June 3, 1943: The Zoot Suit Riots escalate as mobs of sailors leave Chavez Ravine's Naval Armory in search of zoot suiters.
Developed by muralist Arturo Gonzales and East Side of the River, Maywood's Sleepy Lagoon mural honors the Zoot Suit culture in Los Angeles. The mural pays tribute to all those affected by what happened at Sleepy Lagoon in 1942 and the violence that erupted the following year.
Edith Head holds the record for the most Oscars won by a woman: eight.
The costume designer best known for her work with Alfred Hitchcock received her B.A. from UC Berkeley and her M.A. from Stanford. Here is a short list of stars who she dressed over her 50-year career:
Mae West, Frances Farmer, Dorothy Lamour, Veronica Lake, Barbara Stanwyck, Ingrid Bergman, Loretta Young, Bette Davis, Ginger Rogers, Olivia de Haviland, Hedy Lamarr, Gloria Swanson, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, Carmen Miranda, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Jane Wyman, Doris Day, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak, Sophia Loren, Natalie Wood, Tippi Hedren, Shirley MacLaine, Katharine Hepburn, Jill Clayburgh, and Steve Martin
“In Memoriam: Los Angeles, 2025" features the architectural landmarks lost in the #LAFires. As part of its "Healing the Heart of LA" initiative, Friends Of Residential Treasures: LA (FORT: LA) shared this brief video at its gathering at the Los Angeles Public Library last Saturday.
Marking and honoring what has been lost in the fires will help rebuild L.A.'s soft infrastructure, the network of social ties holding commun
"Part of the rebuilding task must include marking and remembering, trying to retie threads that connect us to history and place," historian William Deverell.
A look at the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Building in honor of its architect Julia Morgan, who was born on January 20, 1872. Photos of this beautiful building (opened in 1915) courtesy of Gensler: https://www.gensler.com/projects/herald-examiner-building
In July 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. and members of the California Christian Leadership Conference protested the Woolworth store at 7th and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles (1960). Photo courtesy of the Bradley Center at CSUN Library: https://digital-collections.csun.edu/digital/collection/Bradley/id/19698/rec/25
Time, Taste, and Tradition: Preserving L.A.’s Legacy Businesses
Congratulations to the selected recipients of the L.A. Conservancy’s Legacy Business Grant! The five legacy businesses of the first round of our $5,000 grants have been selected and we’re thrilled to introduce them to you:
88 Gifts Shop (1987) in L.A.’s Chinatown
Candelas Guitars (1947) in Boyle Heights
El Aguila Bakery (1973) in El Sereno
Gardena Cinema (1976) in the City of Gardena
SIKA (established in 1992) in Leimert Park
From an essential neighborhood shop selling everything from houseware items to plants to a rare, affordable single-screen movie theatre, these locally-owned businesses boast a combined age of more than 200 years in operation in their neighborhoods and communities. They also represent the essence of L.A.’s legacy businesses: long-standing neighborhood anchors where people connect, memories are made, and a sense of community is nourished.
We hope that their stories demonstrate the value of longtime businesses and that you hurry out to patronize their business in the very near future!
ABOUT THE WINNERS
88 Gifts Shop
Photos courtesy 88 Gifts Shop
311 Ord Street Los Angeles, CA 90031
For over 30 years, the original location of 88 Gifts Shop (88 Gifts) was at 711 North Broadway in BC Plaza. In 2020, owner Annie Ma was forced to relocate her business to its present location.
Ma’s shop sells housewares, plants, and a variety of Lunar New Year gifts to neighborhood residents and tourists. Perhaps most notably, 88 Gifts sells Chinese-language newspapers to Chinatown’s elders, allowing them to remain in touch with news events both here and abroad
Still feeling the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, this grant will make it possible to pay for rent increases and avoid another relocation.
CANDELAS GUITARS
Photos courtesy Candelas Guitars
2724 E Cesar Chavez Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90033
Brothers Porfirio and Candelario Delgado-Flores moved from Mexico to Los Angeles in 1947 and brought with them a burgeoning music business that specialized in custom guitar marking. The store’s clientele includes famous artists like José Feliciano but it’s also a source of community pride, giving back to Boyle Heights in many ways including the creation of a 501c(3) nonprofit that provides free music lessons to local youth.
After closing for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Candelas was thankfully able to re-open but is still facing the residual effects of the shutdown. The grant will go towards payroll for the business and operating expenses.
