This is part one of a seven-part blog series exploring the long-forgotten Los Angeles arts & culture magazine, The Graphic.

Just before the Harbor Freeway ends and spits you into San Pedro, a large orange-colored object within the foothills leading to Palos Verdes usually catches your eye. Even on a foggy day, it stands out among a wall of squat white cylinders and brown earth surrounding it.

While scouring microfilm in the History & Genealogy Department at Central Library a few months back, I was startled to see a name that seemed entirely out of place in a particular publication.

Charlotta Bass, a name well known in Los Angeles history circles, has surfaced recently on a national front thanks in part to the ascension of Senator Kamala Harris to the position of Vice President of the United States.