| Larry Harnisch Reflects on L.A. History | Page 119

Aug. 2, 1947: Los Angeles County Clerk Refuses Marriage License for Interracial Couple

Posted on August 2, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Her name was Andrea and she was 24. His name was Sylvester and he was 26, a World War II veteran working at Lockheed. And they were in love. So like many young couples, they wanted to get married.

But unlike every other couple, they were refused a marriage license at the Los Angeles County clerk’s office because Andrea Perez was white and Sylvester S. Davis Jr. was black. And Section 60 of the California Civil Code stated: “All marriages of white persons with Negroes, Mongolians, members of the Malay race, or Mulattoes are illegal and void” while Section 69 forbid issuing licenses for such marriages.

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Posted in 1947, African Americans, Crime and Courts | Tagged 1947, African Americans, racism | Comments Off

Aug. 2, 1907: Dr. Lucy Hall-Brown Dies

Posted on August 2, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006 and reflects the minimal online resources that were available 12 years ago.

Aug. 2, 1907
Los Angeles

The Times reports the death of Dr. Lucy Hall-Brown, a prominent woman physician who was active in the Red Cross. Although we know where she lived (Vermont and 30th Street), we have no idea where she went to school, her age or whether she had any survivors. Nor are we told why she was buried at the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, N.Y., rather than Los Angeles.

A Google search reveals that Hall-Brown was a frequent correspondent with Clara Barton, but not much more.

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Posted in 1907, Education, Medicine, Obituaries, Streetcars | Tagged 1907, medicine, obituaries | 4 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: Kiwanis Refuses to Give Lottery Winner a New Cadillac Because He’s Black

Posted on August 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

July 31, 1947, L.A. Sentinel

This is a story that involves a $1 lottery ticket, a new Cadillac and an incredible amount of stupidity by members of an ostensibly charitable organization who were determined to uphold racist attitudes. And it really happened.

The story, as told by the Associated Negro Press, begins with Harvey Jones, a black Navy veteran who was a tenant farmer near Ahoskie, N.C. Jones paid $1 (current value $11.72) for a ticket in a lottery held by the Ahoskie Kiwanis Club with the first prize of a new Cadillac, worth about $3,200 (current value $37,000.)

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Posted in 1947, African Americans, Transportation | Tagged 1947, African Americans, Harvey Jones, Kiwanis, Los Angeles Sentinel | 1 Comment

1947: The Year of Drinking Heavily

Posted on August 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

ARRESTS FOR INTOXICATION

by calendar year

1937……….44,176
1938……….41,388
1939……….41,878
1940……….48,014
1941……….53,294
1942……….61,865
1943……….45,354
1944……….62,510
1945……….72,465
1946……….92,108
1947……….98,149 (a 222% increase over 1937)

Felony Drunk Driving, 1947……………..365

Misdemeanor Drunk Driving, 1947…..2,677

Source: Los Angeles Police Department Annual Report for 1947

Posted in 1947, Food and Drink, LAPD | Tagged 1947, dui, food and drink, lapd, liquor violations | Comments Off

Aug. 1, 1947: Angry British Kill Five Jews in Tel Aviv Riot

Posted on August 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Posted in 1947 | Tagged 1947, Middle East | Comments Off

Aug. 1, 1907: Swarm of Bees Terrorizes Downtown Los Angeles

Posted on August 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Aug. 1, 1907
Los Angeles

A mass of bees “wandering in from the country” swirled along Broadway, forcing dainty young women and the toughest police officer to seek cover in a vain attempt to avoid being stung.

“Whether attracted to the neighborhood by the bevy of pretty girls who happened to be there or by the flowered hats on display in the show windows is not known,” The Times said.

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Posted in 1907, Animals, LAPD, Music, Streetcars | Tagged #DTLA, bees | 3 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: Hitting the Nightspots With ‘The Owl’

Posted on July 31, 2018 by lmharnisch

Eight black athletes are trying out for the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference.

July 31, 1947: “The Owl,” the Sentinel’s nightlife columnist, visited the clubs, noting that the high prices of food and rent were taking a toll on going out.

During World War II, California imposed a midnight curfew on bars and made liquor stores close at 8 p.m. Effective July 1, 1947, bars and liquor stores were once again permitted to stay open until 2 a.m. The Sentinel praised the later hours as a boost for club owners and live entertainment, but “The Owl” noted that some clubs were cutting prices and dropping cover charges to attract more business.

What we know in hindsight is that the big-band days were over and the era of jazz trios, quartets and quintets was beginning.

