Join us Sunday, June 8th, 2025, at 2 p.m. at the Mark Taper Auditorium in the Central Library.
The second lecture in the 2025 Marie Northrop Lecture Series will be a discussion with author Nathan Marsak on his book, Los Angeles Before the Freeways: Images of an Era 1850-1950.
Book signing after presentation.
About the Book
Los Angeles Before the Freeways: Images of An Era 1850-1950 gives a lush, visual tour of a Los Angeles that longer exists—one of elegant office buildings and stately mansions that were razed in the name of “progress.” Featuring stunning black-and-white photography from Arnold Hylen that captures a forgotten era, the book contains an original essay by the photographer that provides historical background and context for the time period. This new edition contains additional, never-before-seen photographs from Hylen and newly unearthed information from historian Nathan Marsak on these lost architectural treasures.
The stunning photography recalls an era when downtown Los Angeles was unmarred by wide-scale redevelopment and retained much of its original character. Each page offers a glimpse of what the city used to be, before some of its architectural treasures were razed for the newer, more modern city that would soon follow—it’s no coincidence that many of these original buildings were demolished to make way for parking lots.
Location
This lecture series is co-sponsored by Los Angeles City Historical Society and the History Department of the Richard J. Riordan Central Library. Lectures are held in the Mark Taper Auditorium, on the first floor of the Central Library, 630 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles. For ADA accommodations, call (213) 228-7430 at least 72 hours prior to event.
Parking
The library garage is located on the east side of Flower Street, just south of 5th Street. Flower Street is one-way, south. Parking is $1 from 1:00-5:00 with a library card. (Anyone arriving too early or choosing to stay in the garage past 5:00-5:15 would be charged $8.00 for the day.)
About the Marie Northrop Lecture Series
In 1992, the Los Angeles City Historical Society president Patricia Bowie and board member Michael Engh, reflected on how the LACHS could promote greater interest in Los Angeles history among its members and the general public. The two – both professors of history at Loyola Marymount University – decided on an annual program of three lectures to be delivered by established writers, historians, and educators.
LACHS decided to name the lecture series in memory of Marie Northrop, a longtime member of LACHS and widely respected genealogist who had specialized in tracing the lineage of early settlers of the original El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles.