El Aguila Bakery
Photos courtesy El Aguila Bakery
5028 Huntington Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90032
El Aguila Bakery was established by Apolinar Casillas in 1973 and has been a beloved fixture in L.A.’s El Sereno community ever since. With a loyal, multi-generational clientele, El Aguila prides itself on its authentic Mexican sweet breads, cakes, tamales, and so much more! The bakery also supports the community by giving back to local institutions such as the city, schools, and places of worship.
But the bakery’s authentic flavors come at a cost. When ingredient prices rose more than 200%, the bakery had to increase its prices, causing sales to slump. This grant will allow them to cover increased costs and make payments to necessary vendors.
GARDENA CINEMA
Photos courtesy Gardena Cinema
14948 Crenshaw Boulevard, Gardena, CA 90249
Gardena Cinema is a single-screen movie cinema built in 1946 and operated by the Kim family since 1976. It’s the only such theatre located Gardena and has provided affordable entertainment options for more than four generations. It's a place where families can enjoy a film together and have meaningful experiences: in addition to their unique film slate, Gardena Cinema also hosts cinema potlucks, popcorn happy hours, and more.
A combination of the pandemic and personal health challenges forced the cinema to be closed for 32 months. The grant will provide them with a much-needed cash infusion toward daily operating expenses.
SIKA
Photos courtesy SIKA
4330 Degnan Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90008
Sika, an institution of Leimert Park Village, has been specializing in custom jewelry, African art, clothing, and other goods for 30 years. Sika, the store’s owner, weathered a downturn in the economy in the 2000s when many businesses left the Village. His resilience has commanded the love and respect of the Leimert Park community and, today, despite concerns about gentrification and displacement Sika remains at the heart of the neighborhood as a cultural gathering place.
This grant will be used toward business marketing and community jewelry-making workshops.
ABOUT THE GRANT PROGRAM
When we first announced the grant program in November of 2022, it was the culmination of more than two years of advocacy, dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of legacy businesses throughout Los Angeles County.
Longtime businesses add to our rich history and culture. These community anchors have long been one of the focal points of the Conservancy’s work, from responding to threats of demolition to providing technical assistance. We saved the original McDonald’s from demolition in the ‘90s, brought funding for the rehabilitation of the Formosa Cafe’s Pacific Electric Red Car, and rallied to designate Norms on La Cienega, Tom Bergin’s on Fairfax, and Otomisan Japanese Restaurant in Boyle Heights as Historic-Cultural Monuments (HCM). In late 2019, we proudly launched a Legacy Business initiative to raise awareness about and support for these important places in L.A. County.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we understood the immediate threat and unthinkable challenges facing longtime business owners. Thanks to Wells Fargo, we’ve been able to expand our legacy business initiative to include a grant program. This grant provides $5,000 to ten (10) eligible small businesses that have operated and contributed to their community’s history and/or identity for at least 20 years and have less than 25 full-time employees.
So far, the response has been overwhelming. Nearly 400 owners applied for the first round of grants, making the task of choosing just five winners almost seem impossible. Please join our Legacy Business Network and follow us on social media to learn more about our winners and to stay up-to-date on Round 2 of the L.A. Conservancy’s Legacy Business Grant Program!
The Pup Cafe in Venice as photographed by Ansel Adams in 1940. Remembering the birthday of this legendary photographer (born #OTD in 1902) with his photos archived at the #LosAngeles Public Library: http://photofriends.org/finding-magnificence-in-the-mundane-ansel-adams-and-the-fortune-magazine-collection/.
On this Presidents Day, the cover of Citrograph Magazine, published by the citrus industry of Southern California. The 1932 Orange Show in San Bernardino featured an exhibit highlighting the life of George Washington, as 1932 was the bicentennial birthday of the nation's first president (born February 22, 1732). Found this issue in the Arboretum Library in Arcadia.
Photo of a 1940s formal dance at the Dunbar Hotel hosted by the Ebony Earls, a Pasadena social club. Photo is courtesy of the Stephen Mack collection at Pasadena City College (Stephen Mack is the one circled in yellow).
Jan 31, 1958: The first US satellite, Explorer 1, was launched into space from Cape Canaveral. According to JPL, Explorer 1, "was designed, built and operated by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory."
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has posted its old magazines on the Internet Archive, from 1926 through 2001. They are a great source of the museum's history and Los Angeles history.
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