I chose to investigate the finding aid for the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee Records, 1942-1945. The finding aid follows a traditional format, and I am immediately drawn to the abstract, a summary of the research the records follow. The abstract, in addition to the “history” section of the finding aid, outlines the purpose of the committee, and the context in which the committee existed.
The Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee was a group organized in 1942 as a reaction to the unlawful murder conviction of 22 Angelenos; all but one were Mexican-American. The committee promoted public awareness of the injustice through publications and education programs, and raised funds to appeal the verdict. In a response to t public outcry, the conviction was overturned in 1944.
The finding aid informs me that all the materials are available on microfilm at the Department of Special Collections at the Young Research Library, yet the physical collection is stored off site, unavailable due to its fragile condition.
Based on the materials in the collection, I can tell the main historical narrative presented is the story of the 22 wrongfully convicted boys, and how their trial plays a role in racism in Los Angeles. The collection includes the transcript of the trial, a primary source that provides deep insight into the murder and conviction. Other primary sources like publications and petitions provide a context for what was going on outside the lives of the suspects.
The collection presents a historical narrativevin an incredibly deep and illuminating way. The sheer amount of sources and evidence provide an accurate picture of the time, as well as humanizes the defendants. For example, an excerpt from a letter written by Manuel Reyes (one of the defendants) outlines how even while he was in jail, a victim of a failed criminal justice system, he still loved his country and joined the navy to fight in the war.
The collection also includes content from after the trial. For example, an article written by Alice Greenfield called “What comes next for the Sleepy Lagoon boys?” provides a more forward looking outlook and a sense of future relevance for the historical collection.
Even though this collection is very thorough and does provide a very good picture of the trial and the defendants, I think additional data to put this trial in the context of other failed trials at the time would expand the scope of the research and leave a more lasting impact on the reader. I think this collection serves its purpose well: to outline the history of the Sleepy Lagoon trial. The collection also does a striking job of outlining the intersection of the government, media (Hollywood, celebrities included), and public at the time of the trial, how they all influenced one another. However, if they included some more hard data like how many wrongful convictions of Mexican-Americans were overturned at the time, or how many Mexican-American enlisted in the military (like Reyes), it could provide a more detailed picture of racism at the time, with numbers saying even more than words.
Viewing the narrative in terms of cause and effect too shows where this research is lacking. The effect is clear: the injustice of the trial, the public outcry (as seen through publications and photos), the impact on the lives of the 22 men (as seen through letters of correspondence). However, the causes are lacking, there could be more info on racism at the time, life in Los Angeles for those of Mexican descent. Adding some form of data (a census, racist propaganda, etc.) could solidify the causes further, expanding the narrative.
Awesome job, and a really cool collection. Yours was much more informative than mine, the Glen Keiser collection of comics books from the 1940s-1980s, which was just a list of boxes and the comic book titles that they contained. Your collection includes a massive amount of historical context, which is great, but I especially like your idea of including additional data to put this trial in the context of other failed trials at the time.
Thanks Laurel! I was looking through the comic book one and you’re right, there doesn’t seem to be a lot there. The SDLC collection had so much content, it was slightly overwhelming, but I prefer that to not enough. One of the problems though with their content was much of it was not digitized, and with the original collection off-site, you’d have to view it through microfilm which in my experience is very time-consuming and difficult to use.
Part of the reason I was drawn to this collection is that I hadn’t heard of this case before, yet clearly it galvanized a lot of important people. I would love to read more about the case, with exactly the kind of information you’ve outlined here!