Less than 40 years before the Church of the Epiphany was founded in Lincoln Heights in 1888, California was still part of Mexico. The culture and history of our region has been entwined with our Southern neighbor since we were known as Alta or “Upper” California. The church is a landmark known for it’s role in the community and in the Chicano rights movement starting in the 1960s.
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This church has been a home for immigrant communities since the days when those immigrants were filing in from places like Italy and Yugoslavia.

Photo from Church of the Epiphany Archives.

Photo from Church of the Epiphany Archives.
In the 1960s the church became politically active, hosting rallies, protests, and gatherings for decades with famous guest speakers including Cesar Chaves and Dolores Huerta. The underground newspaper La Raza was printed in their basement.

Photo by Nancy von Lauderback Tovar, Lydia LĂłpez Archives

Photo from Church of the Epiphany Archives.
Today, that basement, and other parts of the 130-year-old complex, are in need of costly repairs, so the church is competing for funding from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Last year the Formosa Café took home the prize. In this round of voting (which ends October 26 at 9 p.m.) the church is up against the Women’s Building in San Francisco, an opera house in Colorado, and some pretty spectacular historic buildings all over the country.

Photo by Nancy von Lauderback Tovar, Church of the Epiphany Archives.

Photo courtesy Rosalio Muñoz.

Photo: Janet Kawamoto, Archives of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

Courtesy Rosalio Muñoz Archives.

Photo from Church of the Epiphany Archives

Photo by Nancy von Lauderback Tovar, Lydia LĂłpez Archives
Good luck to the Church of the Epiphany. We’re rooting for the home team to win this year.

Photo courtesy Escher GuneWardena Architecture.

Photo by Erin Sullivan.
RELATED:Â A Look Back at When a Black, Female Newspaper Editor Took on the KKK in L.A.
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