The People of Pershing Square Los Angeles, 1948, 1940s 1950s Park Life, F928a

Some 16mm footage of Pershing Park near the centre of Los Angeles. This park is probably LA's oldest, with "Block 15" being marked out on a map as early as 1849. Having been overlooked for many years, in 1910, the land was laid out by architect John Parkinson in a symmetrical format...drawing in a range of exotic plants including bamboo and a fountain as seen here.
As this location matured it became the place for the unconventional to speak freely, and for others to take their ease amidst plants during the day. Sometime after this footage was taken in the early 1950s, the sight was dug up to install an underground car-park...and covered with an open concreted area.
I believe this footage was filmed by Louis Epstein in 1948 (died 1953). Please enjoy a little of how people got on with each other in a civic space that accommodated face to face social contact of such independence it required concrete and councils to extinguish it!
This was filmed on colour 16mm Kodachrome stock, and has been digitised frame by frame at 2048*1152 resolution, without any AI adjustment.
Music by: Bensound
License code: RSZLGIMADJCWYUXO

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