On this day: September 24, 1957

Los Angeles, California, in Chávez Ravine

Seven years into the disastrous evictions in the three barrios that made up the so-called Chávez Ravine communities of la Loma, Palo Verde, and Bishop, there were not many families left, and few houses remained standing. 

Few houses remained standing in 1957

Meanwhile, at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

While plans were being made in Los Angeles to address the problem of how to dislodge the last remaining holdouts from the 'immigrant slum' area of Chávez Ravine, another event was taking place in the aging, 44-year-old baseball park called Ebbets Field:  the last game was played by the Brooklyn Dodgers before their owner, Walter O'Malley, announced on October 8th that he was moving the team to Los Angeles.

The first pitch of the first game at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, May 9, 1913

Ticket for the last Dodger game at Ebbets Field, September 24, 1957

Nineteen months later, in Los Angeles ...

Those few families who remained in Chávez Ravine were looked upon by the Anglo developers and power brokers in Los Angeles as activists and resisters, probably the most well-documented of whom was the Aréchiga family in Palo Verde, who, along with several other families, would be forcibly evicted from their homes on May 9, 1959, still more than 19 months in the future.

May 9, 1959: Aurora Vargas being dragged from her home at 1771 Malvina Avenue in the Palo Verde barrio

... and 133 days after that ...

... ground was broken for construction of the new Dodger Stadium, future home of the now-Los Angeles Dodgers.

groundbreaking ceremony for Dodger Stadium, September 19, 1959

Finally, on April 10, 1962, the day had come ...

Finally, after two years and seven months of construction, this was the scene on April 10, 1962 — opening day of the 1962 baseball season at Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels.

Dodger Stadium, 1962 — game date uncertain

It may take some imagination, but in the distance, on the lomas out beyond center field, once were la Loma, Palo Verde, and Bishop, the home to nearly 1,100 largely-Hispanic families, now completely displaced; if not voluntarily, then forcibly.