Elsa Devienne
@elsadevienne.bsky.social
6.6K followers 1.4K following 790 posts
Historian | Made in 🇫🇷 Lives in 🇬🇧 Writes about 🇺🇲 | Envtal Justice, Beaches, Cities, Plastics | 📘 SAND RUSH: THE REVIVAL OF THE BEACH IN 20TH-CENTURY LA 🏖️ | 🚲 +🚶🏻‍♂️ advocate | Here for work but also random stuff
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elsadevienne.bsky.social
👩 Meet Linda Maraniss
⭐ In 1986, she visited Padre Island National Seashore, in Texas.
🏖️ She expected a beach.
🤢 She found a landfill.
▶️ Listen to ep 2 of our "Early Heroines of Plastic Pollution" series to find out what happened afterwards
tinyurl.com/4xsvnbv3
#InternationalCoastalCleanup
a white woman brandishes a plastic salt bag (used by fishermen) at the Texas Senate
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
lawrencecphd.bsky.social
I just wanted to share some more photos from the great beach history tour led by @elsadevienne.bsky.social and
alisonrosejefferson.com in Santa Monica today as part of the Urban History Association’s conference!
#UHA2025LA
Alison Rose Jefferson and Elsa Devienne AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE LIVED IN SANTA MONICA LONGER THAN ANY OTHER BEACH CITY IN THE REGION.

They first arrived in the late nineteenth century. joining other ethnic groups that left their homes for better lives. African Americans also came for equal opportunities and freedom.

Most Black newcomers were from Southern states. where they lived under the White racist laws and practices of Jim Crow. There, for nearly 100 years after the Civil War, this deliberate discrimination made their lives oppressive. Although California passed civil rights laws for all its
citizens in 1893, racist practices limited where African Americans
lived, worked, and went to school, which places they visited, and even which people they socialized with.

EDUCATION FOR ALL
Camelia Hunt, student number 11 in this 1893 photograph, was the only African American in her fourth-grade class. Born in Virginia, her family moved to Santa Monica in the 1880s.
Her father, George W. Hunt, owned a barbershop at 902 Wilshire Boulevard. The Hunts also owned their home at 1548 7th Street.

Black Californians persevered. In Santa Monica, they created opportunities to work, rent and buy property, and gather in public.
Over the years, they fought to keep these rights, win others, and tear down the walls of anti-Black discrimination.

BELMAR HISTORY +ART
www.untamonica.cov/arts/bolmar
Santa Monica Sculpture representing a shotgun house, a popular form of residential architecture in New Orleans and other parts of the US south. WELCOME TO THE FUTURE
BENEATH THIS MARKER IS A COLLECTION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY FOR SANTA MONICAS GENERATIONS TO COME
IT IS TO BE OPENED JUNE 19, 2070
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
charlotte-leib.bsky.social
Echoing that thanks!

A terrific tour + chance to talk more about race, recreation + landscape history not only with @elsadevienne.bsky.social, learning from her new pub * #SandRush *, but also @lawrencecphd.bsky.social, whose first book *The Frontier of Leisure* examines these themes, too! #envhist
urbanhistorya.bsky.social
The #UHA2025LA conference today included excellent tour of the historically #Black neighborhood of Belmar & LA's iconic #musclebeach with historians Elsa Devienne @elsadevienne.bsky.social & Alison Rose Jefferson. A deeply informative, engaging morning! Thank you Elsa & Alison! #LosAngeles #history
A group of people dressed in athletic and casual clothing flex their (relatively small) "muscles" at Muscle Beach!
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
urbanhistorya.bsky.social
It ended with @elsadevienne.bsky.social sharing key insights from #SandRush on the cultural & #envhist of LA's #beaches. Check out the award-winning books *Sand Rush* & *Living the California Dream* to learn more! global.oup.com/academic/pro... uk.linkedin.com/in/elsa-devi... alisonrosejefferson.com
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
urbanhistorya.bsky.social
The #UHA2025LA conference today included excellent tour of the historically #Black neighborhood of Belmar & LA's iconic #musclebeach with historians Elsa Devienne @elsadevienne.bsky.social & Alison Rose Jefferson. A deeply informative, engaging morning! Thank you Elsa & Alison! #LosAngeles #history
A group of people dressed in athletic and casual clothing flex their (relatively small) "muscles" at Muscle Beach!
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
urbanhistorya.bsky.social
@lawrencecphd.bsky.social @elsadevienne.bsky.social and Kara Schilchting will share new work emerging from their book projects and research. See below for the program and some previews! #UHA2025LA
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
urbanhistorya.bsky.social
This morning we're featuring the *Summer in the City: Urban Heat in the Past, Present & Future* panel

