Documenting Black Women’s History at the Wilfandel Clubhouse Cindy Olnick 00:00Today on Save As… Eliza Jane Franklin 00:01This is really a hidden gem. So many of these places and spaces that will uplift the Black community are often hidden, or they’re unacknowledged…
Tag: historic preservation
The Midcentury Spa-Tels of Desert Hot Springs Trudi Sandmeier 0:00Today on Save As… Willa Seidenberg 0:01I always loved it, A: because the spa water is amazing. And, B: the minute I get to the desert I relax. Trudi Sandmeier 0:17Welcome…
The Hidden Heritage of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf
A San Francisco native, alumna Emi Takahara always wondered why so many locals dismiss the historic Fisherman’s Wharf as a tourist trap. Sure, it has overpriced food, but it also has a culinary history that might surprise you—as well as longtime businesses trying to weather the changing times. In this episode, Emi talks with producer Willa Seidenberg about her thesis, The Restaurant That Started It All: The Hidden Heritage of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, how Italian immigrants shaped Fisherman’s Wharf in the nineteenth century, and how it’s evolving in the twenty-first.
The Hidden Heritage of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf Cindy Olnick 0:00Today on Save As … Emi Takahara 0:01People don’t really know about the Italian and Sicilian heritage, or even the early people, the Yelamu that lived there, they’re not thinking…
Rehabbing Old Houses into Affordable Housing Trudi Sandmeier 0:00Today on Save As… Isabel Thornton 0:01It’s the whole effect of that in a neighborhood when you have a blighted or vacant home and a home that has just not seen…
Rehabbing Old Houses into Affordable Housing
Alumna Isabel Thornton grew up in the Rust Belt town of Roanoke, Virginia. After graduating from USC, she eventually returned home and took note of the city’s beautiful Victorian homes, many vacant and in a state of disrepair. Linking her experience in affordable housing with her passion for historic places inspired her to create her non-profit Restoration Housing. In this episode of Save As, Isabel talks with Trudi about how her organization is successfully rehabilitating neglected houses into unique high-quality affordable rental housing.
[Update] Meet You at Lenchita’s
Alumna Sara Delgadillo grew up in Pacoima, a blue-collar neighborhood in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley. Sara joined us in Season One to discuss how growing up in Pacoima influenced her life, studies, and career in heritage conservation. She also shared some of the enclave’s rich history, including some of the longtime small businesses that serve as centers of community and cultural continuity. One of them, Lenchita’s Restaurant, recently won a $5,000 Legacy Business Grant from the Los Angeles Conservancy! Hear about this well-deserved honor in a brief update with Sara and Chef Art Luna, a culinary instructor and grandson of Lenchita’s founder Angelita Alvarez Rentería. Then enjoy the original episode—and get in line for your holiday tamales.
[Update] Meet you at Lenchita’s Cindy OlnickHello, Save As listeners, this is Cindy Olnick here, and we are very excited to bring you a brief update on a very important topic that we covered in the very first season. We…
[Update] Heritage and Hope at the Mafundi Building in Watts
After the Watts Rebellion of 1965, Black architects Art Silvers and Robert Kennard designed a Late Modern building for the Mafundi Institute, a cultural organization. The Watts Happening Cultural Center opened in 1970 as a place of creative expression, community, and healing. The popular Watts Coffee House has called the building home for decades. Now commonly called the Mafundi Building, this neighborhood treasure needs some TLC and new programming by and for the community.
We featured the Mafundi Building in Season 1, when it faced demolition and USC Materials Conservation students used it as their case study. MHC alum Rita Cofield, a lifelong community member and longtime champion of the building, joined us for the first episode. Now executive director of Friends at Mafundi and Project Leader of the Getty’s African American Historic Places Los Angeles initiative, Rita returns with an update on exciting developments. We follow the update with the original episode. This is a long one, but stick with it—you’ll be glad you did.
| The original episode was dedicated to the memory of Jerome Robinson—scholar, MHC alumnus, and friend—pictured at Disneyland Paris in 2017 with Save As co-host Trudi Sandmeier. |  |