Post-War Period (1946 - Present)
Restrictive covenants had prevented Mexican-American families who lived in the adjacent communities of Lincoln Heights and Boyle Heights from purchasing homes in El Sereno. After restrictions were lifted by a 1948 Supreme Court decision (Shelley v. Kraemer), many Mexican-American families moved to El Sereno. The demand for housing after World War II was satisfied by the construction of new neighborhoods in the southern end of El Sereno.
El Sereno and the City During WWII
Typifying the 2,300 volunteer members of the Street Light Blackout organization which, was disbanded May 20, 1945 is Leonard Hanson (Commercial), who has served since its inception in 1941, shortly after Pearl Harbor. During three of the six citywide blackouts, Mr. Hanson pulled the street light switch at the corner of Kendall Avenue and Berkshire Drive in the El Sereno District.
The city’s oldest volunteer defense organization born of World War II passed out of existence May 20, 1945 when Street Light Blackout activities were brought to an end by official proclamation of Mayor Fletcher Bowron. Read the more about this...
Snow in El Sereno
The photo was taken in El Sereno and is of my great aunt Doris (who recently passed away) and her daughter Suzie. Suzie says this picture made it into the newspaper and I can see why. Snow in El Sereno? El Sereno, circa 1949. Courtesy of chimatli.org.
Snow on Tampico Street
A classic photograph submitted by Patsy Lala. The picture shows Patsy, age 10, in her snow-covered front yard on Tampico Ave in 1949. The unusually cold weather that year presented Southern California with three days of snow. It was so cold that there is even a news report of snow falling on Catalina Island!!