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Molina (Gloria) papers
mssMolina
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Gloria Molina papers
Creator:
Molina, Gloria
Identifier/Call Number: mssMolina
Physical Description:
546 Linear Feet
(Approximately 1,254 boxes, 23 cartons)
Date (inclusive): 1965-2014
Date (bulk): 1991-2005
Abstract: This collection contains the papers of Gloria Molina (born 1948), who was a Los Angeles County Supervisor of the First Supervisorial
District from 1991 to 2014. This collection is mainly comprised of records created and accumulated during her years on the
Board of Supervisors. These materials -- including correspondence, agenda, motions, reports, press clippings, notes, ephemera,
site plans, photographs, audiovisual and electronic resources -- document a wide range of activities performed by Molina and
her staff, such as project planning, legislation, lawsuits, redistricting, campaigning, and budget planning.
Language of Material: The collection is primarily in English with some material in Spanish.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
Restrictions apply to: Series III-V are not available for paging until processed. Please contact Reader Services for more
information.
The following material in this collection has been sealed:
- Items marked CONFIDENTIAL by the donor are sealed for 30 years from date of creation.
- Materials related to closed sessions of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors are sealed for 30 years from date of creation.
- Some personal, financial, medical, and education records are sealed for 75 years from date of creation.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item], Gloria Molina papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Gloria Molina, November 2014.
Gloria Molina was a Los Angeles County Supervisor of the First Supervisorial District from 1991 to 2014. Prior to becoming
the first Latina elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1991, Molina served as California State Assembly Member from 1982
to 1987 and Los Angeles City Council Member from 1987 to 1991. Notably, she was also the first Hispanic woman elected to the
state legislature and Los Angeles City Council.
Gloria Molina was born on May 31, 1948 in Montebello, California, a city east of downtown Los Angeles. Molina was the oldest
of ten children, whose parents were Leonardo and Concepcíon Molina. After Molina graduated from El Rancho High School in 1966,
she worked as a legal secretary for a corporate law firm in downtown Los Angeles. Molina initially studied fashion design
at Rio Hondo College, then she transferred to East Los Angeles College and subsequently California State University, Los Angeles.
In 1971 Molina worked as a job counselor at the East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU), and in 1972 she was as an instructor
at the East Los Angeles Skills Center.
Molina took her first steps in politics when she volunteered in Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign. In 1970, she
participated in the Chicano Moratorium against the Vietnam War, a grass-roots, Chicano anti-war movement in East Los Angeles.
While a member of the Mexican-American Students Association at East Los Angeles College, Molina focused her political thought
on the empowerment of Chicanas. During that period, Molina volunteered at Casa Maravilla Community Center to educate underprivileged
Hispanic women. Molina also became a key member of Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional; she was the founding president of Comisión
Femenil de Los Angeles in 1973, the national president from 1974 to 1976, and the first Chairwoman of Chicana Service Action
Center.
Molina began her political career volunteering for the State Assembly campaign of Richard Alatorre in 1972 and of Art Torres
in 1974, both of whom were key political members of the Chicano Generation. After Torres was elected, Molina worked in his
District Office as an administrative assistant. At that time, she also served as chair of Women's Rights Committee to the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In 1975 Molina was the Hispanic deputy for Jimmy Carter's successful presidential campaign
in California, then she served as a Deputy for Presidential Personnel in Washington, D.C. In 1979 Molina moved to San Francisco
to serve as the Director of Intergovernmental and Congressional Affairs for the United States Department of Health and Human
Services. In 1981 Molina returned to Los Angeles to work as the chief deputy to California State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.
In 1982, after Art Torres decided to run for State Senate, Molina won the race for his vacated seat in the 56th District
of the State Assembly. During her tenure, Molina established herself as a populist political outsider by drafting legislations
and organizing civil actions that prioritized her Boyle Heights-based constituency above personal and establishment interests.
Notably, after the Department of Corrections proposed to build a state prison in East L.A. in 1985, Molina worked alongside
community activists, such as Mothers of East Los Angeles, to orchestrate a grass-roots movement against the construction plan,
which was eventually abandoned in 1992.
In 1987, with her rising popularity as result of the fight against the prison, Molina was elected to the Los Angeles City
Council. Representing the First District, Molina initiated policies to ensure neighborhood safety and to enhance municipal
services for her constituents in East L.A. Some notable plans include Central City West, a commercial and affordable housing
development in downtown L.A., and More Advocates for Safe Homes (MASH), a neighborhood crime abatement group.
