Sunday, June 4th was Lummis Day at Sycamore Grove Park in Highland Park, an old LA neighborhood in the northeast part of the city and where I call home. It was a great, but hot, day to eat yummy food, check out the leftist booths, watch Aztec dancers and listen to good music. Highlights included listening to Cuban Juan Carlos Formell, East LA band Quinto Sol and Severin Browne (Jackson's brother.)
So who was Charles Lummis, you say? He was one visionary cat. He walked from Massachusetts to California, writing stories along the way that ended up in the Los Angeles Times. He led expeditions to Latin America, built El Alisal with his own hands and founded the Southwest Museum here in Highland Park. Ah yes, he was also the city librarian. His best known book is A Tramp Across the Continent. If you're ever in town, pay a visit to the Southwest Museum or El Alisal, aka the Lummis House. For more info check out http://www.socalhistory.org.
My favorite images from Lummis Day are these: a potbellied kid and his tattoed dad and a little girl in a red dress.
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Unfortunately, the Southwest Museum of the American Indian was closed by the Autry National Center on June 30. The two merged over 3 years ago, and at that time the Autry (cowboy) acquired the Southwest (Indian) and its entire collection, considered to be the second best such collection in North America. The recent closure is supposedly to allow for renovation and restoration, but oddly occurs at the same time that the Autry is asking the City of Los Angeles to allow it to expand its facilities in Griffith Park.
If you really want to visit the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, I strongly encourage you to not only go to its gift shop (still open on weekends) in the very near future, but also to write to Los Angeles City Councilmembers Tom LaBonge (Griffith Park is in his district), Jose Huizar, and Ed Reyes (the Southwest Museum and Casa de Adobe are in their districts) and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and urge them to ensure that the Southwest remains open, and that any future expansion of the Autry in Griffith Park includes plans to keep the Southwest Museum open as well. Also, while you are at it, sign the petition to keep the Southwest Museum open.
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