Though hardly comprehensive, this list includes resources for more information about teaching with historic places, architects and architectural styles, and selected aspects of Los Angeles history. If you find a link that doesn’t work or you have suggested additions, please let us know.

Historic Places and Preservation
Architecture
Selected Architects and Artists
Ambassador Hotel
Architecture
Bing Crosby

Historic Places and Preservation

National Park Service: Teaching with Historic Places
Ways to use properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects.

The History Channel: Classroom
Curriculum guides, archives of historic speeches, contests, and more through The History Channel's "Save Our History" educational initiative.

Los Angeles Conservancy
Downloadable resources and activities for kids, news about events and threats to historic buildings, and links to other resources.

Trust ArKIDtecture
Architecture-related activities for kids, and links to other resources, from the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.

PreserveLA.com
Forum and clearinghouse for news, information, and techniques concerning historic preservation and the history of Los Angeles and Southern California.

National Trust for Historic Preservation
Information and resources from the country's national preservation organization.

Art Deco Society of Los Angeles
Nonprofit organization working to preserve the Art Deco gems on Wilshire Boulevard and throughout the city.

HABS/HAER
Historic American Building Survey/Historic American Engineering Record, which documents important architectural sites throughout the U.S.

Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
Good illustrated dictionary of architectural terms, using historic buildings in Buffalo, New York.

Spanish Colonial Style Architecture
Description of the Spanish Colonial Revival style and photos of examples in Southern California.

Churrigueresque Architecture
Description of this ornate variation of Spanish architecture.

Retropolis: Art Deco Architecture
Overall description of the style with examples, architect bios, and links to related sites and societies.

About.com: Art Deco Architecture
Overview and related articles.

Decopix: Art Deco Architecture
Images of Art Deco examples outside of Los Angeles.

A Glimpse of the Future: Streamline Moderne
Brief overview of the Streamline Moderne style.

Miami Architectural Styles: Streamline Moderne
Overview of Streamline and Depression Moderne style, with examples in Miami. "Architectural Styles" also includes a page on Art Deco.

L.A.'s Modernist Marvels
Dated yet informative article on Los Angeles' Modernist architecture, with resources for more information.

Recent Past Preservation Network
Descriptions and images of endangered, demolished, and preserved Modernist buildings, from a nonprofit devoted to their preservation.

Modern Architecture from MSN Encarta
Comprehensive article by Diane Ghirardo of the USC School of Architecture on Modernism worldwide, including a section on the International Style (page 4).

About.com: Googie and Roadside Architecture
Range of articles on various types of Googie and roadside architecture.

Googie Gallery
Images and descriptions of various types of Googie architecture, from coffee shops to playgrounds.

Roadside Attractions Lesson Plan
Lesson plan from the National Park Service's "Teaching with Historic Places" website.

Roadside Architecture from the Recent Past Preservation Network
Descriptions and images of roadside examples across the U.S.

Society for Commercial Archeology's Roadside Galleries
Descriptions and images of roadside examples across the U.S.

Luke's Roadside Attractions: Mimetic Architecture
Images of various examples of mimetic (programmatic) architecture.

Roadside Peek: Roadside Vernacular
More images and descriptions.

Albert C. Martin

Paul R. Williams

Anthony Heinsbergen

S. Charles Lee

Gus Arnheim & His Cocoanut Grove Orchestra, 1930 (text and audio)
Description of bandleader Gus Arnheim's five-year run at the Ambassador's legendary Cocoanut Grove nightclub, with audio of his 1930 song, I'm Doin' That Thing. Note: Scroll down to "November 14, 2002."

"Dead Inn" (Washington Post, April 18, 2004)
Hank Stuever's detailed overview of the Ambassador's history and significance, written during the fight to save the hotel.

L.A. Observed
Kevin Roderick's (author of Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles) observations on the Ambassador issue.

Virtual Tour, March 2005
Detailed account by Chris Krause of one of the final tours given of the hotel.

Los Angeles Conservancy on Ambassador Hotel Settlement
The Conservancy's statement on the end of the fight to save the Ambassador.

Franklin Avenue: The Ambassador's Last Stand
Michael Schneider's blog tracking the fight to save the hotel and the landmark's ultimate demise; includes links to other Ambassador-related sites.

Hollywood Entertainers and the War
Curriculum guide and teacher resources for a thematic unit on California's contributions to World War II, from the California Military History Educational Project.

USO History on Display
Virtual tour of past exhibit at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum.

Photo of Japanese-owned shop on Wilshire Blvd.
From the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library, a War-era government photograph of a Japanese-owned shop on Wilshire that was never damaged , despite a national backlash against Japanese Americans during World War II.

Photo of Japanese-Americans at UCLA near Wilshire Blvd.
From the same collection, a photo of former Manzanar Relocation Camp detainees attending UCLA in 1945.

Red Hot Jazz: Paul Whiteman's Original Rhythm Boys (text and audio)
History of Crosby's early career, including his work at the Ambassador Hotel's Cocoanut Grove, where he recorded his first hit song and became a star through the Grove's radio broadcasts. Includes audio of his first hit, "I Surrender, Dear," and other recordings Crosby made with various groups.

History of KMPC Radio
Radio station based on Wilshire in the 1930s and co-owned by Crosby.

The Crooners: Bing Crosby
Crosby biography as part of a survey of American popular music by Frank Hoffmann and Robert Birkline at Sam Houston State University.