Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research

The Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research is an archive and community organization that documents the history of radicalism and progressive movements in Southern California. Founded in 1963 by Emil and Tassia Freed, it holds materials collected over three decades, including personal libraries from activists subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee. The library moved to its current location in South-Central Los Angeles in 1973. Its holdings span the 1920s to the present and include the Asociacion de Vendedores Ambulantes Records, Housing Authority Photograph Collection, and Los Angeles Teachers Union Collection, with materials in English, Spanish, and Yiddish. Visitors can explore these unique collections to learn about resistance, civil rights, and community organizing in Southern California. The library's current director, Yusef Omowale, a 2019 UCLA Activist-in-Residence, emphasizes collecting materials on dispossession and displacement in Los Angeles. The library offers a rare glimpse into the region's activist past and ongoing social struggles.