Photo Finish: The Olympic Games in Los Angeles, 1932 and 1984

Los Angeles hosted the Olympic Games twice, in 1932 and 1984. These successful, and controversial, Olympics will be remembered for the ways they changed Los Angeles, as well as for the athletic performances of Babe Didrikson, Eddie Tolan, Stella Walsh, Carl Lewis, Mary Lou Retton, and Michael Jordan. For this program, author David Davis has culled dozens of black-and-white images exclusively from the Photograph Collection of the Los Angeles Public Library.

David Davis is the author of Showdown at Shepherd’s Bush: The 1908 Olympic Marathon and the Three Runners Who Launched a Sporting Craze and Play by Play: Los Angeles Sports Photography 1889-1989 (images from the LAPL Photo Collection).