Picturing Mexican America

Did you know that Mexico used to extend North all the way into what we now know as the US state of Oregon? And did you know that Los Angeles used to be the capital of Alta California, a relatively insignificant territory that wasn’t even important enough to be a state? Well, it’s all true, and picturing Mexican America helps you experience what life was like back then.

Built by a collaborative team of researchers at UCLA and the Los Angeles Public Library, Picturing Mexican America consists of four features: “Mis Tierras” uses geodata to display images of 19th century, Mexican Los Angeles based on your location; with “LA Selfie” you can see which historical figure you most resemble and learn more about them; “Mis Viajes” embeds 19th-century, Mexican sounds back into the cityscape; and the ‘Story of the Week” entertaining, bite-sized history lessons.