Information about the Library's Charlotta Bass Collection and materials related to the California Eagle are available on this website. We also have other materials and collections at the Library that those interested in Bass, the issues she raised, and the South Los Angeles area may want to explore. These resources are listed below. If you are interested in using any of these resources, please pay us a visit at the Southern California Library, and we will be happy to help you with them.

Periodicals | Collections | Guides to South L.A. Materials

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• Herald Dispatch (1953-present, incomplete)
• The Integrator (1967-1969), published by Crenshaw Neighbors
• Los Angeles Negro Directory and Who's Who 1930-1931, published by the California Eagle
• Los Angeles Sentinel (1954, 1969, 1970-present, incomplete)
• L.A. Watts Times (1990-present, incomplete)
• Rice Paper (1995-present, incomplete)
• Turning Point (1996-present)
• Watts Star Review (1989, 1991-present, incomplete)
• Wave (1997-present, incomplete).

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Charles Bratt Papers (links to a comprehensive description on the Online Archive of California website)

Summary: This collection consists of the papers of Charles Bratt and Clarence Johnson, both employees of the World War II Era United States Employment Services (USES), part of the War Manpower Commission. The documents deal with the work of the Committee on Fair Employment Practices to prevent discrimination based on race, creed, color, or national origin with special attention to discrimination within unions.

Abraham Minkus Papers: Blacklisted Teachers in Los Angeles (links to a comprehensive description on the Online Archive of California website)

Summary: One file details a protest of a speech by right-wing demagogue Gerald L.K. Smith in 1945 by, among others, Minkus and Charlotta Bass.

Edward Mosk Papers (links to a comprehensive description on the Online Archive of California website)

Summary: The collection consists primarily of materials documenting the Progressive Citizens of America (PCA), Southern California Chapter, and the Independent Progressive Party (IPP) in Southern California.

Civil Rights Congress (Los Angeles Chapter files, 1940s-1950s) (links to a comprehensive description on the Online Archive of California website)

Summary: Organizational records, case files, correspondence, campaign, legal, and other documents from the Civil Rights Congress, Los Angeles chapter. Organized in 1946, the CRC defended the rights of labor, Left political activists, Blacks, Mexican-Americans, and other people of color.

Black Panther Collection (1960s and 1970s)

Summary: Flyers, articles, and ephemera documenting the Panthers in Los Angeles (and Oakland, CA). The collection is complemented by the Library's run of the organization's newspaper The Black Panther.

South Los Angeles 20th Century Documentation Collection (1930s-1990s).

Summary: Files including high school yearbooks, church bulletins, photographs, clippings, and organizational literature documenting churches, groups, schools, individuals, and neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles.

20th Century Organizational Files (links to a comprehensive description on the Online Archive of California website)

These files contain clippings and pamphlets from the early twentieth century to the present concerning the Los Angeles region. Information concerning South Los Angeles can be found under such headings as African Americans, Chicana/os, Education, Housing, Latina/os, Neighborhoods, and Race Relations.

Frances Williams Papers (1930s-1990s)

Summary: Papers documenting the life of the late African American actress, theatre producer, and social activist. A beloved cultural figure in the African American and progressive community in Los Angeles, she ran The Frances Williams Corner Theatre out of her garage in South L.A. for decades. Her collection documents her political activism.

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Resources on South Los Angeles

Resources on art and culture in South Los Angeles