Today: Talk on Preservation of a Century of Highland Park, NELA History

The communities of Northeast Los Angeles have a rich and diverse history—much of it preserved over a period of about a century in the region’s now-defunct newspapers. To digitize that historical—and historic—resource in a searchable manner has long been the dream of local historians.

It’s a dream that’s finally coming true, thanks to the hard work of the Highland Park Heritage Trust and the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society. The two organizations have preserved copies of more than a dozen local newspapers dating from 1906 through 1996 and, in collaboration with Occidental College and the California Digital Newspaper Collection at UC Riverside, have helped launch the Preservation and Digitization of Northeast Los Angeles Community Newspapers.

On Monday, July 8, Kate Dundon, an archivist at Occidental College, will give a presentation about the project, also called the NELA Newspapers Pilot Project and how far it has come since Oxy’s Special Collections and College Archives joined the project in 2010. 

Dundon, who is the project manager of the NELA Newspapers Pilot Project, will deliver her talk at 7 p.m. at the Highland Park Ebell Club, located at 131 S. Ave. 57. Members of the public are invited to the event, which is free and will follow the regular meeting of the Highland Park Heritage Trust. 

"I am happy to announce that the Preservation and Digitization of Northeast Los Angeles Community Newspapers pilot project is well underway,” Dundon said, adding that she has worked at Oxy as a project archivist and librarian for the past year is “thrilled to be working with the ERVHS and HPHT on this important and fascinating project.”

Funded by a $35,000 grant from the John Randolph and Dora Haynes Foundation, the NELA Newspapers Pilot Project is aimed at establishing certain standards and procedures that will make it possible for community members to digitally access local newspapers spanning a century or so.

With the help of Oxy’s Center for Digital Learning and Research, Dundon has launched a blog for promoting and updating the community about the progress of the NELA Newspapers Pilot Project. Click here to access the blog.

Preservation and Digitization of Northeast Los Angeles Community Newspapers
Monday, July 8
Highland Park Ebell Club
131 S. Ave. 57.