Following the 1990
Garza v. County of Los Angeles ruling, which ended the Board of Supervisor's lengthy gerrymandering that had excluded Latino representation from County
government, Molina ran in the 1991 special election for the seat of a redrawn First District. The largely Latino district
stretched from Downtown L.A. to Claremont, encompassing eastside cities and unincorporated areas such as East Los Angeles,
El Monte, Azusa, Walnut, and Pomona. In February 1991, Molina was elected to the County Board of Supervisors, which acts as
the legislative, executive, and judicial governing body of the County. At the time, the five-member Board controlled a budget
of $13 billion that served 8.5 million people in the county.
During her twenty-three years as County Supervisor, Molina tackled an extensive range of issues affecting her district and
the wider county, such as transportation, education, public safety, public and mental health, child welfare, environmental
protection, homelessness, affordable housing, and development of parks and cultural spaces. Some of her major accomplishments
included the eastside extension of Metro Gold Line, ending County's practice of pension spiking, redevelopment of East Los
Angeles Civic Center and Grand Park, and construction of LAC+USC Medical Center. Molina won Board re-elections in 1994, 1998,
2002, 2006, and 2010.
In addition, Molina served as a vice chair on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 1996 to 2004. She was also a board
member for Mexican American legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, and Southwest Voter Registration
and Education Project.
In 2014, Molina retired from the Board of Supervisors due to term limits, ending her thirty-two-year career in public service
for Los Angeles.
The Gloria Molina papers is comprised predominantly of records created and accumulated during her tenure on the Board of Supervisors
from 1991 to 2014. These materials -- including correspondence, agenda, motions, reports, press clippings, notes, ephemera,
site plans, photographs, audiovisual and electronic resources -- document a wide range of activities performed by Molina and
her staff, such as project planning, legislation, lawsuits, redistricting, campaigning, and budget planning. The collection
also includes few groups of material from Molina's years on the State Assembly and City Council from 1982 to 1991, most notably
files regarding her opposition to the construction of a state prison in East Los Angeles.
Series I consists of papers from Molina's main office at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration. These documents highlight
a wide range of issues covered in Molina's work as a County Supervisor. The files contain agenda, correspondence, memoranda,
reports, press releases, photographs, site plans, audiovisual and electronic resources, and notes about many topics Molina
and her team focused on throughout her terms, such as county services, social and political events, cities and unincorporated
areas, LAC+USC Medical Center, budget, and legislation. A small portion of this series also contain files that were created
when she was a member of the State Assembly (1982-1987) and the City Council (1987-1991), such as those on the construction
of a state prison in East Los Angeles.
Series II contains records from Molina's El Monte and East Los Angeles Field Offices, which served as platforms for the field
deputies to communicate directly with communities in the First District. The Field Office files include material related to
local issues, such as city infrastructure, education, public health, and senior programs.
Series III contains photographs of County Supervisor Gloria Molina during presentations, meetings, and other public events.
(Series IV is currently unprocessed and unavailable.)
Series IV consists of press clippings and biographical material about Gloria Molina during her terms on the L.A. County Board
of Supervisors. (Series III is currently unprocessed and unavailable.)
Series V is comprised of VHS and DVDs that document LA County Board of Supervisors meetings, public events, press conferences
and ceremonies that Gloria Molina attended. They also include news excerpts, documentaries, and other recordings about LA
County and related topics. (Series V is currently unprocessed and unavailable.)
Existence and Location of Copies
Selected A/V items from this collection have been digitized. Digital reproductions are available in the
Internet Archive.
The collection is arranged in five series:
- Series I. Hall of Administration files
- Series II. Field Offices files
- Subseries A: El Monte Field Office files
- Subseries B: East Los Angeles Field Office files
- Series III: Photographs (UNPROCESSED)
- Series IV: Press files (UNPROCESSED)
- Series V: Audiovisual materials (UNPROCESSED)
Subjects and Indexing Terms
City Planning -- Los Angeles County (Calif.)
County government -- Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- Officials and employees
Gerrymandering -- California -- Los Angeles -- Case studies
Hispanic Americans -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century
Hispanic Americans -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 21st century
Hispanic Americans -- Civil rights -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century
Hispanic Americans -- Civil rights -- California -- Los Angeles -- 21st century
Legislators -- Los Angeles County (Calif.)
Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- History -- 20th century
Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- History -- 21st century
Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- Politics and Government -- 20th century
Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- Politics and Government -- 21st century
Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- Social conditions -- 20th century
Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- Social conditions -- 21st century
Mexican American women politicians -- California -- Los Angeles
Urban policy -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century
Urban policy -- California -- Los Angeles -- 21st century
Photographs -- Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- 20th century
Photographs -- Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- 21th century
Site plans
VHS
Molina, Gloria
Los Angeles County (Calif.). Board of Supervisors