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Posted in 1947, African Americans, Music, Nightclubs, Sports | Tagged #Jazz, 1947, columnists, football, Los Angeles Sentinel, Music, Nightclubs, sports, The Owl | Comments Off

July 31, 1907: After a Day at the Beach, Beer, a Fight and Gunshots

Posted on July 31, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

July 31, 1907
Los Angeles

After a delay due to illness, newsboy Charles “Winnipeg” Wilson took the stand to testify against Evelyn Ferguson, who is accused of shooting him because he was attacking her friend Grace Ryan.

Although “she was not in a condition at the time of the shooting to remember much about how it happened,” Ryan testified that she and Ferguson had returned from a day at the beach when they began fighting with Wilson and a group of companions.

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Posted in 1907, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged 1907, beer, crime and courts | Comments Off

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Robert Ryan Fights for Quality Education

Posted on July 30, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jessica and Robert Ryan, photo courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Known as much for his intense, brooding performances onscreen as his passionate defense of causes off it, actor Robert Ryan cared deeply about whatever he focused his attention on. While he appeared menacing on the big screen, in real life Ryan displayed concern and empathy for others, giving his time, attention, and money to causes protecting the lives and welfare of others. When he and his wife, Jessica, grew concerned about large class sizes at potential schools for their young son, the couple took action, organizing their own school, one still operating today.

The Ryans possessed a love of learning, spending much of their free time reading and discussing current issues with others. Ryan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth. The couple wanted their children to discover this same curiosity and passion for knowledge, something to be nourished at small schools where kids could form close connections with caring teachers. After World War II, however, America experienced a baby boom when GIs returned from the front. In turn, this created overcrowded schools with huge classes, allowing little time for one-on-one attention or mentoring possibilities.

Mary Mallory’s “Living With Grace” is now on sale.

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Posted in Education, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley | Tagged education, film, hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on July 30, 2018 by lmharnisch

Aug. 4, 2018, Mystery Photo
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1957 RKO picture “Escapade in Japan,” with Teresa Wright, Cameron Mitchell, Jon Provost, Roger Nakagawa, Philip Ober, Kuniko Miyake, Susumu Fujita, Katsuhiko Haida and Tatsuo Saito. It was written by Winston Miller, filmed in Technirama by William Snyder, with music by Max Steiner, art direction by George W. Davis and Walter Holscher, set decoration by Shinz Isa. William Dozier was in charge of production, produced and directed by Arthur Lubin.

The movie is available on dubious DVDs, and is often passed off as a Clint Eastwood movie based on a few moments of screen time. My copy (recorded off TCM years ago) has fairly crummy color that I had to adjust for posting on the Web.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged film, hollywood, mystery photo | 31 Comments

July 30, 1947: Peaches Strange at the Follies Burlesque

Posted on July 30, 2018 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

She was born Mildred Strange in Oklahoma in 1910. Raised by her uncle, a Methodist minister, she taught Sunday school in Shawnee, east of Oklahoma City. For a while, she ran a bookstore in a small town.

And then she joined Minsky’s burlesque as Peaches Strange. On her first trip west, she and co-star Myrna Dean broke 20-year box office records at the Follies Burlesque, 337 S. Main St., a theater that is a story in itself.

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Posted in 1947, Main Street, Theaters | Tagged 1947, Follies Burlesque, Peaches Strange | Comments Off

July 30: 1907: Runaway Horse Races Down Broadway, Plows Into Hotel Lobby

Posted on July 30, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

July 30, 1907
Los Angeles

A horse and buggy had been hitched outside Jevne’s grocery store at 6th Street and Broadway when a furniture van hit the buggy, frightening the horse.

As the terrified animal ran down Broadway, it swerved onto the sidewalk at 7th Street to avoid a streetcar and plunged through a plate glass window in the lobby of the Hotel Lankershim, scattering a room full of guests. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Animals, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged 1907, Animals, horses, Hotel Lankershim | Comments Off

June 16, 1964: 2 Dead in Bizarre Drowning, Overdose; ‘All Three Had Been Drinking Heavily’

Posted on July 29, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. It was a follow-up to a post by Kim Cooper.

Let’s suppose you and your sister came home from a hard day and found your husband of 10 days at the bottom of your sister’s swimming pool—either dead or not doing very well. You’d call the police or an ambulance, unless you were Mrs. Ella DeSpain, 59.

Instead, Ella and her widowed sister, Mrs. Louise Strickland, 54, decided to have a little drinky. Or two. And maybe a few tranquilizers, because after all, poor old husband Richard, 39, is at the bottom of the pool.

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Posted in 1964, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged 1947, 1964, all three had been drinking heavily, crime and courts | 2 Comments

July 28, 1947: Free Horoscope for Your DOG!

Posted on July 28, 2018 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and appeared on the 1947project.

July 29 is Elizabeth Short’s birthday—she would have been 81. Although horoscopes were a regular feature in the Examiner in the 1940s, The Times didn’t begun running them until Jan. 8, 1951, when Carroll Richter’s Astrological Forecast appeared next to the weather report. The Times, however, was certainly in the vanguard in offering star charts for pets.

