Our historic legacy of photographs, manuscripts, and other items document the important and unique role of transportation in Southern California history and culture
- Arcola Philpott
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The first African-American "Motorman" was a woman. Read more about another little-known piece of Los Angeles transit history.
- First African American Motormen
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Los Angeles Railway was not previously known as a socially progressive organization, nor were many other industries or job markets of the early 1940’s. Hiring women as streetcar and bus operators in 1942 was a small start. Noting the newspaper headlines of the Los Angeles Sentinel and California Eagle from 1942-1944, racial integration of the ranks of motormen was a major change from past practices, skillfully negotiated by the Rev. Clayton Russell's Los Angeles Negro Victory Committee, the AFL-CIO, the NAACP, the Fair Employment Practices Commission and the reform-minded Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron.
- First Women Operators - Motormanettes
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In honor of both Black History month of February and Women’s History month of March, we went digging through the archives searching for the names and photos of Los Angeles’ first women and African American bus and rail operators. We feel it is important to recall the part our own local history has played in the national workplace and civil rights movements.
- Los Angeles Transit And Transportation Studies, 1911-1957
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These documents are the key resources in Los Angeles transit and transportation planning history prior to the LAMTA publicly-governed era. The Library and Archive continues to digitize them to provide full-text access.
- Past Visions of L.A.'s Transportation Future
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Visitors to the Library often ask about past mass rail rapid transit plans and speculate about what Los Angeles might have looked like if one or more of these plans been constructed. This online gallery examines those major plans and maps from 1925 to 2003.
- Los Angeles Transit in Film
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Historic films that include transit in Los Angeles:
Angora Love (Laurel and Hardy) 1929 - Pacific Electric trains running on Venice Boulevard
Autumn Leaves (Joan Crawford) 1956 - Several Los Angeles GM TDH-4801 old looks appear
Bright Eyes (Shirley Temple) 1934 - Pacific Electric bus accident scene
- Predecessor Transit Agencies - Family tree and photographs
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Our Family Tree: This organization chart illustrates our heritage of predecessor agencies. Click on the chart to open it in a new window, then click on each transit agency to visit the Flickr photo collections associated with it.
- Selected Historic L.A. Transportation Resources
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These key documents cover the period prior to LACMTA's existence. Many of these publications from our predecessor agencies and other institutions help put Los Angeles transit and transportation issues in context.
- Selected Recent Transportation Resources
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These documents cover a variety of topics relevant to current local and national interest, including planning, funding, and sustainability.
- What Became Of Los Angeles' Streetcars?
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One of the most frequently-asked questions about Los Angeles transportation history is: Whatever happened to all the old Red Cars and Yellow Cars after the old streetcar network was dismantled.
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Our historic legacy of photographs, manuscripts, and other items document the important and unique role of transportation in Southern California history and culture
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