America Tropical, Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1932.
F. K. Ferenz of the Plaza Art Gallery at Los Angeles’ El Pueblo looked to make a statement in 1932, showing that the city celebrated world class artists and Olvera Street was the place to visit, when he commissioned world renowned Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros to create a mural on the upper wall of his gallery. Audacious and bold, the work of art called out the American government at a time when the country sunk deeper into the Great Depression. Its story of censorship and retribution speaks out even today.
Virtually forgotten by the city, Olvera Street and El Pueblo saw rebirth thanks to the efforts of Northern California native Christine Sterling. Dismayed that city officials ignored the care and upkeep of the very place where the city of Los Angeles was founded, she led a crusade in the late 1920s to save it and the area’s first home, the Avila Adobe. Organizing a letter writing campaign and winning donations to restore the Adobe, she finally convinced the city to restore and update the street into a romanticized “Spanish atmosphere” and marketplace. Continue reading
As anyone who was around then will recall, things were mighty tough in 1936. The Depression was on and jobs were scarce and, while hardly anyone went hungry, many persons weren’t eating too well.
Note: This is an encore post from 2008.
By Keith Thursby
Elmer Clarence “Mox” Meukel told his story to a couple of hobos in a shack on Scott Island in the Truckee River near Reno.
Allene Hall Durston, 58, was dying of bone cancer. Of all the people in
ladailymirror.com 