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March 7, 2020
Sue Hodson
I Promise You, I'll Be Home:
The Korean War Letters of Al Martinez
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Retired in August, 2017, as the curator of literary collections for The Huntington Library, Sue oversaw all British and American literary manuscripts, from the renaissance to the present, and all modern literary rare works. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of California Archivists, and in 2004 she was elected a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists, the highest honor in the archival profession. She speaks and publishes often on archival and literary topics. She is currently working on an edition of the Korean War letters of Al Martinez, a former featured columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Sue and her husband, Peter, live in California.
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From 1950 to 1952, Al Martinez served in the Korean War as a rifleman and combat correspondent. The hundreds of letters he wrote home show a young writer finding his voice. In one, he wrote of struggling to cope “in a world of battle that seems devoid of humanity or reason.” A native Californian, Martinez spent more than five decades as a journalist, shared a 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service for a series on the Southern California Latino community, and earned the President’s Award for Excellence from the Los Angeles Press Club. He authored seven books and dozens of television screenplays. Al passed away in January 2015.
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April 4, 2020
Geraldine Knatz
Geraldine Knatz began her career at the Port of Los Angeles in 1977 as a marine environmental assistant—and scuba diver—while still a student at the University of Southern California. When she wasn't transplanting kelp plants from Catalina Island to the breakwater of Los Angeles Harbor, she was diving to the floor of the harbor to measure oil pools that resulted from the explosion of the Liberian oil tanker, SS Sansinena.
In a career that spanned thirty-seven years at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, Knatz advanced to various leadership positions, and she was named Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, America's largest container port. At its helm for eight years, Knatz also showcased the port’s historic resources during its year-long Centennial Celebration in 2007, ensuring century-old photographs, maps, and documents were preserved for future generations. The author of two regional histories, Long Beach’s Los Cerritos and Terminal Island: Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor, Knatz is currently a professor of practice at the University of Southern California, with a joint appointment in the Price School of Public Policy and the Viterbi School of Engineering. Married with two children, Knatz resides in Long Beach. |
With years of research and more than 200 maps and images, Geraldine Knatz shapes an insightful story of the Port of Los Angeles, from its early entrepreneurs to the city's business and political leadership, and the inevitable conflicts that arose between them. Knatz digs into the back stories of the key players in a hardcore, well-documented piece of storytelling at its best. Port of Los Angeles matches a topic-the history of Los Angeles Harbor-with someone of unquestionable authority to tackle the subject. Knatz worked nearly four decades at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, her last eight years as Executive Director at Los Angeles.
In this remarkable book, her expertise shows. Port of Los Angeles reads like a script for another Chinatown, only this time it's about saltwater and controlling the waterfront, not drinking water and controlling the land. Knatz takes readers on a journey that will educate and inspire, and fills these pages with real-life intrigue, masterminds, and politics extraordinaire. Port of Los Angeles will leave the world's maritime aficionados spellbound and historians in awe. A must-read for anyone who treasures the history of Los Angeles. "The Port of Los Angeles made this city. This very well might be "The Study" of what made modern Los Angeles." -William Deverell, Director, Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West |
May 2, 2020
Eugene W. Moy
Chinese American Legacies
of the
Foothills and Valleys
Chinese started migrating to the Americas more than 400 years ago, but the local presence began in the 1840’s. The California Gold Rush brought migrants from all over the world, including from China. Seeing opportunity in Southern California, many Chinese stayed, working for others and for themselves. Chinatowns were established in the foothills of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, supported by the large numbers of Chinese working for pioneers like Benjamin Wilson, Leonard Rose, E.J. “Lucky” Baldwin, and the Chaffey Brothers. Chinese labor enhanced not only the productivity of local agricultural enterprises, but ensured that local products could be packed and shipped nationwide over multiple railroad routes that were constructed with help from Chinese labor.
Local Chinatowns disappeared after the Chinese Exclusion Act period, which was in effect from 1882 to 1943. However, new immigration quotas after 1965 have led to a return of the Chinese population, contributing to new demographic and economic diversity. Images of the early growth, and rebirth, of the Chinese American community will be shared by Eugene Moy.
Local Chinatowns disappeared after the Chinese Exclusion Act period, which was in effect from 1882 to 1943. However, new immigration quotas after 1965 have led to a return of the Chinese population, contributing to new demographic and economic diversity. Images of the early growth, and rebirth, of the Chinese American community will be shared by Eugene Moy.
Eugene W. Moy is a native of Los Angeles Chinatown, a fourth generation Californian, and has been involved with public history and historic preservation since the 1970’s. He has been an active member of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, the Chinese American Museum, and other organizations.
