A Tale of Two Rivers: Los Angeles and San Antonio
Why do urban rivers look like they do? What makes one river key to a city’s identity and another one largely unknowable? We wrap up Season Four with a trip to the banks of the Los Angeles River, where Cindy Olnick chats with new dual-degree alum Leslie Dinkin about her award-winning master’s thesis, Heritage in Practice: A Study of Two Urban Rivers.
Leslie wanted to know what happened to set the Los Angeles and San Antonio Rivers on such different courses in the development of their respective cities. In addition to comparing their histories, she walked nearly sixty miles along both rivers. In her thesis, she documents the experience through her written reflections and hundreds of photos by Rio (yes, Rio) Asch Phoenix. In the episode, she shares stories, insights, and part of her conversation with Char Miller, Director of Environmental Analysis and W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis and History at Pomona College.
Passing beneath the Canoga Avenue Bridge across the Los Angeles River, constructed in 1956. Source: Rio Asch Phoenix. 
Birds fly past the Washington Boulevard Bridge on the Los Angles River, built in 1931 and listed as Historic Cultural Monument #903. Source: Rio Asch Phoenix. 
Two young boys use small rods to fish from the San Antonio River in the sun. Source: Rio Asch Phoenix. 
Upper stretch of the Los Angeles River following channelization in 1955. Source: United States Army Corps of Engineers. 
A house carried by the great Los Angeles River flood of 1938. Source: United States Army Corps of Engineers. 
The Los Angeles River near Griffith park, circa 1895 to 1898. Source: University of Southern California Libraries and California Historical Society. 
The Historic Brackenridge Park Bridge was constructed across the San Antonio River in 1890. Source: Rio Asch Phoenix. 
The Olmos Dam was completed in 1926 to retain and control flood waters emptying from the Olmos Creek into the San Antonio River. Photographed in 1928. Source: Library of Congress. 
A shallow San Antonio River in 1895. Source: Library of Congress
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Featuring
Leslie Dinkin (MHC and MLA+U ’24)
Leslie is a Landscape Design Coordinator based in Los Angeles at Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI). Her work focuses on integrating history and storytelling within design. Before pursuing graduate studies, she taught environmental ethics, local ecologies, and wilderness skills to high school students in the Rocky Mountains. Leslie holds dual Master’s degrees in Landscape Architecture and Heritage Conservation from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Colorado College.
Learn More
Thesis: Heritage in Practice: A Study of Two Urban Rivers by Leslie Dinkin
Los Angeles River Integrated Design Lab (USC)
Leslie’s USC work – Water Agency Project, Fifty-one Miles, Point of Confluence: Rethinking Large Landscape Infrastructure Design, 2023 ASLA Student Honor Award for Communications
Conservation Society of San Antonio
USC Heritage Conservation Programs
Your Hosts
Co-host Trudi Sandmeier is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Director of Graduate Programs in Heritage Conservation, and Professor of Practice at the USC School of Architecture. Her work centers on the conservation of the recent past and the impact of under-recognized communities on the historic built environment. Read more in her USC faculty bio.
Co-host Cindy Olnick serves as both Associate Director of Heritage Conservation at USC and a communications consultant for heritage conservation, historic preservation, and the built environment. Read more in her USC faculty bio.
Podcast producer Willa Seidenberg taught audio journalism and podcasting at USC’s Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, while pursuing a USC Master of Heritage Conservation degree. She retired from teaching and earned her degree in 2023. A 20-year broadcast journalist and an inaugural fellow with USC’s Center for Excellence in Teaching, Willa founded Annenberg Radio News, the university’s radio news operation; and Intersections South LA, a reporting lab and community website for South Los Angeles. With photographer William Short, Willa is the author of two oral history/photo projects: A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War and Memories of the American War: Stories From Viet Nam.
