LAPL Blog
Christina Rice, Senior Librarian, Photo Collection
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Leontyne Butler King - A Commissioner for the Community
At the Vernon - Leon H. Washington Jr. Memorial Branch Library, there is a wall in the meeting room adorned with four framed portraits. Two are paintings: one depicts writer Langston Hughes and is a gift from Miriam Matthews, the Los Angeles Public Library’s first Black librarian. The other is Leon H.
Video: The Carol Westwood Photo Collection
For a look at Los Angeles in the 80s and 90s, the Carol Westwood collection is an indispensable resource.
A King in the City of Angels
Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but as in so many cities and towns throughout the country, his impact on Los Angeles was strong and far-reaching. King visited L.A.
Going for the Gold: African Americans and the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
We have to wait until the summer of 2028 for Los Angeles to host the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad, but when we do, we will join Paris and London as only the third city to host the Summer Games three times, having previously done so in 1932 and famously, in 1984.
The First with the Latest! Aggie Underwood, the Los Angeles Herald, and the Sordid Crimes of a City
A picture may say 1,000 words, though there is possibly another story lurking just outside the frame.
Bette Davis, a Life in One Archival Folder
The library’s Los Angeles Herald Examiner photo collection spans seven decades, from the mid-1920s to 1989 and is a treasure trove of all things Los Angeles.
A City Engaged: Los Angeles in the Civil Rights Era
Los Angeles has always been a city of rich cultural diversity, often serving as a beacon of prosperity for migrants and immigrants around the globe.
The Sherman Institute of Riverside, California: A History in Photos
When the Perris Indian School was established in 1892 by the United States government, it became the first non-reservation boarding school for Native American children in California.
How Spanish-Language Entertainment Revived the Broadway Theaters
Once upon a time, Broadway was the Great White Way of the West. A high concentration of theaters populating the stretch of Downtown between 3rd and Olympic rendered it an epicenter for film and live entertainment.
LGBTQIA History From the Back of the Photo
Prior to the late 1970s, LGBTQIA coverage in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner (previously the Herald Express) was extremely limited. Any photos in our image archive from the newspaper focus exclusively on men being arrested for "masquerading" as women.