A couple in a Studebaker in Santa Barbara, CA, 1962 on a television screen

The Rise of the LA Suburb in 1960s TV

The shift from city centers to suburbs was reflected in post-World War II television programming.
The food court in Lion Plaza, San Jose, CA

The Asian American History of Silicon Valley Shopping Malls

Shopping centers in East San Jose that originally served working-class immigrants have been transformed by the influx of transnational tech professionals.
Ricardo Flores Magón (left) and his brother Enrique in the Los Angeles County Jail, 1917.

Family and Revolution in the Borderlands

Paula Carmona, the founding mother of the magonista movement, was all but erased from Mexico’s revolutionary history.
The Japanese section of the Food Products Building at the 1915 World's Fair in San Francisco

Sanitizing Foreign Food at the World’s Fair

At the 1915 San Francisco Panama-Pacific International Exposition, “food purity” was shorthand for food manufactured without the help of a racially diverse labor force.
American Army Entering the City of Mexico, Filippo Constaggini, 1885

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: Annotated

Signed February 2, 1848, the treaty compelled Mexico to cede 55 percent of its territory, bringing more than 525,000 square miles under US sovereignty.
Reverend Edward E. Hailwood, rector of St. Mark Episcopal Church

Fair Housing: A Church Against Itself?

A ballot measure aimed at overturning California’s 1963 Fair Housing Act revealed some serious divisions within the Episcopal Church.
Three muscle builders pose at Muscle Beach on the Santa Monica Beach in California, 1949

Gay Panic on Muscle Beach

The skin and strength on display at Santa Monica’s Muscle Beach aggravated American fears of gender transgressions and homosexuality.
An illustration of a revolver

Guns in America: Foundations and Key Concepts

This non-exhaustive list of readings on the role of guns in US history and society introduces the field as a subject of scholarly inquiry.
Two people walking towards Los Angeles, 1937

How the LAPD Guarded California’s Borders in the 1930s

Working well outside their jurisdiction, the officers patrolled their state's borders against white migrants.
Illustration of Mexican agricultural laborers forming a raised fist of solidarity

How “Measured Militancy” Empowered California’s Fieldworkers

When Mexican-American fieldworkers' strikes didn't net results, César Chávez led the Ventura County Community Service Organization in alternate tactics.