Web Sites | Books

Murders, Crimes, and Scandals in Los Angeles
http://www.usc.edu/isd/archives/la/scandals/lagoon.html
The Doheny Reference Center at the University of Southern California provides some information on the Sleepy Lagoon murder, along with a bibliography of books and articles on the case.

Gilder Lehrman History Online: The Zoot Suit Riots
http://www.gliah.uh.edu/mexican_voices/voices_display.cfm?id=104
Read the text of a Governor's Citizen's Committee Report on the Los Angeles Riots of 1943.

Gilder Lehrman History Online: Sleepy Lagoon
http://www.gliah.uh.edu/mexican_voices/voices_display.cfm?id=103
This description of the crime at Sleepy Lagoon includes an exploration of prejudice in the Los Angeles law enforcement establishment.

Alice McGrath on the Black Press
http://www.pbs.org/blackpress/film/transcripts/mcgrath.html
In an interview for the PBS documentary, "The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords," Sleepy Lagoon activist Alice McGrath describes the role the black press played in events.

Alice McGrath on Activism
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/10.10.96/mcgrath-9641.html
The San Francisco publication MetroActive published this article about the film From Sleepy Lagoon to Zoot Suit: The Irreverent Path of Alice McGrath, including an interview with McGrath.

The Zoot Suit and Style Warfare
http://www.edc.org/CCT/lemcen/u7sf/u7materials/cosgrove.html
Explore a scholarly 1984 article on the politics of the zoot suit, by Stuart Cosgrove.

1943 Newspaper Clippings
http://web.mala.bc.ca/davies/H324War/Zootsuit.riots.media.1943.htm
Read selected newspaper articles from 1943, compiled by Elliot Gorn and others for their 1970 publication, Constructing the American Past: A Sourcebook of a People's History.

Zoot Suit Riot Web Project
http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/estudent/csharp/pachucos.html
Charles Sharp of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Department looks into the Cherry Poppin' Daddies' 1998 hit, "Zoot Suit Riot" -- and delves into the renaissance of swing music and dance and the reactions of modern-day zoot suiters, as well.

Zoots by Suavecito
http://www.suavecito.com
Wondering where to buy a modern-day zoot suit? Check this Denver clothing store's site for everything from suits to hats to shoes.

Web Sites | Books

Escobar, Edward J. Race, Police, and the Making of a Political Identity: Mexican Americans and the Los Angeles Police Department, 1900-1945. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.

Klein, Norman M. and Martin J. Schiesl, eds. 20th Century Los Angeles: Power, Promotion, and Social Conflict. Claremont: Regina Books, 1990.

Mazon, Mauricio. The Zoot-Suit Riots: The Psychology of Symbolic Annihilation. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984.

Normark, Don. Chavez Ravine, 1949: A Los Angeles Story. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1999.

Romo, Ricardo. East Los Angeles: History of a Barrio. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1983.

Sanchez, George J. Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.