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Sakai-Kozawa Residence/Tokio Florist and Pole Sign
This landmark represents the ways in which Japanese American women helped shape the city's cultural, economic and physical landscapes. In Los Angeles, only 3% of the local landmarks, known as Historic-Cultural Monuments (HCMs), are dedicated to women’s stories and achievements.
Women lounging in front of the Alcoholism Center for Women by Carolyn Weathers private collectionLos Angeles Conservancy
Why landmark?
Landmarks are tangible links to the people and places that have shaped us.
That’s why the L.A. Conservancy and National Trust for Historic Preservation launched the L.A. Women’s Landmark Project to make women’s history visible and work towards gender equity in the L.A. landmark program.
The Woman's Building (2017) by Laura Dominguez/L.A. ConservancyLos Angeles Conservancy
The Woman's Building
The Woman’s Building helped artists “create our place in the world.” Hear Cheri Gaulke and Sue Maberry explain what, over 40 years later, The Woman’s Building means to them.
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International Institute of Los Angeles
From 1915 through the 1950s, the International Institute offered diverse immigrant women and girls in Boyle Heights opportunities for economic mobility and cultural expression. The Boyle Heights Community Partners and the L.A. Conservancy designated it in 2021.
Alcoholism Center for Women campus by Lindsay Mulcahy/L.A. ConservancyLos Angeles Conservancy
Alcoholism Center for Women campus
The Alcoholism Center for Women is one of the earliest women and lesbian-centered social services organizations. It is designated for its architectural, but not social significance.
The Women’s Landmark Initiative will designate new landmarks for women’s heritage, as well as amend designations to include overlooked women’s history.
Alcoholism Center for Women staff on the front steps by Lorette Herman/Alcoholism Center for WomenLos Angeles Conservancy
Together with community partners we aim to tell fuller, more inclusive histories of the women who shaped L.A.
The Alcoholism Center for Women’s staff and community are deeply invested in their legacy and are committed to maintaining their historic buildings that provide safety and support to countless women.
Telling women's stories goes beyond pretty buildings.
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Sister Mary Corita Studio
From the street, you might not register this stucco building as a landmark. But this humble building was the longtime studio of Sister Corita Kent, the pop art nun who used her art to advocate for social justice in the civil rights era.
Women like Tsuya Ozawa are hard to find in history.
For decades Tsuya ran a successful boarding house business in East Hollywood. Family oral histories have brought her contributions to light.
Crenshaw Women's Center (2021) by Adrian Scott Fine/L.A. ConservancyLos Angeles Conservancy
Crenshaw Women's Center
Added as a local landmark in 2021, political pressure reduced the designation to a “site of” commemoration to allow the building to be demolished.
Crenshaw Women's Center, after the fire (2023) by Adrian Scott Fine/L.A. ConservancyLos Angeles Conservancy
If we don’t protect these places, we will lose them forever.
In 2023, the Crenshaw Women's Center was decimated by a fire.
Reaching gender equity in preservation requires many approaches. The Women’s Landmark Initiative includes both educational and policy components to help youth and adults of all gender identities see women in history.
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There are so many women’s stories to be told!
This building housed Esther Wong’s club, Madame Wong. Wong was a Chinese American entrepreneur who became a high-profile music promoter of punk and new wave artists, earning her the title “Godmother of Punk.”
Youth at Central Plaza by L.A. ConservancyLos Angeles Conservancy
L.A. Conservancy Heritage Project students outside of Madame Wong’s.
Do you know an important site of women's history? Reach out to us to share your story! Lmulcahy@laconservancy.org.
Sumi Kozawa and her daughter Susie Kozawa outside of their home (1962) by Susie Kozawa private collectionLos Angeles Conservancy
Sumi Kozawa and daughter Susie Kozawa outside of their home, now landmarked.
The Women’s Landmark Project is a joint project of the L.A. Conservancy and National Trust for Historic Preservation's Where Women Made History Initiative. Learn more about the initiative here.
Written by Lindsay Mulcahy. Lindsay is the Neighborhood Outreach Coordinator with the Los Angeles Conservancy.
