The Electronic Neighborhood is a unique one-stop information resource for information on California and regional history topics. Through the Electronic Neighborhood, the Los Angeles Public Library is electronically sharing indexes and visual resources previously only available to individuals actually visiting the Library
The Databases
California Index | California Fiction | Los Angeles City and Street Directories |
Menu Collection | Turnabout Theater | Photo Collection
We also offer access to the El Pueblo Photo Collection, the Photo Collection of the Department of Water and Power, and a list of other local resources.
About the Databases
CALIFORNIA INDEX:
An index to people, places and events in the state, with emphasis on Southern California. Many citations are linked to the digitized documents so they may be read online or downloaded. You may search under a community name or a subject, such as a park, school, or building. You may also combine terms to narrow your search to the parks in a particular community, or you may search under a specific name, such as Bradbury Building. You may search under various ethnic groups and do so within a specific community. In addition, a large portion of the database is biographical. Many of these entries are linked to a biographical data sheet filled out by the person himself in the early years of the 20th century This is a resource unique to Los Angeles Public Library.
Many citations refer to copyright documents which could not be scanned into the database. Some of these documents are actually on file in the History Department of the library and may be requested from the :
History Department
Los Angeles Public Library
630 West Fifth Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
history@lapl.org
The first entry in the database may be a record indicating that photographs are also available for that query. These are often useful for the cataloging information as well as for the image.
CALIFORNIA FICTION INDEX:
An index to adult fiction that takes place in California. Included is a plot summary and a list of major characters. Locale and decade of the story are listed, as well as author and title.
LOS ANGELES CITY & STREET DIRECTORIES
The Los Angeles Public Library has digitized a portion of its collection of Los Angeles city directories and Los Angeles street address directories. The directories can be browsed page by page, or searched for text.
MENU COLLECTION:
A database of menus from Los Angeles, other cities, steamships, airlines and banquets. Images of the actual menus are being added. The address and telephone number of the restaurant is given, plus the menu date, cuisine type, meal, and price range.
PHOTO COLLECTION:
A growing portion of the library's 2.5 million photographs focusing on Southern California history, including ethnic group photographs gathered in the “Shades of L.A.” project sponsored by the library, as well as many local community topics.
TURNABOUT THEATRE:
The archives of the Turnabout Theatre, a Los Angeles theater that presented adult marionette comic drama, live music and comedy from 1941 to 1956. The collection, containing photographs, documents, props and costumes, has been cataloged and the images digitized.