For Morbid Fans of Los Angeles History…
…check out a gruesomely fascinating blog co-run by Kim Cooper, editor of a couple of great music books to which I've contributed, Lost in the Grooves.
It's called The 1947 Project and it is dedicated to re-reporting and revisting the scenes and crimes of 1947 Los Angeles. Why that year? From the site mission statement:
Los Angeles in 1947 was a social powderkeg. War-damaged returning soldiers were threatened by a new kind of independant female, who in turn found her freedoms disappearing as male workers returned to the factories. These conflicts worked themselves out in dark ways. The Black Dahlia is the most famous victim of 1947's sex wars, but hardly the only one. The 1947project seeks to document this pivotal year in L.A., through period reporting and visits to the scenes as they are today.
Up on the front page today are tales of crucified dogs, a dead milkman, and a benzedrine-fueled bisection.