3/28/2007: The deadline below has passed, but we’re still open to considering suitable additions to the 1947project team. If interested in being part of the site, please feel free to go through the steps below and send the answers our way.
1947project, a Los Angeles based time travel blog dedicated to unearthing forgotten crime stories and peculiar happenings from the city’s past, is seeking between one and three extraordinary contributors to research and write a blog entry once or twice weekly for one year.
On March 23, following the previous night’s 1907 Centennial Celebration party in downtown LA, 1947project will announce the secret year to next be blogged on the site. The selected new contributors will get a sneak peak at the year in question, to give them a little time to bone up on the period.
Potential contributors should be witty, concise writers and skilled researchers, with a passion for Los Angeles history and an interest in true crime. We also welcome contributors who can write knowledgably on such subjects as architecture, city planning, entertainment, transportation, business, fringe religion and other topics that have been featured in past 1947project blog entries.
To get an idea of what we do, please visit:
www.1947project.com (current site, blogging the year 1907)
1947project.blogspot.com (archive site, blogging the year 1947, with visits to the scenes)
There is no pay, but the successful applicant will have the opportunity to plug their other work in a URL at the bottom of their entries, be mentioned in press releases, and have a central spot on a website that has become a must-read for fans of L.A.’s offbeat past and has been widely covered by the local print, radio and television media.
To apply for a spot on 1947project, please do the following by March 20:
1) ensure that you can access the ProQuest archives of the historical Los Angeles Times, either through the LA Public Library website (you will need a library card), by using the LAPL in-library computers, or from another source. You can call your local public or university librarian for help. Note that ProQuest access is essential for this project.
2) pasted into the body an email (no attachments), please submit the following application materials:
a) a writing sample of 300-700 words, in which you take the basic facts of Thelma Todd’s suspicious 1935 death (Google it) and turn it into a 1947project-style blog entry. Imagine you are telling the story to a neighbor who hasn’t yet heard what’s happened, writing it up in a letter home, or submitting a story to a scandal magazine—whatever tone feels right to you. Feel free to use snappy period slang, make allegations about possibly guilty parties, and place the crime and its victim in context.
b) your resume
c) an explanation of why you are interested in being a 1947project blogger and what you feel you will bring to the project.
d) how often can you contribute, one or two posts a week?
We look forward to hearing from you!
Kim Cooper, editrix
1947project
