District Attorney Buron Fitts and his sister Mrs. Berthal Gregory appear in a crowded courtroom with Mrs. Marion Fitts and their attorneys Joseph Scott and Jerry Giesler. Seated left to right is Buron Fitts, Mrs. Marion Fitts, and Berthal Gregory. Standing in the back, left to right, is Joseph Scott and Jerry Giesler.
New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia presides over the Pacific coast regional meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors. Boston Mayor Frederick Mansfield served as Mr. La Guardia's secretary. Approximately 60 Pacific coast mayors attended the conference. Unemployment relief was a focal topic at the conference, which was held at Los Angeles' City Council chamber. May 15, 1937.
Hal Takaoka testifying on the witness stand about the murder of his sister, dancer Midi Takaoka. Judge Irvin Taplin was presiding. The dancer's throat was cut by her jilted lover, waiter Raymond Johnson. Johnson later was sentenced to life in prison.
An unidentified lawyer approaching Robert S. James as he sits in the witness stand. A map of his home is visible behind him. He was most likely testifying in his own defense for the murder trial of his wife Mary Emma James. He purportedly had an affair with his niece, which spurred him to tie down his wife and have a rattlesnake bite her, and then later drown her in their fish pond. He was supposedly helped by his friend, ex-sailor Charles H. Hope, who was also charged with murder.
Soldiers in old military uniforms stand next to others wearing the new "streamlined" style during a military show for National Defense Week. The show was held at the Los Angeles Airport and more than 60 officers and men participated.
The photograph shows one of two side panels of a mural with the overall theme of the history of the uses of tools serving the creative and destructive passions of man within the context of the Toltec and Aztec cultures.
Most likely related to the yearly mud battle between first and second year students and the first time female students took part. Students unknown. LAJC is now known as Los Angeles City College located near Vermont and Santa Monica Blvd.
LA Daily News city editor Charles Judson participates in a series demonstrating "right" and "wrong" golf swings with local pro golfer and golf instructor Fay Coleman. Judson represents the "wrong" form for each swing.
Los Angeles District Attorney Buron Fitts, second from right, sits with his defense lawyer Jerry Geisler, second from left, along with his chief deputy Robert P. Stewart, far left, and deputy District Attorney, William Simpson.
A man surveys the newspapers available for reading at an open-air public library in Pershing Square, downtown Los Angeles. The Pershing Square outdoor library was opened in December of 1936, and was staffed by W.P.A. workers. Visitors to the library could choose to borrow a book by simply leaving their name. The library was quite popular, circulating 24,000 books in its first six months of operation, and spawning other outdoor libraries in Los Angeles.
Laundry hanging in a slum. Part of the housing study carried out by the State Emergency Relief Administration. County officials were asked to make a study of housing conditions in their city.
Judge Benjamin J. Scheinman marries Bobby Burns Berman and Betty Jane Hardesty. Berman operated a night club and Hardesty was a Washington D.C. socialite.