1943 | El Pachuco Zoot Suits

This outfit defined an era, created a riot, and was banned by the government

By Khanya Khondlo Mtshali – Timeline.com – AP Photo. Photo: A young pachuco sporting a zoot suit being held on vagrancy charges in Los Angeles County jail during the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. (AP Photo) The tensions surrounding the zoot suit culminated in...

He Received His Draft Orders While Living In Mexico And Left To Serve His Country

By Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez – KUOW.org – Photo: Courtesy of the Alvarado family. Photo: Francisco Chapa Alvarado was a World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Eleven of his children also served in the military. Francisco Chapa Alvarado was living in...

Today in history: Zoot Suit riots rock L.A.

By Special to PeoplesWorld.org – PeoplesWorld.org – Image WInter Garden Theatre. Over the course of five days, beginning on June 3, 1943, simmering racial unease exploded as hundreds of white sailors stationed in Los Angeles stormed into East L.A. and...

‘Zoot Suit,’ a Pioneering Chicano Play, Comes Full Circle

By ElTeatroCampesino.com – Photo Jay Thompson/Center Theater Group On Tuesday, Jan. 31, a revival of “Zoot Suit” begins its run at the Taper, kicking off the theater’s 50th-anniversary season. A fantastical reimagining of the so-called Sleepy Lagoon murder case,...

What were the Zoot Suit Riots?

By Evan Andrews – History.com – Photo Library of Congress The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of violent clashes during which mobs of U.S. servicemen, off-duty police officers and civilians brawled with young Latinos and other minorities in Los Angeles. The...