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Glen Creason, Librarian III, History & Genealogy Department

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Cartograph of Southern California by Ruth Taylor White

Ruth Taylor White: The Great Cartographer With an Asterisk

March 26, 2021

After admiring her maps for several decades I began to ponder why the great Ruth Taylor White does not have a place in Tooley’s Dictionary of Mapmakers or even a Wikipedia page. After all, she must be considered at the top of popular cartographers with few peers amongst pictorial mapmakers.

Safer at Home, Women's History Month, Maps, California History
1935 postcard of the Los Angeles Central Library

Yes Virginia, There is a Central Library

December 24, 2020

Dear History and Genealogy Department:
I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Central Library anymore.
Papa says, ‘If you see it in on the website it’s so.’
Please tell me the truth; is there a Central Library?

Safer at Home, Holidays
Hansen sketch of Los Angeles after statehood. A War Department publication in 1856, “Reports of Explorations and Surveys”

What Christmas in L.A. Was Like in 1851

December 24, 2020

We don’t have a typical Christmas season here in L.A., like the ones in syrupy movies with snow, ear muffs, winter coats, and people standing in a blizzard preparing to jump off a trestle.

Safer at Home, Los Angeles History, Holidays, Christmas
Glean Creason from 1984

Of Friends: A Librarian Reflects

July 01, 2020

Libraries are empty of customers and that is sad as hell. Sad for library workers who not only love the musty smell of the stacks but also the everyday challenges of actual patrons!

Safer at Home, Los Angeles History, Maps
1918 Poster about influenza

When L.A. Fought the Pandemic and Won

April 18, 2020

It was a time when Angelenos should have been preparing to head out into the streets waving victory flags and knocking back belts of whiskey before the commencement of the dreaded Volstead act.

Maps, Safer at Home, Los Angeles History
Sepulveda becomes a lonely road, [1963]. Valley Times Collection

Sad Soli-Tunes Playlist to Listen to at Home

March 31, 2020

I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.―Henry David Thoreau

Freegal, e-Media, Music, Safer at Home
Glen Creason and Loida Garcia-Febo looking at a new map

Major Gift to Our Map Collection

May 25, 2019

An over one-hundred-year-old, beautifully detailed map of downtown Los Angeles has been received by the History and Genealogy department from the Historical Society of Southern California.

Maps, Los Angeles History
The Junior League created this tourist map in 1980 showing a festive looking Chinatown

Chinatown: On the Map

March 13, 2019

Chinatown in Los Angeles has been demeaned and misunderstood for about a century and a half.

Chinatown, Maps, Los Angeles History, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
close up view of Forest Lawn Cemetery

Where the Souls Sleep on All Saints Eve

October 31, 2018

Halloween has become a huge, month-long celebration in these modern times and not just for candy and death as I recall it meant when I was a brat.

Fall Traditions, Halloween
Glen Creason and his daughter Katya celebrate the re-opening of Central Library on a closed-off 5th Street

Central Reopens: Reflections

September 25, 2018

The day my own dear Central Library reopened I got my name in the L.A. Times which elicited ragging from pals around the city.

Central 25, History Department, LAPL History, Library Stories

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