This project explores the local campaign efforts and groundwork on behalf of California State University students, whose activism accelerated the fight for migrant rights at the turn of the 20th century. Through oral histories, videos, photographs, and archival materials, we document how undocu-leaders introduced new ideas of undocumented subjectivity and high-risk activism. These stories shape a racial justice campaign that was strengthened by women of color and queer youth leadership, some of whom had never participated in political activism. 

Research project was funded by Cal State LA’s University Library Special Collections and Archives, Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities, Erika J. Glazer Family Dreamers Resource Center, Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Awards, College of Ethnic Studies, and Department of Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies.

The Ground Beneath Our Feet: A Hundred Years of Earthquakes in Los Angeles — an art exhibition of historical photographs that has been created in collaboration with the Los Angeles Times.  This exhibition has been co-sponsored by the JFK Library and the History Department at California State University, Los Angeles. The online exhibit features original photographs of earthquakes in the Los Angeles area from the Los Angeles Times Digital Archives. The chronological span of the exhibit is a little over a hundred years. We have chosen photographs that show the considerable material and human losses that our region has suffered during this period. But the exhibit also contains portraits of resilience that reflect the unique spirit of Los Angeles.

This virtual exhibit is presented by the Association of Black Social Workers of Greater Los Angeles and the University Library Special Collections and Archives.

The guide was developed as part of a collaborative partnership between La Plaza de Cultura Artes Les Navegantes Program and the Special Collections & Archives Department at California State University, Los Angeles. The Les Navegantes/Volunteer Program is centered on connecting the museums visitors with the Latina/o experience and the stories of Los Angeles from the past, present, and future. The guide provides specific resources related to the topics and themes presented in the LA Starts Here permeant exhibition at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes. The resources outlined in the guide are part of the Cal State LA University Library’s Collections. Through this collaborative partnership we not only aim to provide resources, but also provide research strategies and tools to help the navegantes with their research endeavors as part of the program.