Telling it like it was at the Homestead Museum

Improbably located in City of Industry, an appropriately-named asphalt-and-warehouse zone, the Homestead Museum showcases Los Angeles the way it used to be. The 1870s Workman house was built around an 1840s adobe, and there's a separate 1920s Spanish Colonial Revival mansion -- three generations of old Los Angeles, all together on six preserved acres. The last governor of Mexican-owned California, Pío Pico, is buried there.

On Sunday, the Homestead Museum kicks off a new lecture series on nineteenth century Los Angeles. First up is Frances Dinkelspiel, talking about her book "Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Names Isaias Hellman Created California." Dinkelspiel, Hellman's great-granddaughter, will sign books after her presentation, which begins at 3:00pm. Stick around for a reception afterward.

The event is free, but reservations are recommended. See the Homestead Museum website for details.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo courtesy the Homestead Museum