William Deverell
William Deverell is the codirector and founding director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West and a professor of history at USC. He is also the founding director of the USC Libraries Collections Convergence Initiative. He is a historian of the 19th- and 20th-century American West. His undergraduate degree in American studies is from Stanford, and his MA and PhD degrees in American history are from Princeton. He has published widely on the environmental, social, cultural, and political history of the West.
Two Prisms onto Oakland
Alexis Madrigal’s The Pacific Circuit examines the past 100 years of the city’s social history as a port for goods manufactured in Asia.
The Parable of the Sower
Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower foresaw today’s climate disasters, social upheaval, and Black resilience in Los Angeles.
Guest Editor’s Note: Reckoning with the West
William Deverell, founding director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, is at the helm of Alta’s Issue 29.
The Pasadena Project
Tracing J. Robert Oppenheimer’s footsteps in Southern California.
The Historical Accuracy of ‘Perry Mason’ Season 2
A pair of consultants find 1930s Los Angeles for the HBO series, which premieres March 6, 2023.
After Francis
A missing relative is found, another mystery is discovered.
Finding Francis, Part Five: Louise Lorraine Wheeler, Eugene Francis Wheeler, John Joseph Wheeler
Finding Francis, Part Four: Harry Wheeler
Finding Francis, Part Three: William Francis Deverell Sr. and William Francis Deverell Jr.
Finding Francis, Part Two: Private John Francis Daly
Finding Francis, Part One: William Francis Deverell Sr.
Abolitionists at Rest
Finding traces of John Brown in California.
Getting Outside of COVID
Reconnecting with our fragile nature and our fragile selves.
What Is Happening in the West? It Is On Fire.
Fire Comes Home
A Nearly Forgotten History of Racial Violence
How should Los Angeles remember the Chinese Massacre of 1871?
Call of the Wild
In Fox & I, Catherine Raven finds a remarkable friend.
Survivor Manuals
Pandemics and plagues run deep in the history of the West. Documents from these acute moments provide context and understanding to our situation today.
Disease and Racism: Break the Pattern Now
True Stories of L.A. in the 1960s
Mike Davis and Jon Wiener revisit the turbulence of Los Angeles in the 1960s—and come correct.
Live Free or Die
Anthony McCann uses the Malheur occupation to tell a bigger story of the American West in Shadowlands: Fear and Freedom at the Oregon Standoff.
Migrant Letters
Changing immigration laws, job opportunities, and acclimation to a new culture are captured in these letters from 20th-century Chinese and Mexican immigrants to California.
A Little Girl, a Deep Well, and a Big Story
We take live TV news events for granted today. But in 1949, when three-year-old Kathy Fiscus fell down a well in San Marino, the attempt to rescue her was the first-ever significant news story to be televised live.