'Somewhere up there in California heaven, Charles Fletcher Lummis is not a happy man.

A journalist and an obsessive collector of all things Western, Lummis was a pioneer L.A. historian who defended the cultural heritage of our state and region against those who would insult, ignore or steal it.

He founded the city's first museum and built its first important museum building in 1914. And today, his Southwest Museum still rises like a castle on a hillside overlooking Lummis' favorite corner of the city, the Arroyo Seco.

The Southwest Museum is conveniently located next to the Metro Gold Line station of the same name. But you can't visit the museum, and haven't been able to since it was closed to the public in 2006."

Get the Story:
Hector Tobar: Los Angeles' Southwest Museum is an artifact worth saving (The Los Angeles Times 7/1)