The LA History & Metro Studies Group fosters the study and understanding of southern California history and the history of metropolitan areas more broadly. Through seminars on scholarly works-in-progress, book lectures, and panel discussions on contemporary issues facing southern California and American cities, our goal is to promote urban history scholarship as a means of enriching the field and informing policy-making toward a more just, equitable future for our urban regions.
Events
Fri. September 16, 2022 – pre-circulated paper – via Zoom
“Relief for the Taxpayers: Grassroots Taxpayer Activism, Belonging, and the Limits of the American Welfare State, 1935-1945.”
Brooke Depenbusch, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Springfield
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Fri. October 21, 2022 – pre-circulated paper – Seaver 3
“Siding with Settlers: Californio Collaboration with White American Settler Colonialism in Los Angeles”
Dan Lynch, Leonetti/O’Connell Honors Research in Humanities and Social Sciences Program Head; History Instructor, Marlborough School, Los Angeles
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Fri. December 2, 2022 – pre-circulated paper – via Zoom
“Smokestacks and Silos: Industrial Landscapes and the Value of Urban Space”
Jeffrey Lee Trask, Associate Professor, Georgia State University
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Tues. January 17, 2023 – pre-circulated paper – via Zoom
** Tuesday 7:00 p.m., joint session with the Autry National Center
“Financing Social Change: The Daughters of Charity Foundation and Catholic Efforts to Disrupt Poverty in California, 1990-2010”
Kristine Ashton Gunnell, UCLA Center for the Study of Women
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Fri. February 24, 2023 – Dissertation Workshop – short, pre-circulated papers – Seaver 3
“Moving Mountains: Queer Archives of Environmental Justice in Southeast Los Angeles.”
Oscar Gutierrez, Ph.D. candidate, U.C. San Diego
“Busses, Classrooms, and Playgrounds: Sites for Desegregating the 1970s San Fernando Valley.”
Cathleen Calderon, Ph.D. candidate, USC
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Fri. April 21, 2023 –pre-circulated paper – Seaver 3
“Order Yours From Felix”: Winslow Felix and the Making of Automotive Los Angeles”
Genevieve Carpio, Associate Professor, UCLA
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Fri. May 5, 2023 – Clark Davis Lecture – Seaver 3
“The New Suburbia: Life in L.A. Suburbs Since 1945”
Becky Nicolaides, Research Affiliate at USC and UCLA
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Image credit: Building being demolished, U.S. Post Office, Los Angeles, Calif., 1937, Dick Whittington Studio, USC Libraries Special Collections.
Recorded Sessions
Selected sessions from “#TIMESUP” to “Election 2018: The Political Landscape in LA and California” have been recorded and are available for viewing.
RSVP to a meeting
If you would like to receive announcements for these sessions, please fill out the form at the RSVP link above.
For Zoom sessions: We will include Zoom sign-in information in the e-announcement. Please sign in on time. Please keep your video on and your audio muted until introductions and/or discussion begins. For those new to Zoom, please watch this video on etiquette (aimed at a student audience, but mostly apropos): https://spark.adobe.com/video/IzGAneJs8BNJr.
For in-person sessions: All sessions will begin at 10:30am in Seaver Classroom 3, in the Munger Building, Huntington Library, unless otherwise noted. Please check e-announcements for exact location of sessions. Parking is free.
For more information, email the co-coordinators — Kathy Feeley, Oscar Gutierrez, Becky Nicolaides, Caitlin Parker, and Andrea Thabet — at LA.History.Group@gmail.com.
Archived Schedules
Schedules by year as well as a cumulative list of all presenters and papers are available for review.