MEMORANDUM

The purpose of this memo is to show how my work and research have come so far in terms of the final paper. The site I have elected to research is the Young Women’s Christian Association Corps Center. I attempted using Sanborn Insurance Co. to find maps of the YWCA site as early as 1888. I also researched using the USC libraries website to search about the site/neighborhood before it was built, after it was built, and the present day. Lastly, I took a drive to the relatively close location walked around the block to get a general feel for the area.

Pre- Research

Before I started doing anything I thought it was important to find out exactly what my site was and where it was located. I figured it would be important to know where the site was exactly and its actual purpose so I would be able to tell the effects that YWCA Jobs Corps Center would have on the surrounding area.

Sanborn Insurance Co. – An Epic Search (Still in Progress)

Maybe I am just bad at looking at map keys but I almost found this part of the research impossible. I have not given up because I know there is a way but in 1888 I could not even locate Broadway St. (the street its on) on the map. There was also not an option for a map after for after the year of 1955, which also poses a problem because the site was not even built until 1965. I will definitely find a map for 1955 on Sanborn but it leads me to believe that I will need to use another source to find a map where the actual site is located in present day.

Historical Articles

I found that using the USC libraries website was quite useful. Proquest for instance was the most useful as it had plenty of credible LA Times articles about the YWCA Jobs Corps Center. One article that particularly stood out was an LA Times article written in 1988 about how the Los Angeles YWCA Jobs corps Center was awarded the best Jobs Corps Center in the United States. This article is great to explain the impacts of how the YWCA Jobs corps Center impacted the surrounding neighborhood. I found that finding articles was much easier then the map especially because Jobs Corps Center ran by the YWCA was productive and had such a great impact on the South Park Area.

Walk Around

Last Sunday, I drove to my site and there was conveniently a parking lot directly next door to it right next to Thelma’s (Food Stand). The building is right on the corner of the intersection of Broadway and 11th Street. The YWCA Jobs corps Center building itself was noticeably very tall but I am unsure if the YWCA uses the whole high-rise. Maybe because it was a Sunday afternoon, but the whole area in general seemed pretty dead. There were some other tall buildings across the street and diagonal from were some small companies and business buildings.