Tag: featured

100 Years Ago Today: The Tragic Accident That Changed Los Angeles Streetcars Forever

At approximately 9:20 p.m. on this date in 1913, a Pacific Electric streetcar on the Venice Short Line slammed into another one on the same track just 50 feet east of Vineyard Junction. The accident, near the present-day intersection of Pico Boulevard…

We Are In Overdrive: L.A. Constructs The Future, 1940-1990

“Every city has had its boom, but the history of Los Angeles…should be regarded as one continuous boom punctuated at intervals with major explosions.”  —Carey McWilliams, Southern California: An Island on the Land, 1946 Metro Transportation Library, Archives & Records…

“Movers & Shakers”: Metro Transportation Library Receives National Honor For Innovative Services

Movers & Shakers - Library Journal Cover

This week, we received some great news. I have been named a 2013 Library Journal “Mover & Shaker”! Each year, just a handful of individuals are selected from thousands of information professionals to be honored as the nation’s most innovative…

At Last: All Of Los Angeles Transportation History Explained In Interactive Timeline & Interactive Organization Chart

[Above: Metro Library’s new interactive timeline for Los Angeles transit history. “X” out the introduction box and move the chronology slider along the bottom to reposition the timeline. You may click on each transit operator for more information and links…

Remembering Huell Howser: Some Archived Images Of The Region’s Official Rideshare Spokesman

Rideshare campaign featuring Huell Howser

Going back as far as at least the Gold Rush, California has been built on promotion — and we lost one of our greatest boosters this week. Television host Huell Howser criss-crossed the state promoting our diverse history and culture, uncovering…

Broadway Bound: Looking Back At Historic Streetcars On Broadway In Los Angeles’ Historic Core

Streetcar on Broadway, late 1880s

It was announced yesterday that plans to bring streetcars back to Broadway in downtown Los Angeles took a giant step forward. Business owners and residents with an approximate three-block radius of the proposed streetcar route voted to tax themselves to…

How Is A Mastodon Like A Bus?: Local Transit Planning Impacts Los Angeles’ Paleontological Record

How is a Mastodon like a Bus?

At the 7th Annual LA as Subject Archives Bazaar last month, archivist Denise Villegas participated in a “Pecha Kucha-style lightning round” highlighting each collection’s most unusual documents or artifacts. Her presentation captivated the audience, so we are now sharing it…

All Of SoCal History Comes Alive At The 7th Annual LA As Subject Archives Bazaar!

LA as Subject Archives Bazaar poster

Southern California history comes alive once again at the 7th-annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar on the campus of USC on Saturday, October 27 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Organized by LA as Subject and presented by the University of Southern…

28 Years Ago This Week: The World Returns For Los Angeles’ Gold Medal Performance In Olympic Traffic Relief

SCRTD Bus, 1984 Olympics Los Angeles

Only four cities have hosted the modern Olympic Games more than once. When the world returned to Los Angeles in 1984, fifty-two years after its inaugural Games, the Olympics had changed:  140 nations were represented, compared to 37 in 1932. Even…

80 Years Ago This Week: Los Angeles Welcomes (And Transports) The World To The 1932 Summer Olympics

1932 Olympic Organizing Committee official report

Millions around the globe begin to set their sights on London for the next few weeks, making this a great time to take a look back at Los Angeles’ experience with the Olympics. As one of the very few cities to…