Skip to content

Tag: historic preservation

November 21, 2024
seidenbe
Comments closed

Season 5, Episode 4

Posted in Episodes, and Season 5

How Lesbian Bars Built Community in San Francisco’s North Beach

As a young architectural historian in San Francisco, Shayne Watson would take lunchtime walks near her office, pondering how and where the city’s lesbian history took shape. She discovered that one of the earliest lesbian bars once stood right up the street in North Beach, a neighborhood that served as the birthplace of the city’s lesbian community—though you’d never know it just by looking. After earning her USC master’s degree in 2009, Shayne decided to do something about underrecognized LGBTQ history in San Francisco. She never looked back and is now a national leader in LGBTQ preservation.

Producer Willa Seidenberg took a walk with Shayne in North Beach to see some sites from her thesis, Preserving the Tangible Remains of San Francisco’s Lesbian Community in North Beach, 1933 to 1960. They discuss the neighborhood’s roots in tourism, its transformation after Prohibition, and its uncertain fate in the face of the affordable housing crisis.

Read moreSeason 5, Episode 4

October 31, 2024
seidenbe
Comments closed

Season 5, Episode 3

Posted in Episodes, and Season 5

[Encore] Free to be Punjabi

October 31st marks the beginning of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. It’s the most important holiday in India. In celebration, we are re-releasing this episode from Season 1.

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.

Read moreSeason 5, Episode 3
September 12, 2024
olnick
Comments closed

Season 5, Episode 1

Posted in Episodes, and Season 5

Preserving Black Heritage in the U.S. South

One of the signs memorializing the 1955 murder of Emmett Till weighs nearly 500 pounds and is designed to absorb a rifle round. It’s the fourth version of the sign, the others having been vandalized and riddled with bullet holes.

How can communities recognize and preserve vulnerable Black heritage sites without placing them more at risk? New alumna Kira Williams shares her views with co-host Cindy Olnick on a visit to L.A.’s St. Elmo Village, a historic site of art and healing. They explore the site and discuss Kira’s thesis, Being a Part of the Narrative: How to Preserve Black Heritage in the U.S. South While Mitigating Violence and Facilitating Change?

Read moreSeason 5, Episode 1

April 18, 2024
sandmeie
Comments closed

Season 4, Episode 9

Posted in Episodes, and Season 4

There’s an App for That: 3D Scanning with a Smartphone

Tools for documenting historic buildings evolve constantly, but professional 3D scanners remain out of reach for most of us. Alumna Ye Hong, our first dual-degree student in Heritage Conservation and Building Science, sees a path to more equitable heritage conservation in the nearly ubiquitous smartphone. For her thesis, she tested the potential and limitations of mobile apps to scan Reunion House, designed by Richard and Dion Neutra. In this episode, co-host Trudi Sandmeier discusses this exciting project with Ye, as well as (fellow alum) Sian Winship of the Neutra Institute for Survival through Design.

Read moreSeason 4, Episode 9

March 28, 2024
seidenbe
Comments closed

Season 4, Episode 8

Posted in Episodes, and Season 4

Documenting Black Women’s History at the Wilfandel Clubhouse

Dedicated students at the University of Southern California have pulled out the laser scanners and measuring tapes to document the Wilfandel Clubhouse in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles. The Wilfandel Club, the oldest Black women’s club in Los Angeles, was founded in 1945 by Della Williams (wife of architect Paul R. Williams) and Fannie Williams as a safe place for social, civic, and community events. In this episode, producer Willa Seidenberg visits the clubhouse to see the students in action, hear what they’re doing and why, and talk with longtime member Jan Morrow Bell.

Read moreSeason 4, Episode 8

University of Southern California