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The Great Wall of Los Angeles

Judy Baca's 2,754-foot long mural along the Tujunga Wash in San Fernando Valley paints a lesser-known history of California from the perspective of the underrepresented. Learn more about the the making of "The History of California" — more popularly known as "The Great Wall of Los Angeles" — and the stories it seeks to tell.

Great Wall Project Hero
Judy Baca and the Power of Murals in Los Angeles
Video
4:49
Artbound

Judy Baca and the Power of Murals in Los Angeles

Judy Baca and the Great Wall.jpg
Article
Artbound

Making a Monument: Archive Shows How 'The Great Wall of Los Angeles' Was Created

Detail of the Great Wall of Los Angeles
Article

Seven Books to Help Understand 'The Great Wall of Los Angeles' and L.A. Itself

Watch Video
Directed by Donna Deitch, founding member of SPARC, this program was shot in the summer of 1976 and features youth involved with The Great Wall of Los Angeles mural project.

Stories Behind 'The Great Wall'

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Departures
The Beginning: How The Great Wall Of Los Angeles Was Conceived
gw-building
Departures
Building The Great Wall Of Los Angeles
Judy Baca's murals recover history through 'public memory'
5:59
PBS News Hour
Judy Baca's murals recover history through 'public memory'
gw-restoration
Departures
Restoration Of The Great Wall Of Los Angeles
gw-nextchapter
Departures
The Next Chapter for the Great Wall of Los Angeles
Great Wall of Los Angeles
Departures
Through the Communities Eyes: Perceptions of the Great Wall

Histories Depicted on the Mural

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Tending the Wild
Untold History: The Survival of California's Indians
The Magic Washer (thumbnail)
Lost LA
Before It Embraced Immigrants, California Championed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
The Astonishing Story of the Men Who Built the Railroad
2:04
Asian Americans
The Astonishing Story of the Men Who Built the Railroad
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Exclusionary Laws and the Chinese-American Experience
Gentrification and Displacement: Legacy
15:44
City Rising
Gentrification and Displacement: Legacy
Undocumented Immigrants Go To Court For Deportation Hearings
SoCal Connected
The Racial Origins of Immigration Policy in the United States
Japanese American internment (featured)
Artbound
'No More Japanese Wanted Here': When Japanese Americans Were Forced Into Internment Camps
A photograph of an Army convoy, 1941 July 10 | Go for Broke National Education Center Collection, USC Libraries
Lost LA
The 442: Fighting for Freedom Abroad and at Home
Biddy Mason | Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons
Lost LA
Biddy Mason and the Founding of Los Angeles: From Slavery to Entrepreneurship
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Seventy Years Later: The Zoot Suit Riots and the Complexity of Youth Culture
For several days in June 1943, uniformed members of the U.S. armed forces rioted throughout Los Angeles, targeting young men in zoot suits. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Examiner Collection, USC Libraries.
Lost LA
Los Angeles' 1943 War on the Zoot Suit
Dodger Stadium under construction on May 25, 1960. Courtesy of the USC Libraries - Los Angeles Examiner Collection.
Lost LA
They Moved Mountains to Build Dodger Stadium

More to Watch

Lost LA
Artbound
City Rising
Dodgers Stories: 6 Decades in L.A.
Tending Nature
American Masters