In
my
previous post I showed you an impressive room at the Los Angeles
Archives. I think of that room as "The Organized Room." It's awesome in
the true sense of the word.
Perhaps even more awesome is "The Disorganized Room." This one's a vault. Many of the files are ancient by California standards, some are of more recent memory. Some are in need of repair, some just need to be organized. There are photos, paintings, memorabilia and documents. Michael Holland, the Los Angeles Archivist who gave me a tour, has a big job on his hands. So did the Archivist before him. So will the Archivist to come after. There is so much here it will never be finished. "I'm in danger of learning something new every day that I come to work," said Michael.
Before 1877, all court documents were written in Spanish, by hand. This document is from 1850.
After 1877, legal documents began to be written in, or translated into, English.
I offered to take this old library shelving cart off the City's hands if it was taking up too much space. My offer was not accepted.
See that red tank behind the cart? It contains halon gas, a fire retardant used in spaces where a sprinkler system would do too much damage. If there should be a fire, the halon gas comes down from above and suppresses the oxygen in the room to keep the documents from catching fire. If that ever happens, the tanks would
not be refilled with halon in the future because halon is now outlawed. LA still has it because it's never been deployed.
If you're working in the depths of the vault, you have 30 seconds to get out before there's no oxygen left. I couldn't forget that the whole time I was there.
More to come. I have a few more pictures to show you from the vault.
**********
You can visit the Los Angeles Archives, too. (You even can see some records online.)
If you want a tour, just call for an appointment. If you want to see a
specific document, you need to call ahead for that, too, so the document
can be found and retrieved for you.
Michael can often be heard on KPCC's Off Ramp with John Rabe, Saturdays 12-1pm and Sundays 6-7pm. Thanks to Anne Louise Bannon for setting up the tour and coming with me.
