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https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/vista-theatre

One of the last remaining early 20th-century historic theaters in Los Angeles, the Vista retains the nostalgic glamour of old Hollywood thanks to a recent revival led by Quentin Tarantino. After decades of financial trouble, the iconic movie house closed during the pandemic. It reopened in 2023 under Tarantino’s ownership and has since re-established itself as a premiere moviegoing destinations. 

First opened by businessman Louis Bard in 1923, Vista Theater—originally called Bard’s Hollywood Theatre—was one of several Los Angeles movie houses built in Lewis Arthur Smith’s signature Spanish Revival style. Though the film industry was still nascent, Bard sought to capitalize on the growing demand for silent pictures, building a small chain of Egyptian-themed theaters across Hollywood and Los Feliz. Inside, the theater’s walls are lined with glowing Egyptian figureheads, inspired by the worldwide excitement over the excavation of King Tut’s tomb the year before its opening.

Just a few years later, however, Louis Bard faced financial troubles and sold the theater in 1927. Over the following few decades, ownership transferred many times, and the theater became entangled in controversy. In 1948, the theater showed the highly controversial and notoriously racist film “The Birth of a Nation,” which was met with opposition and protests. A decade later, at the height of the Cold War, the theater drew controversy again for showing what some critics described as “pro-Communist” Soviet films.

Towards the turn of the century, the theater struggled to maintain business and survived mainly as a local venue for weddings and showing smaller, independent screenings for local filmmakers. It officially closed in 2020 but was quickly revived a few years later, aided by a substantial renovation that preserved its original design while modernizing its interior.

Since its reopening, the Vista Theater has committed to only project movies on film, featuring both a 70mm and 35mm film projector. It is also among the few theaters in the world capable of projecting VistaVision, giving film enthusiasts the rare opportunity to view VistaVison films in their original widescreen horizontal format. Originally developed by Paramount Pictures in the 1950s, VistaVison has experienced a revival through popular filmmakers such as Paul Thomas Anderson and Christopher Nolan. Many claim VistaVison captures a film’s color with more vibrancy and clarity than a standard 35 or 70mm projection. 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/vista-theatre

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/a-philip-randolph-statue

Back Bay is one of the busiest train stations in Boston. Serving the commuter rail, the orange line connecting to North Station, and a stop for Amtrak, there is no shortage of foot traffic. Within the waiting area for Amtrak departures, there is a large statue of a man in a sitting pose with informational guides posted nearby. Most commuters probably don’t notice it, but the man depicted played a significant role in shaping worker’s rights and civil rights during the 20th century. 

Asa Philip Randolph was born in Crescent City, Florida on April 15, 1889. His family moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 1891 and growing up in the South, Randolph witnessed Jim Crow firsthand and learned from his parents the importance of education, self-defense, character, and conduct. He attended the Cookman Institute in East Jacksonville and graduated as the valedictorian for the class of 1907. Randolph read W.E.B. Du Bois’ book The Souls of Black Folk, which convinced him to become a fighter for social equality. However, with all jobs except manual labor off limits for African Americans, Randolph moved to New York City in 1911. 

Shortly after arriving in New York, Randolph helped organize the Shakespearean Society in Harlem and became involved in many socialist political movements. In 1917, he and fellow activist Chandler Owen founded the magazine The Messenger which advocated against lynching, US participation in World War I, fighting for a more integrated society, and for Black Americans to join unions. In the early 1920s, Randolph ran for local government offices on the socialist platform but was unsuccessful. In 1925, he founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first labor union led by Black Americans to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor. Randolph campaigned extensively for workers of the Pullman Company, a manufacturer of railroad cars and a major employer of African Americans at the time. After the election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Pullman Company began to negotiate with the Brotherhood and settled on a contract in 1937 which guaranteed higher wages, overtime pay, and a shorter workweek. 

In addition to labor unions, Randolph also worked extensively for civil rights in the United States. He worked closely with President Roosevelt during the Second World War to address racial discrimination in the war industry and to ensure Black Americans had the equal opportunity to serve their country. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 in June 1941 which prohibited discrimination in the defense industry and the government backed Black workers during the Philadelphia Transit Strike in 1944. After the war, Randolph continued to work with the next administration and in 1948, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981 which abolished segregation in the US military. Once the Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950s, Randolph was a key figure and formed an important alliance with Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957. On August 28, 1963, Randolph was one of the leaders during the March on Washington where King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech which had a significant impact on the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. 

