R. M. Schindler's Bethlehem Baptist Church, built for an African American congregation in South Central L.A. in 1944, was a rare project for Schindler and a significant contribution to the history of Los Angeles Modernism.

Writer Esther McCoy (1904–89) arrived in Los Angeles in 1932 and reckoned it was the wrong place to be. She stayed, however, and for over fifty years her sharp-eyed writing explored the radical politics, modern architecture, and sidelined literary ambitions of the endlessly compelling city.