USC Libraries Special Collections Exhibition 1776-1976: USC, Los Angeles, and the U.S. Bicentennial

Drawing from the USC Libraries’ Special Collections, USC University Archives, and the ONE Archives, the exhibition will explore how communities in Los Angeles marked the United States Bicentennial in 1976 and participated in democracy.

The exhibition traces student organizing, coalition building, cultural expression, and public-facing celebrations. Documents highlight the painting of a Bicentennial mural on the wall of USC’s El Centro Chicano, the 1976 gay pride parade, the fight for a gay and lesbian library on campus, plans for a “Black Achievement Exhibit” (organized by USC alumna and U.S. Congresswoman, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke), among other commemorations on and near the USC campus.