: The Times Christmas Poem

Posted on December 25, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. The Times’ front-page Christmas and Easter poems are as forgotten today as their author, James M. Warnack. I’ll leave it to my theological betters to parse … Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 25, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Dec. 14, 1907 Los Angeles The madman who calls himself the superintendent of the Los Angeles schools has touched off an absolute firestorm of anger by ordering teachers not to mention Christ … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Education, Music, Religion | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywood’s Little Country Church – Emblem of Bygone Days

Posted on July 15, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013 Throughout its history, the city of Hollywood has seen much come and go in the name of “progress.” Instead of remodeling and reusing a historic structure, as is done in Europe or … Continue reading →

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