The maggid is a kind of storyteller, a person whose connection to the tales of the Jewish past can illuminate and inspire us in the present day. Each month, hear from a variety of modern maggids as they share their stories and memories of the Los Angeles mosaic.
Bruce Phillips, professor at Hebrew Union College, demographer and historian of American Jewish life, will speak about his father Bill Phillips, who owned Phillips’ Music Store in Boyle Heights.
Ann Kirschner presents her biography of Josephine Marcus Earp, a Jewish woman from New York who became the common-law wife of famed lawman and gambler Wyatt Earp.
Lady at the O.K. Corral uncovers conflicts and questions about American history dramatized in Josephine’s story: the end of the real American frontier and the rise of its mythology; the seismic shifts in public attitudes toward prostitution, gambling, and alcohol; and the untold stories of the fearless women who helped develop the American frontier. A book signing follows the program.
Music, dance, poetry and art representing a rainbow of cultural traditions will be presented at the eighth annual Lummis Day Festival, Sunday, June 2. The multi-site Festival, one of L.A.’s signature cultural events, runs from 10:30am-7:00pm. The main stages for Lummis Day’s performances will again be located at Heritage Square Museum (3800 Homer Street), where the best of home-grown Northeast L.A. music, dance, food and community resources will be presented amid the historic buildings preserved on the unique museum’s grounds. Some of the historic buildings at Heritage Square Museum will be available to festival-goers via docent-led tours. As always, the two-part Festival’s opening morning event will take place at Lummis Home (200 East Avenue 43), where the day begins at 10:30 AM with readings by critically acclaimed poets. The Lummis Home site will also feature music, art exhibits and refreshments. The Festival’s art exhibit will continue at Lummis Home until 5pm while performances—music, dance—and community activities shift to nearby Heritage Square Museum, beginning at 12:30pm. Visitors to Lummis Home can enjoy the interior of the century-old home, influenced by mission architecture and the dwellings of the Pueblo Indians, and can stroll through the beautiful native plant gardens that surround the building. The Lummis Day Festival is presented by the Lummis Day Community Foundation, which celebrates the arts, history and ethnic diversity of Northeast Los Angeles through educational and cultural events and the annual Festival that draws the community together for a shared experience while providing a platform for cooperation among people of all ages and backgrounds.
Larry Tye, author of Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero, the first full-fledged bio of Superman, joins Geoff Johns (chief creative officer at DC Comics), Jack Larson (TV's original Jimmy Olsen), and Superman director Richard Donner to discuss Superman’s Jewish roots.
Not only were Superman’s creators and publishers Jewish, but the evidence is everywhere that Superman was, too—from his Kryptonian name, Kal-El, Hebrew for “vessel of God,” to an origin story that seems straight out of Exodus. Come celebrate the seventy-fifth birthday of this contemporary hero. A Q&A and book signing follow the program.
This self-guided tour, which started in 2004 and has flourished as much of Downtown has cleaned up, encompasses more than 40 galleries and museums spread throughout the area's many sub-districts, including Bunker Hill, Little Tokyo and Gallery Row on Main and Spring Streets in the Historic Core. About 10,000 visitors regularly take the tour.
A Victorian House Tour and Garden Party will take place at Heim House, a historic Victorian home in Angelino Heights, on Sunday, June 16 from 1 to 4 p.m. The event will benefit Barnsdall Arts/Friends of the Junior Arts Center. Tickets are $50 per person and include refreshments: artisanal cheeses, desserts and wine from Silverlake Wine.
The Queen Anne residence, built in the 1870s, is one of the original Victorian-era homes built on Carroll Avenue. The historic building features a wraparound porch and many original interior details, including redwood molding with an ivy pattern.
Barnsdall Arts reaches more than 177,000 people annually with arts programs that take place at Griffith Park, Barnsdall Art Center, schools and various locations around Los Angeles. All proceeds from the event will fund free children’s art classes. The Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission called the organization a “jewel in the crown of Los Angeles.’’ Tickets to the event may be purchased by calling 323-363-4629.
Carroll Avenue is the largest concentration of Victoria homes in the city and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Homes on the street were featured in the television series, “Charmed’’ and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller’’ video.
Barnsdall Arts/Friends of the Junior Arts Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing support and quality art programs to educate children and enrich the community through celebration of art. www.barnsdallarts.org
Since 1999 the Ecuadorian community in Los Angeles has been celebrating their Independence Day and this year they will celebrate their Fiestas Patrias (1809-2013) with activities (July 20th - August 1...
