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Collage of five diverse artworks from the Hammer Museum Collections side by side. From left to right: 1) Contemporary painting of two embracing figures with surreal elements. 2) Post-impressionist style painting of trees with vibrant blues and greens. 3) Black and white illustration of a face with intricate patterns. 4) Japanese woodblock print style image of a figure in a checkered robe. 5) Photograph of a couple dancing, the woman in a black dress and the man in white

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The Promises and Perils of Postwar Black Los Angeles

  • This is a past program

In 1964, an Urban League survey ranked Los Angeles as the most desirable city for African Americans to live in. In 1965, the city burst into flames during one of the worst race riots in the nation's history. How the city came to such a pass — embodying both the best and worst of what urban America offered black migrants from the South — is the story told by Dr. Josh Sides, the Whitsett Professor of California History at California State University, Northridge. Sides offers a clear-eyed and compelling look at black struggles for equality in L.A.'s neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces from the Great Depression to the present.

Photo from LA Public Library Online Photo Collection. Photo by Dean Musgrove (1985).

Hammer Lectures is made possible, in part, by Honor Fraser and Stavros Merjos. 

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Generous support is also provided by Susan Bay Nimoy and Leonard Nimoy, Good Works Foundation and Laura Donnelley, an anonymous donor, and all Hammer members. 

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