Description
The Silver Lake Neighborhood Council History Collective was founded in 2005 by community activist Bea Gold. Its mission is
to preserve the oral histories of long-term residents, business owners, artists and other interesting residents of Silver
Lake and nearby communities to create an archive of the unique history of the neighborhood for future generations. By the
beginning of 2012, the committee had done over fifty video interviews involving more than seventy people. The breadth of the
interviews is extraordinary. They include memories from the great-grandchild of a slave, a Japanese-American doctor who was
interned at the Santa Anita racetrack during World War II as well as many people who have lived all their lives in Silver
Lake.
Background
The Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California is located northeast of downtown, in an area once known variously
as Edendale and Ivanhoe, a beautiful landscape of hills and glens southwest of the Los Angeles River. The region became known
more popularly as Silver Lake, after a central reservoir was implemented by City Water Commissioner Herman Silver in 1907.
The reservoir itself, designed by William Mulholland, enhanced the area and reflected the aspect of the surrounding hills
north of the city's original 28-square-mile land grant, creating a desirable setting for residential construction despite
the difficulty of the terrain. There are actually two reservoirs contiguous to each other in the system, the more northern
one retaining the former developer's name of Ivanhoe. Many streets (Rowena, Angus, Elsinore, Kenilworth, etc.) have Scottish-inspired
names from this period.
Extent
1.0 linear ft.
1 box
Restrictions
All requests for permission to publish or quote from the collection must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Availability
Advance notice required for access.