Sept. 3, 2024

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Now an upscale, residential neighborhood in the heart of Pasadena, Madison Heights used to be home to Simons Brickyard, once the largest brickyard in the world. The Simons Brick Company imprint can still be found on bricks throughout Southern California. This episode looks at the stories hidden within them: about the laborers who made the bricks, the neighborhood then and now, and legal battles that involved allegations of animal cruelty and more.

To see images related to this episode, please visit dornsife.usc.edu/icw.

Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Eryn Hoffman, Jessica Kim, and Elizabeth Logan. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Science

History

Society & Culture

Nature

Documentary

English

United States

Use API to fetch this episode in JSON

IN THIS EPISODE

Simons Brickyard

William Deverell

Katie Dunham

Eryn Hoffman

Jessica Kim

Elizabeth Logan

Season 4

Edit these tags

TRANSCRIPT 🔗

Are you the producer of this podcast? Add a podcast transcript

Need Audio-to-Text? Transcribe with Listen411 in Just 60 Seconds

SEARCH PAST EPISODES

Search past episodes of Western Edition.

Embed this search bar to your website

OTHER EPISODES IN THIS PODCAST

Hidden Pasadena: St. Barnabas and All Saints

Sept. 10, 2024

This is the story of two churches: St. Barnabas, the historically all-black Episcopal Church still standing on Fair Oaks Drive in Northwest Pasadena, and the mainly-white All Saints Church, located less than two miles south of St. Barnabas, South of the 210 freeway and within easy walking distance …

00:18:04

SAVE

CLIP

Hidden Pasadena: Shōya House

Oct. 1, 2024

What is the oldest structure in the San Gabriel Valley? This episode shares the story of The Shoya House, a 3,000 square-foot home that made a 6,000 mile journey from Japan to Pasadena’s Huntington Library. Now a part of the library’s collection, it fits not only onto the landscape at The Huntingto…

00:40:54

SAVE

CLIP

Hidden Pasadena: John Birch Society

Sept. 17, 2024

Thriving in Pasadena in the 1960s and 1970s, members of the John Birch Society identified as anti-communists, opposed the civil rights movement and racial desegregation, deeply disagreed with the feminist movement, and disseminated lies and conspiracy theories. This episode explores how they profou…

00:27:55

SAVE

CLIP

Hidden Pasadena: Vroman’s Bookstore

Sept. 24, 2024

What can we learn from a bookstore? Adam Clark Vroman opened the AC Vroman Bookstore in 1894 and it has symbolized an important piece of Pasadena’s intellectual community ever since. Though the location has changed, this episode takes a deeper look at the man who created this legacy and considers h…

00:25:24

SAVE

CLIP

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from William Deverell, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.