These Vintage Photos Celebrate the Unceasing Beauty of L.A.’s Diversity

Capturing intimate moments of what makes LA great
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Los Angeles wouldn’t be the city it is today if it wasn’t for the incredibly diverse mix of people who call it home. The Los Angeles Public Library has been archiving photos of family and community life in L.A. through the decades for a photo and oral history project called Shades of L.A. We dove into the collection to pull out a few images that remind us of the joy of living in a vibrant American city.

Friends in Santa Monica, 1979 (Photograph courtesy of Shades of L.A. Archive / Los Angeles Public Library)

March Fong Eu, California’s first Asian-American Secretary of State, walks in a parade, 1973 (Photograph courtesy of Shades of L.A. Archive / Los Angeles Public Library)

Olivia Cuevas Fernandez and Bill Encinas celebrate New Year’s at a nightclub in Los Angeles, 1962 (Courtesy of Shades of L.A. Archive / Los Angeles Public Library)

Henry and Sandy Hom in the backyard of their home in Highland Park, 1979 (Photograph Courtesy of Shades of L.A. Archive / Los Angeles Public Library)

Miss Philippines contestants and group of Filipino Americans outside of Los Angeles City Hall, 1965 (Photograph courtesy of Shades of L.A. Archive / Los Angeles Public Library)

Friends attend a Day of the Dead exhibit at Self Help Graphics & Art, 1978 (Photograph courtesy of Shades of L.A. Archive / Los Angeles Public Library)

Dorothy Sams, a teacher at Audubon Junior High, meets with students, 1966 (Photograph courtesy of Shades of L.A. Archive / Los Angeles Public Library)

Amelia, upon becoming an American citizen at the age of 95, from 1996 (Photograph courtesy of Shades of L.A. Archive / Los Angeles Public Library)

A family reads from the Haggadah, 1979 (Photograph courtesy of Shades of L.A. Archive / Los Angeles Public Library)

A father and son pose with the son’s first bicycle, 1966 (Photograph courtesy of Shades of L.A. Archive / Los Angeles Public Library)

Dancers at Cal State Los Angeles, 1979 (Photograph courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library)

A group wears traditional Armenian clothing, 1970 (Courtesy of Shades of L.A. Archive / Los Angeles Public Library)

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