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Central Library unveils a peek at the L.A. of 1925 – KCRW

Todd Lerew led the team that recovered the century-year-old time capsule. Alexandra Applegate / KCRW

Central Library unveils a peek at the L.A. of 1925

The Los Angeles Central Library’s time capsule contained a scrapbook, coins, old newspapers in multiple languages and an even older time capsule from 1881.

Three people examine some of the contents pulled from a century-old time capsule buried in the LA Central Library in 1925. Photo by Alexandra Applegate / KCRW

By Danielle Chiriguayo • Feb 2, 2026 • 4m Listen

When a time capsule was buried near the LA Central Library’s cornerstone in 1925, staff didn’t leave instructions on how to open it. More than a century later, a recovery team wasn’t even entirely sure where to find it.

But find it they did. To honor the 100-year anniversary of the Central Library, the branch kicked off a year of celebrations by unearthing that century-old time capsule buried during the building’s dedication.

The hunt for the time capsule set off what Los Angeles City Librarian John Szabo describes as “an archeological dig.” The Central Library is listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, as well as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, meaning the preservation of its art-deco design was paramount.

“Getting it through the men’s restroom turned out to be our only option,” explains Todd Lerew, director of special projects for the Library Foundation of LA and the lead on the time capsule’s recovery.

Szabo continues: “We had to take drywall. We had to take the studs out. We had to take one masonry wall out. Then, we had to very carefully go through the back wall of the cornerstone.”

It took a week for Lerew and his team to get around layers of plumbing and limestone blocks. When they finally retrieved the capsule, Szabo couldn’t wait to crack it open: “Being a complete history nerd, I literally put my head inside the time capsule and I breathed in the air, thinking that that was the air that my predecessor, Everett Robbins Perry, was breathing … from 1925.

“It was a little musty, but I didn’t keel over or anything.”

The time capsule, a sealed, custom-made copper box, provided a glimpse into life in LA more than a century ago. Inside were scrapbooks of photos, old coins, and a traffic street plan for 1924.

Todd Lerew led the team that recovered the century-year-old time capsule. Alexandra Applegate/KCRW

And it also held something else: an additional time capsule. This one was from 1881. It was buried with the cornerstone of the State Normal School, a precursor to UCLA that was originally built where the Central Library is today.

The older capsule included books and pamphlets that provided additional glimpses of 19th century Los Angeles. It also included newspapers in English, German, and Spanish, and mementos from the funeral of U.S. President James Garfield, who was assassinated just months prior to the time capsule’s burial.

All of these recovered items are on display now at the LA Central Library. Szabo says they represent the diversity of the city that stretches back more than 150 years: “It certainly speaks to the evolution of the city, the growth of the city, but it also reminds us that the library has had this very similar, if not the same mission, which is to welcome everyone in the community.”

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Central Library unveils a peek at the L.A. of 1925 | KCRW

Tags: 1925, California, Central Library, City Librarian, Contents of Capsule, Cornerstone, Danielle Chiriguayo, February 2 2026, History, John Szabo, KCRW, Library History, Los Angeles, Los Angeles History, Time Capsule, Todd Lerew
#1925 #California #CentralLibrary #CityLibrarian #ContentsOfCapsule #Cornerstone #DanielleChiriguayo #February22026 #History #JohnSzabo #KCRW #LibraryHistory #LosAngeles #LosAngelesHistory #TimeCapsule #ToddLerew

DrWeb Jan 29

Central Library turns 100 – LAist

The Central Library in downtown Los Angeles. (Courtesy Los Angeles Public Library).

Explore LA

Central Library turns 100

We explore its scrappy origin story

Cato Hernández scours through tons of archives to understand how our region became the way it is today.

The Central Library in downtown Los Angeles hits a big milestone this year: It’s turning 100 years old.

The century-old landmark has been through a lot of changes since opening, but how we got this iconic library in the first place is a saga in its own right.

A scrappy start

To understand what it took to get here, we’ll go back to 1872. Back then, the city of L.A. only had about 6,000 residents. Dirt roads were everywhere and agriculture was king.

The region was still fresh off the transition to American rule, and local leaders were just starting to dream up what the city could look like, especially in the downtown area.

There was no “LAPL” during this time — a group called the Los Angeles Library Association attended to local reading needs. John Szabo, current L.A. city librarian, says that early system was pretty bare bones.

“ It was a very small one room library with a handful of books,” he told host Larry Mantle on LAist 89.3’s AirTalk.

That was in the Downey Block building at Temple and Main streets, which is where the Federal Courthouse stands today. There were newspaper racks and shelves with about 750 books, while another space had checkers and chess — because what more do you need to fuel young minds?

The city needed a lot more because of rapid growth, but money was an issue. To help meet the demand, the association became an official city department in 1878. That allowed local officials to fund their new “Los Angeles Public Library.”

Over the years, LAPL would open satellite “reading rooms” and branch libraries. However, the main collection was expanding quickly. The books were essentially couch-surfing for years. They moved four times into different rented spaces, including into City Hall in 1889.

This was a temporary home that lasted for a couple of decades. Then, the effort to build a central library picked up steam. One of those was with a plan to put it in Pershing Square, but the project went awry. So the collection moved again — this time into a department store building (while it was still running), between women’s clothes and furniture, where it stayed for six years.

A new, innovative library

When Everett Perry, an energetic city librarian, took the helm in 1911, he lobbied for years for a central library to be created.

Finally, a decade later, voters passed a measure for a $2 million bond to pay for a new dedicated building. That would become the Central Library we have today. L.A. was a little late among large U.S. cities for getting a central library, but it finally opened in July 1926.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Central Library turns 100

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