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Description
Part of: Governor's Commission on the Los Angeles Riots records This black-and-white photograph captures a street scene during the 1965 Watts Rebellion. In the foreground, a large, rectangular, handmade wooden sign stands propped up in the middle of a paved road. The sign features hand-painted, capitalized text that reads: "TURN LEFT OR Get Shot." Behind the sign, two cars is parked along the right side of the street, including a dark vehicle in the immediate mid-ground and a lighter-colored car further back. Two more vehicles are parked at angles across the street, as if from an accident or as a roadblock. A figure in a dark suit and hat is in the middle of entering or exiting the dark car in the right midground. Behind the background cars in the road, numerous helmeted figures can be seen. One helmeted person crouches at one end of the leftmost car. The background shows a commercial streetscape with utility poles, streetlights, palm trees, and buildings, including one with a visible "7-Up" logo and another with a Coca-Cola sign. The overall perspective is a eye-level view looking down the length of the street, which is otherwise empty of moving traffic. Image description generated by AI (Gemini 3.0 Fast) and reviewed, February 2026 .
Type
image
Format
Photographs--California--Los Angeles
Extent
1 photographic print
Identifier
BANC MSS 74/115 c ark:/28722/bk0016t8c8n mss_cubanc_44_119_00188958
Subject
Watts Riot, Los Angeles, Calif., 1965 Los Angeles (Calif.)--Race relations California. Governor's Commission on the Los Angeles Riots--Archives Photographs--California--Los Angeles
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