Head to the Roman rm from 8-9:30pm to learn about how urban historians are addressing hot topics like— #climatechange —& the interconnected histories of the body, health & leisure & climate control
cover slide with a hot hazy palm tree urban scene and the text at right, on white: "Hidden Histories of Heat in LA's Land of Sunshine
elsadevienne.bsky.social
Today's workday starts with counting crabs with UCLA marine biology students! 🦀🌞
Santa moni a beach with Malibu in the distance Student and instructor preparing the experiment
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
mark-bray.bsky.social
2) For the same class we read Ch. 8 of Robert Paxton's classic The Anatomy of Fascism. I used his definition of fascism in my book Antifa.

I love his argument that a definition of fascism "encompasses its subject no better than a snapshot encompasses a person."
Cover of The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert O. Paxton. It shows a woman giving a fascist salute. What Is Fascism?

The moment has come to give fascism a usable short handle, even though we know that it encompasses its subject no better than a snapshot encompasses a person.

Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by
obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
charlotte-leib.bsky.social
Join the conversation at this year’s UHA conference with the hashtag #UHA2025LA 📑🌴🌆

We’ll “re-skeet” your panels if you promote ‘em! So get at it!
urbanhistorya.bsky.social
Lookout for Margaret & @[email protected] 's posts on the UHA's BlueSky & Instagram accounts starting today & thru the conference weekend.

Re-share, reply & tag #UHA2025LA to promote your work, celebrate the work of presentees & join the conversation! …and don't forget to give us a follow!
elsadevienne.bsky.social
Yes they do have cool lockers like in the tv shows 🤩
Selfie in front of lockers
elsadevienne.bsky.social
This highschool visit is fulfilling all my teenage fantasies of what America was/is.
elsadevienne.bsky.social
Hello from Los Angeles 🌞 where I'm giving a talk about SAND RUSH to Marlborough highschool students.

Bumped into this poster which seemed apt.
Poster in a highschool corridor says TALK ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
farsouthhistory.bsky.social
There is still time to review a book this Fall semester! Check out some of the awesome new titles that I have available for review. Pass it on! #envhist #envhum #energy #aghist #ecocrit #conservation #sustatinability #envtech #water #naturewriting
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Books Available to review for H-Environment
Books Available for Review for H-Environment Below are the books currently available for review for H-Environment. Interested in reviewing one? Please email me at [email protected] for DM me at @farso...
docs.google.com
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
elsadevienne.bsky.social
Other #transpennine commuters, do consider submitting a complaint about the change to amend tickets at this link: www.railhelp.co.uk/tpexpress/ma....
elsadevienne.bsky.social
I just can't express how frustrating this change has made my morning. This is really really bad. Please consider going back to the old system. I'm not going through a refund to rebook.
Also what's up with tickets being more expensive than last year? The lowest priced ones disappear more quickly.
elsadevienne.bsky.social
Dear @tpexpress.bsky.social, I get that you needed to update the website but why is it SO hard to amend tickets for the same journey now?? I need to re-book and ask for a refund now. It used to be SO easy. It's such a faff that I gave up instead of spending lots of money on a ticket change.
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
nichecanada.bsky.social
We are thrilled to announce our new colloboration with The Metropole - @urbanhistorya.bsky.social - Urban and Environmental Dialogues

Send us your proposals for this new urban #envhist series by 24 October!

niche-canada.org/2025/09/29/c...

#urbanhistory #urbanstudies #urban #envhum
Call for Proposals - Urban and Environmental Dialogues
Urban and Environmental Dialogues will explore how the environment-at-large and the urban built environment have shaped one another throughout history.
niche-canada.org
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
post-doc-club.bsky.social
Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month

www.jstor.org/action/showL...
elsadevienne.bsky.social
Excellent read for anyone interested in Indigenous histories
historyworkshop.org.uk
Last week we also said a fond farewell to another HW team member, Mary Newman (@maryknewman.bsky.social).

Over the past two years, Mary has commissioned some incredible work including her recent series on Indigenous histories.

Keep an eye out for her final few articles over the next few weeks!
Indigenous Historical Practices
Delve into Indigenous history with our History Workshop series, highlighting complex systems of historical knowledge and their significance.
www.historyworkshop.org.uk
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
sundayofaction.bsky.social
The power of clean energy hit the news across the U.S. last weekend as 500 events kicked off to celebrate Sun Day 🗞☀️ Thank you to local organizers for sharing the story of Sun Day and showing the HUGE support for solar and wind that continues to grow despite the challenges we face.