Skip to content

Month: April 2021

Season 1, Episode 14

Posted in Episodes, and Season 1

Bunker Hill Refrain: Resurrecting a Lost Community

Bunker Hill looms large in the collective memory of Los Angeles. Once a tony enclave of Victorian homes, the downtown neighborhood became a vibrant and diverse community before being razed in the urban renewal/removal of the 1950s. Much has been made of the architectural loss. But who were, and what came of, the thousands and thousands of people displaced? A very cool USC project called Bunker Hill Refrain seeks to find out. High tech meets low tech in a vast effort to capture, map, and analyze data from a trove of 1930s WPA census cards. Coupled with oral histories, the data can help illuminate the social cost of urban renewal, inform more thoughtful planning going forward, perhaps even reconnect the community. Hear from students, faculty, and staff about how the project came about, how it works, and how you can get involved.

Season 1, Episode 13

Posted in Episodes, and Season 1

Meet you at Lenchita’s

Alumna Sara Delgadillo grew up in the working class ethnic enclave of Pacoima in the San Fernando Valley. The heart of the community, the Van Nuys Boulevard commercial corridor, is home to several legacy businesses that serve as centers of community and cultural continuity. In this episode, journey with us to this corner of Los Angeles and see it through the eyes of a local. Hear about how growing up in Pacoima has influenced Sara’s path in life, in her studies, and in heritage conservation.

Season 1, Episode 12

Posted in Episodes, and Season 1

Free to be Punjabi

The allure of abundant work and fertile soil drew many to California, and in particular, the rich rural areas of the state. Punjabi workers came in small numbers to Yuba City in the early 1900s,  but after Indian independence in 1947 when Punjab was split in two, that trickle became a steady stream. Now this rural area known for its peach orchards is the heart of a vibrant South Asian Punjabi community, rich with traditions and culture.

In this episode, hear from alumna Deepeaka Dhaliwal about her family ties to the area and some of the sites she explored in her research for her thesis  Yuba-Sutter: A Case Study for Heritage Conservation in Punjabi-American Communities.