On May 16, 1979, Randolph passed away inside his Manhattan apartment. On October 8, 1988, a group of retired Pullman car porters and dining car waiters gathered at Back Bay station to unveil a statue dedicated to Randolph who worked so hard on their behalf decades ago. The sculpture is located within a waiting area with many plaques and informational signs posted. If you would like to learn more about Randolph, his life, and his contributions, it’s definitely worth taking a look next time you’re at Back Bay station. 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/a-philip-randolph-statue

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/imashirozuka-kofun

The largest ancient kofun tomb in the Yodo River basin, the 6th-century Imashirozuka Kofun is unique in several aspects. It is likely one of the only ancient keyhole mound tombs of a Japanese emperor which one can actually walk around and climb. This is because when it was identified as the probable tomb of Emperor Keitai, the Imperial Household Agency had already assumed that he was buried in another location. As such, they declined to award protection to the tomb, which today remains under the stewardship of the local government.

For many years until its excavation and conversion into a park, Imashirozuka Kofun was in a very neglected state. Its primary mound has partially collapsed, which was thought to be because the warlord Oda Nobunaga built a castle on it in the 16th century. In reality, the collapse occurred because of an earthquake in 1596, according to archaeologists.

Commonly found among kofun tombs of the 3rd through 6th centuries are haniwa, terracotta figures used as funerary objects. Cylindrical haniwa were used to support the kofun mounds, and haniwa shaped as people, objects, animals, or houses were placed on top of or around the mounds. They were likely supposed to play a role in protecting or housing spirits of the deceased. Imashirozuka Kofun is unique among such sites in having an actual reconstruction of such a ritual precinct of haniwa, similar to the army of terracotta warriors in front of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's tomb in China.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/imashirozuka-kofun

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/moulay-tayeb-al-darqawi

Moulay Tayeb Al-Darqawi (aka Mawlāy at-Tayyib ad-Darqāwī) was the son of the renowned Moroccan Sufi leader Muhammad Al-Arabi Al-Darqawi (1760–1823). It would be more accurate to refer to this structure as the Mausoleum or Shrine of Moulay Tayeb Al-Darqawi, however, on most maps, it is commonly identified simply by his name. This could be considered an odd detail of negligible importance, but there is another peculiar fact pertaining to this site: although there is a wealth of documentation regarding his father, there is virtually no information at all on Moulay Tayeb Al-Darqawi apart that he was his father’s successor as the head of the Darqawiyya order in Morocco. This is basically an obscure misnamed shrine honouring an obscure person. 

Another significant reason why this shrine is little-known is that it is located in the Rif Region, which is a sparsely populated rural area with limited public transport – only shared taxis come this way. It is only 135 km north of Fez, but the route mainly consists of narrow, crumbling roads winding up and down this section of the Middle Atlas. With no major settlements nearby, this shrine stands out in the middle of farmland. This shrine was erected in this particular place because the Al-Darqawi family was originally form the Rif Region. 

The shrine exhibits all the typical characteristics of shrines in the region.  The base is rectangular, and it is capped with a dome roof that symbolises the heavens. Along the perimeter of the dome are decorative crenelations, which are also quite widespread.  Large sections of the plaster that once covered the whole shrine peeled off, revealing red bricks and earth. The cracks and other signs of natural wear suggest that this shrine was been neglected for quite a long time. 

The inside of the shrine is equally dilapidated, but there are still some elements of interest. The floor and part of the lower walls are still covered with traditional Moroccan tiles called zellige. Light enters primarily from the main arched door and the two sizable windows on its sides. Opposite, there are two more small windows with the shutters closed. The inside of the dome reveals the intricate brinkmanship that went into this structure.  Visible is also a delicately decorated fragment of plaster on the domed ceiling, all the remains of tadelakt (polished lime plaster) that probably covered the whole ceiling.

Restoration work of Moulay Tayeb Al-Darqawi was planned to start in 2020. Since then, the dirt road linking the shrine to the main road has been improved, and the outer wall around the shrine was demolished, however, as of 2025, there is no sign of further restoration work. The construction warning sign is still standing but so faded that it is basically unreadable. 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/moulay-tayeb-al-darqawi