We wrote a series of essays for KCET Departures about Olive Percival to include this multifaceted artist, bibliophile, gardener, art collector, suffragist, insurance clerk in their series on Highland Park. Percival is often overlooked in accounts along the Arroyo (so much so that a 1984 profile called her “Forgotten Woman of the Arroyo.”)

There are so many stories in LA’s past that need to be told, retold and retold again to ensure they are held securely in the collective memory of Los Angeles. We felt strongly about Olive Percival, not just because she has enchanted us for years, but because her story makes us wonder how many more amazing Angelenos have we lost to history?

We’ve been asking ourselves this question since we started our LAhistory twitter project in 2009. We are certainly not the first (…or second, or third…) or the last to ask that question. In fact, so many unsung heroes work to share the lost stories of Los Angeles — historians, researchers, preservationists, librarians, bloggers, archivists, tour guides, journalists, media-makers. With so many shepherds of Los Angeles history, we refuse to believe that Angelenos don’t care about their history!