Week 1 of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes

 Day 1: 7/5

A view of the Los Angeles Skyline at sunrise on my way to my first day!

My first day was very interesting, I started off trying to enter through the door used by the public at 9 am (the museum opens at 12). While I was worried I had my time wrong and was calling my supervisor to see if other people were there, I luckily spotted someone who looked like they worked at LA Plaza and was able to follow them through the back entrance where the employees enter through. 

Once I found my way in and waited for the elevator I found my supervisor and was able to talk to him on the way up to our floor. After I was able to see our new office, I was able to hear more about the first project that I’d be working on.

This project would be a research project into a piece of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes’ history that is both not easy or fun to explain. I would be looking deeper into the history of La Placita’s cemetery, a cemetery where many of the original settlers of Los Angeles were buried and eventually dug up when excavating the space for LA Plaza’s existence. My job would be to look deeper into the history of the cemetery and the Olvera Street Plaza that Los Angeles originated from, the people who are buried there, and what can be done to help mend that relationship. 

After a quick tour of the building, and exhibits, and meeting most of the people who work at LA Plaza, I was finally able to get to work researching. While at first, it was hard to find information on the discovery of the remains during LA Plaza as most discussions of the event were buried under thousands of articles from media sites like the LA Times. Eventually, I was able to find a research paper written by the University of California- Riverside’s History department chair and professor Steven W Hackel. This paper would touch on the events of LA Plaza workers uncovering the bodies but would mainly go into the history of the cemetery and the Los Angeles Pubelo’s relationship with the native people of the area, the Tongva. This would be a goldmine for my research as it came from an expert on the subject with a detailed explanation of the people buried in the Placita cemetery and also the history of the cemetery from its creation to now. 

Reading this paper left me with 5 pages full of notes in my notebook but also through essentially the rest of my workday. Before I left for work, my supervisor told me to take his library card and start the day at the Central Library to check out a list of books he recommended for my research but also told me to look for any publishings relating to the La Placita issue or the Tongva people as a whole.

On my way home I was starving so I decided to stop by Mr. Churro, a small hole in the wall within the marketplace across the street, to get a quesadilla so as to not fill me up before I ate dinner at my Nina’s who I’d be staying with during the days I’m online. By that last sentence, you can tell I thought it was going to be a small quesadilla that would be on the smaller side… it was not. Unfortunately, I wouldn't learn this until after I chased down my bus to my Nina’s as we were both waiting at the red light across the street from the bus stop. While I thought I could beat a bus in a race, this turned out not to be the case. This, and the fact that the people who drive the buses in Los Angeles refuse to stop for anyone who is making direct eye contact with them and is standing right under the bus stop sign (I’m sure you can tell I have some grievances with the LA Metro).

When I finally got on the bus I would find out that the strategy of running with a to-go box of Mexican food in a bag isn’t a good idea. I found my quesadilla covered in sour cream, something I can't eat, and piping hot. I would give up on my plan to eat my snack on the bus and just dedicate my time at home to cleaning off the quesadilla, getting myself settled at my Nina’s house, and going to sleep.

                                                 

Union Station, where I go to take the bus and train.

Day 2:  7/6

Luckily, day 2 wasn’t as eventful as my first day. After waking up and cooking breakfast, I got on the metro to go to the Central Library where I’d start my day finding books and researching more information on La Plaza and the cemetery. 

After trying my best to figure out the Dewy Decimal system on my own, I asked the librarian in the history section to help me find the books I was looking for while also researching the books I was looking for but also to bring out any publishings on the La Placita issue. While there was one publishing on La Placita, it had nothing to do with my research but rather focused on a land dispute focused on another cemetery.

A look inside Downtown LA and Central Library.

After this, I had to walk downtown to get to my next bus stop but luckily I was able to get there before the bus drove away without me. While, like most buses in Downtown LA, the bus did have some questionable people on it with me, I just decided that “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it” and take it anyways. After that, I got to the offices and give my supervisor an overview of what I found during my trip to Central Library and got started reading the first of 3 of the books I took out on Los Angeles. 

The books I rented and the first page of my notes on the Plaza's history!

This would take me through the rest of the day, only broken apart by lunch with my supervisor where I was able to get to know him a little better and tell him more about my background and who I am. 

The window facing the Olvera Street Market from the restaurant! 

(Taken while walking in)

After this, I took a short walk to Union Station to take the train back to the Valley. While I thought it was going well, I wanted to confirm that I was on the right train so I asked a man sitting next to me, who told me that I was on the wrong train. For those considering taking the train in LA, just an FYI that even if the train is colored red doesn’t mean that it’s the red line, that could in fact be the purple line. This would be one of many times I almost ended up in Koreatown and farther from my house than when I started.

Days 3-5: 7/7-7/11

On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, I work online as a part of my hybrid schedule. These days were relatively uneventful so instead of talking about every page of the books I read, I’ll combine these days to focus on the major events during my time online. 

                                                               

One (of many) of the photos from Placita Olvera with significant leaders visiting like Bill Clinton, JFK, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

One major win for me was getting a meeting with Professor William Deverell who is a history teacher at USC to learn more about the history of the Plaza and La Placita. I found Professor Deverell while researching videos that discussed the original Pueblo of Los Angeles and was grateful for his response after I was unsuccessful in reaching out to the professor who wrote the research paper I read on my first day. 

On Monday and Tuesday, I got started making my presentation that I would be giving to the staff of the museum on my findings, however, late on Monday I received a text from my supervisor to stop my work on my project for now, and that he’d explain on zoom early on Tuesday morning.

When I got into our Zoom that Tuesday, I heard the news that I would be stopping my project for now as, after a conversation with the Native American advisors that LA Plaza works with, they wanted to be the ones to guide the museum as they go about researching this topic to prevent any misinformation or things of that nature. While I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to present my findings and have my meetings with history professors that focused on the area during that time period, I was glad that the museum was following the wishes of the Native communities and listening to their advice. So on Tuesday, I worked on an essay reflecting on what I learned during my time researching for my project.