I started activism as a freshman in college--opposing the Vietnam War and HUAC witch hunts (dressed as a witch!). I become most active in the feminist movement, writing a book, starting a dozen consciousness-raising groups, women's center, anti-rape squad, L.A. Commission on Assaults Against Women, lesbian feminists and back again against war in Iraq, for peace in Palestine and Israel. My papers from the 60s to the 90s are in your library.
--Jan Robins

In 2005, I moved from Pomona to Los Angeles to attend graduate school at UCLA. As a new student in their Urban Planning program, I was eager to engage with my new surroundings. At the encouragement of a friend, I visited the Southern California Library to view their collections and learn about opportunities for students. Much to my luck, a few weeks later I started working for SCL as a program coordinator. This was an amazing opportunity that has impacted my life profoundly at it put me in contact with an amazing staff that has pushed me to become a better scholar, allowed me to participate in events that have shown me how history and the present are intricately intertwined, and offered a model for conducting research that is civically engaging. Much more than an archive to me, the Library is an organic, living social space. As I currently work towards my PhD in American Studies and Ethnicity at USC, I continue to be motivated by the Library's efforts to use history to advance social justice.
--Genevieve