Modeled after a church in Barcelona, Spain, the Cathedral of St. Vibiana was the first cathedral for the Roman Catholic Archdioceses of Monterey and Los Angeles. It was constructed between 1871 and 1876, when 3,000 of Los Angeles’s 5,500 residents were Catholic. Cardinal Roger Mahony proposed that the Cathedral be torn down after it was [...]

Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park commemorates Colonel Allen Allensworth and the only California town to be founded, financed and governed by African Americans. Colonel Allen Allensworth founded the town in 1908. Colonel Allensworth, born a slave, served in the Army and Navy and retired as lieutenant colonel, the highest ranking black in the armed forces. [...]

Chinatown’s first location in Los Angeles was around Calle de los Negros (”Nigger Alley”), a rundown street that was home to brothels and plagued by crime. The earliest Chinese began arriving in 1850 in search of gold. By 1900, Old Chinatown was a mostly-male ghetto because the Chinese Exclusion Act prevented immigration of women. In [...]

The Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance is demanding that the Baldwin Hills oil field regulations be consistent with the Final Environmental Report that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved on October 21, 2008, and the actions of the Regional Planning Commission.  The Board is scheduled to take action on October 28, 2008.
In order to [...]

Visit our collection of photographs of Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park on flickr.
ON CALIFORNIA ESSAYS FROM THE GOLDEN STATE
Founded as a black utopian colony, Allensworth today is far from it
The California town was established by a former slave. The history is preserved in a state park, but blight is rampant in the adjacent community. One [...]

Click here to hear the Song for Panhe by Jodi Levine.

Spirit Circle Acjachemen/Juaneño © Ricardo Duffy 2008.
www.savepanhe.org and www.savesanonofre.org

Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park commemorates Colonel Allen Allensworth and the only California town to be founded, financed and governed by African Americans. Colonel Allen Allensworth founded the town in 1908. Colonel Allensworth, born a slave, served in the Army and Navy and retired as lieutenant colonel, the highest ranking black in the armed forces. [...]

The National Park Service has selected Transit to Trails for the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program. The NPS will collaborate with The City Project, Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, and youth groups including Anahuak Youth Association to serve community recreation and conservation needs.
Transit to Trails takes inner city youth and their families and friends [...]

Portions of the adobe structures were built in the 1790’s as part of the Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera. Archaeological evidence indicates a prehistoric Native American village existed on this site.
Learn more about the Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy campaign.
Visit the Heritage Parkscape online and on flickr.

Historian tells Los Angeles’ story through its plaza

The Los Angeles Plaza: Sacred and Contested Space (University of Texas Press) by William David Estrada
Book review by Daniel Olivas
Historian William David Estrada brings us a fascinating and well-researched historical examination of his city’s cultural and political heart in The Los Angeles Plaza: Sacred [...]