Archives Bazaar
The 7th-Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar
Saturday, October 27, 2012
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Doheny Memorial Library
USC University Park Campus
Los Angeles history comes alive at the 7th-annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar. Organized by L.A. as Subject and presented by the USC Libraries, the annual event celebrates the diversity of Southern California’s history. For scholarly researchers, journalists, history buffs, and those simply interested in exploring the stories of Los Angeles, discovery awaits everyone at the Archives Bazaar. This event is free and open to the public.
The Archives Bazaar draws its strength from the breadth and variety of its participants’ collections. Large institutions will be represented at the bazaar along with smaller organizations and private collections whose materials fill the gaps left in the city’s official history. In all, more than 80 archives are expected to be represented.
A rich suite of programming complements the rare historical materials on display. This year, a new event will connect scholars, students, and history fans with the historical collections they’re looking for. A kind of archival speed dating, “A Very Quick Tour of Los Angeles Area Archives” features more than a dozen L.A. as Subject members who, in rapid-fire succession, will share one notable item from their archives.
Four panel discussions will delve deeper into selected themes from Los Angeles history, from how the city became the center of car culture to the way tourists’ postcards advertised L.A.’s charms to the rest of the world. Also on offer is an educational session on oral history and a screening of Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, a documentary film about the L.A.-based band and its genre-bending sound.
The USC Libraries serve as the host institution for L.A. as Subject, an alliance of libraries, museums, and other archival and cultural organizations. The relationship complements the USC libraries’ strong regional history collection and is a natural outgrowth of the libraries’ efforts to preserve and expand access to the primary sources of L.A. history.
PROGRAMMING INFORMATION
SPECIAL EVENT
11:00am - 12:30pm A VERY QUICK TOUR OF LOS ANGELES AREA ARCHIVES
Just as speed dating brings together lonely hearts, this quick-paced series of 5-minute presentations will help connect scholars, students, and history buffs with the archival collections they need. More than a dozen L.A. as Subject members will share one notable item from their archives as a way of introducing their collections. Bring a notepad, watch the presentations, and then head down to the exhibition hall for a second date.
PANEL DISCUSSIONS
9:30am - 10:45am WISH YOU WERE HERE: LOS ANGELES IN POSTCARDS
Postcards have been used since the nineteenth century as a way to inform friends of a pleasurable vacation destination. Collectors David Boulé and Melvin Hale discuss how Los Angeles, with its year-round sunny weather, has a long tradition of advertising its charms through this inexpensive form of media.
1:00pm - 2:30pm START YOUR ENGINES: HOW L.A. BECAME THE CENTER OF CAR CULTURE
Drag races. Drive-thrus. The 405. Detroit may be the car capital of the world, but Los Angeles has long been associated with car culture. Learn about Southern California’s special connection with the automobile as panelists Leslie Kendall, curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum, and Ken Berg, an archivist at the Motorsports Education Foundation, discuss the history of motoring in Los Angeles.
1:00pm - 2:30pm CSI LOS ANGELES: ARCHIVAL CASE STUDY INVESTIGATIONS
Like the forensic detectives on television, history researchers can be confronted with a baffling number of contradictory sources and dead ends when trying to untangle a mystery. In this discussion, specialists analyze the difficulty in piecing together scanty historical data to tell an electrifying story.
3:00pm - 4:30pm SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RANCHOS AND HOMESTEADS
In the early nineteenth century, when Los Angeles was just a small pueblo, a number of ranchos populated the Southern California landscape. Paul Spitzzeri of the Homestead Museum, Carolyn Schoff from Pio Pico State Historic Park, and Steve Iverson of Rancho Los Cerritos talk about the challenges of preserving and interpreting their landmarks for a new generation.
EDUCATIONAL SESSION
9:30am - 10:45am ON THE RECORD: GETTING STARTED WITH ORAL HISTORY
This workshop—presented by Natalie M. Fousekis, Director of the Center for Oral and Public History at Cal State Fullerton—will introduce attendees to the process of conducting oral history interviews. Subjects to be covered include preparing for interviews, proper recording equipment, transcription, and the kind of paperwork needed for depositing the results in an archive.
DOCUMENTARY FILM SCREENING
3:00pm - 5:00pm EVERYDAY SUNSHINE: THE STORY OF FISHBONE
In the early 1980s, Fishbone rose from its Los Angeles roots to become one of the most original bands of its time. Produced and directed by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler, this documentary film tells the story of the band that demolished the walls of genre and challenged the racial stereotypes and political order of the music industry—and the nation.
