The Los Angeles Plaza : sacred and contested space / William David Estrada ; foreword by Devra Weber.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Estrada, William D.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public spaces--California--Los Angeles--History.

Public spaces.

Sacred space--California--Los Angeles--History.

Sacred space.

Memory--Social aspects--California--Los Angeles--History.

Memory.

Community life--California--Los Angeles--History.

Community life.

Human ecology--California--Los Angeles--History.

Human ecology.

Los Angeles Plaza (Los Angeles, Calif.)--History.

Los Angeles Plaza (Los Angeles, Calif.).

Los Angeles (Calif.)--History.

Los Angeles (Calif.).

Los Angeles (Calif.)--Social life and customs.

Los Angeles (Calif.)--Ethnic relations.

Los Angeles (Calif.)--Buildings, structures, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (376 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

City plazas worldwide are centers of cultural expression and artistic display. They are settings for everyday urban life where daily interactions, economic exchanges, and informal conversations occur, thereby creating a socially meaningful place at the core of a city. At the heart of historic Los Angeles, the Plaza represents a quintessential public space where real and imagined narratives overlap and provide as many questions as answers about the development of the city and what it means to be an Angeleno. The author, a social and cultural historian who specializes in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Los Angeles, is well suited to explore the complex history and modern-day relevance of the Los Angeles Plaza. From its indigenous and colonial origins to the present day, Estrada explores the subject from an interdisciplinary and multiethnic perspective, delving into the pages of local newspapers, diaries and letters, and the personal memories of former and present Plaza residents, in order to examine the spatial and social dimensions of the Plaza over an extended period of time. The author contributes to the growing historiography of Los Angeles by providing a groundbreaking analysis of the original core of the city that covers a long span of time, space, and social relations. He examines the impact of change on the lives of ordinary people in a specific place, and how this change reflects the larger story of the city.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Cultural and Historical Origins

2. The Rise and Decline of the Mexican Plaza

3. From Ciudad to City

4. Homelands Remembered

5. Revolution and Public Space

6. Reforming Culture and Community

7. Parades, Murals, and Bulldozers

8. Politics and Preservation

9. The Persistence of Memory

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-327) and index.

ISBN:

0-292-79462-2

OCLC:

607840283