Electric Moons: Lighting Los Angeles
Join the California Preservation Foundation for a conversation with author India Mandelkern on her book, Electric Moons: A Social History of Street Lighting in Los Angeles.
In Electric Moons, India Mandelkern examines the art and politics of street lighting in Los Angeles from the 1880s to the present day. Positioned at the intersection of social history, cultural anthropology, urban studies, and design history, the book illustrates how street lighting shaped larger debates about civic life and surveillance, infrastructure and mobility, public space, and who should have access to it. Through the story of one of the city's most ubiquitous yet often overlooked features, Mandelkern reveals how streetlights have influenced the physical form, social life, and identity of Los Angeles for more than a century.
The program will begin with an introduction to Mandelkern's background and research process, followed by a discussion of the history of street lighting in Los Angeles and the evolving role of streetlights as both essential infrastructure and historic architectural features worthy of preservation. The program will conclude with audience questions, providing participants an opportunity to engage directly with the author.
Whether you are interested in preservation, urban history, architecture, infrastructure, or the cultural history of Los Angeles, Electric Moons offers a fascinating lens through which to understand the built environment and the forces that shape our cities.
Copies of the book are available from the publisher, Hat & Beard Press, or through your local independent bookstore.
Author Biography
India Mandelkern is a historian and writer based in Altadena, California. She is the author of Electric Moons: A Social History of Street Lighting in Los Angeles (2023) and Wilshire Subway: The Making of the D Line Subway Extension (2026). She occasionally moonlights as a sommelier and holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.