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Posted in 1947, Animals, Black Dahlia | Tagged 1947, Animals, Bible quote, black dahlia, dog horoscope, good doggo, horoscope | 2 Comments

July 28, 1907: L.A. Seeks to Clear Books of Old Laws on Bear Baiting, Quail Hunting by Streetcar Conductors

Posted on July 28, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

July 28, 1907
Los Angeles

City officials, hampered by a bramble bush of old and unenforced laws, have appointed deputy prosecutor Eddie to prune back outdated and unnecessary regulations from the early days of Los Angeles.

Among the old regulations are bans on “rabbit coursing,” in which the animals were released to be chased down by dogs; bear baiting (an event dating to the days of Shakespeare involving a fight to the death between a chained bear and dogs); fighting between a bull and bear that were chained together; and cockfighting on public streets.

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Posted in 1907, Animals, City Hall, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged 1907, City Hall, crime and courts, hunting, lapd | Comments Off

Black L.A. 1947: Elizabeth Ingalls Convicted in San Diego Slavery Case; Jury Deadlocks on Husband’s Guilt

Posted on July 27, 2018 by lmharnisch

July 24, 1947, Ingalls convicted

July 24, 1947, L.A. Sentinel, Slavery Case

July 24, 1947: The Sentinel reports that Elizabeth Ingalls was convicted on charges of holding Dora Jones in slavery. Sentencing was set for July 29. The jury deadlocked on charges against her husband, Albert.

The Sentinel said that Dora Jones stopped briefly in Los Angeles en route to St. Louis, Mo.
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Posted in 1947, African Americans, Crime and Courts, San Diego | Tagged #slavery, 1947, Dora L. Jones, Elizabeth Ingalls, Los Angeles Sentinel, San Diego | Comments Off

July 27, 1947: Chinese Author Visits Dr. George Hodel,

Posted on July 27, 2018 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

“Knowledge is desirable, but learning is pleasure.”

That is one of the sayings of Author Helena Kuo, who came a long way from her native China by way of Europe—but does not pose as a Lady Confucius.

The pretty young author of “I’ve Come a Long Way,” “Westward to Chungking” and other books, never seems to stop. She writes articles, book reviews, short stories. She takes lessons. It was the lessons that inspired that “saying.”

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Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood | Tagged 1947, black dahlia, Dr. George Hodel, film, Helena Kuo, hollywood | Comments Off

July 27, 1907: Mayor Harper Calls for More LAPD Officers, New Library, More Schools

Posted on July 27, 2018 by lmharnisch

Above, Mayor Harper’s goals for his administration. Note especially item No. 11–more police officers–and item No. 17: new schools.

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

July 27, 1907
Los Angeles

One of Mayor Harper’s promises in taking over City Hall, along with completing the Owens Valley aqueduct and building a library, is to purify the city’s billboards.

Although the City Council presented him with a new billboard law in March 1907, Harper vetoed the measure because it was too lax, despite lobbying by companies that said tighter laws would affect 300 sign painters and other workers.

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Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, City Hall, Education, LAPD, Streetcars | Comments Off

A New Look for the L.A. Daily Mirror

Posted on July 26, 2018 by lmharnisch

If only slightly. The L.A. Daily Mirror is now ad-free.

I was nearly out of storage space anyway, so I decided to upgrade my plan. Which means there’s more space for images and — as a plus — no more advertising on the site. I discontinued the initial level of ads because they were obnoxious and generating complaints. Some ads remained (they were particularly odious if you were reading the blog on a mobile), but any revenue was going to WordPress. I didn’t get a penny of it.

With the new upgrade, the site is commercial-free. I don’t have anything against ads, per se, but I had had no say in the ads or their placement. Nuts to that.

Posted in 2018 | Tagged advertising | 5 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: Honor Student Vesta Belle Sapenter Strangled; Suspect Released

Posted on July 26, 2018 by lmharnisch

5320 Holmes Ave., in the Pueblo Del Rio housing project, via Google Street View.

July 24, 1947: The Sentinel reports that Benjamin Allen, 16, of 5217 McGarry St., is being held in the death of Vesta Belle Sapenter. Benjamin had scratches on his hands and was the last person seen with Vesta, the Sentinel said.

According to the manager of the Pueblo Del Rio housing project, neither Vesta nor her brother Carlisle ever got in trouble. “We do have considerable difficulty with teenage youngsters hanging around the administration building at night, but neither Vesta or her brother were ever among them,” the manager said.

L.A. Times publishes two paragraphs on Vesta’s killing.

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Posted in 1947, African Americans, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged 1947, African Americans, crime and courts, homicide, lapd, Los Angeles Sentinel | 3 Comments