The Archive
A record in fragments.
Photographs. Floor plans. Court records. A travel guide. A cartoon a deaf woman drew and left behind. This is what survives.
Archives are rarely complete. The ones that document marginalized communities almost never are. What survives of Cooper Do-nuts is a collection of fragments — pieces from a family that kept things, a court system that incidentally recorded names and addresses, a travel writer who happened to stop in, a public library that stamped the date.
The Cooper Do-nuts Foundation is gathering these fragments into a record. What you see here is what we have so far. We are still looking for more. If you have anything to add, share it here.
Category 01
The People
The Evans family who built and ran Cooper Do-nuts across four decades.
Category 02
Production & Delivery
Making, boxing, loading, and delivering — the day-to-day operation of the chain.
Category 03
Storefronts
Known photographed locations across Los Angeles and Northern California. We have documented 33 locations. We know there were more.
No photograph yet confirmed
We do not yet have a confirmed photograph of the 517 South Main Street location. Its presence is established by sworn court testimony (People v. Shepherd, 1963) and the Frommer’s 1962 travel guide. If you have photographic evidence of this location, please share it.
Category 04
Objects & Merchandise
The branded objects that moved through the world with the chain.
Category 05
Architecture & Plans
The prefabricated standalone building used across multiple Cooper Do-nuts locations.
Category 06
Documents & Records
Primary source documents from the Evans family archive, public records, and ongoing research.
Jack Evans’ Report on Cooper Do-nuts
A firsthand account by the founder covering the chain’s origins, operating model, pricing, staffing, the wholesale network, and his philosophy of inclusion. The primary family document.
Evans family archive
People v. Shepherd, 200 Cal. App. 2d 306 (Cal. Ct. App. 1963)
Sworn LAPD undercover testimony from December 22, 1960, places an officer in front of Cooper’s Doughnut Shop at 517 South Main Street — independently confirming the shop’s presence on the 500 block in the period immediately following the alleged uprising.
California Court of Appeal, public record · Full analysis on The Evidence page
Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas on $5 and $10 a Day (Frommer, 1962), p. 97
John Wilcock’s 1962 travel guide independently lists Cooper Donuts at 517 Main Street. The LA Public Library copy is stamped August 9, 1962.
Evans family archive · LA Public Library copy confirmed Aug 9, 1962 · Full analysis
Building permits & Certificates of Occupancy
Permits covering construction, renovation, and occupancy of multiple downtown Los Angeles locations. Collected by location researcher Paul Zappia from city records.
City of Los Angeles records · Research by Paul Zappia
Parker-era media blackout — press clipping
A contemporaneous Los Angeles newspaper document recording Chief William H. Parker’s restriction of media access to criminal records. Full provenance pending confirmation. Directly addresses the absence of 1959 newspaper coverage of the uprising.
Evans family archive · Provenance confirmation in progress
Ads & Ephemera — actively sought
We are searching newspaper archives for Cooper Do-nuts advertisements from the 1950s through 1990s — and tracking the cartoon drawn by Blanche, the deaf regular who drew a figure at the counter captioned “All this for a dime?” If you have a clipping, ad, coupon, matchbook, or any printed material, share it here.
Category 07
Press Coverage
The Foundation takes the skeptical coverage as seriously as the supportive.
The New York Times
“A Gay Riot at a Doughnut Shop? The Legend Has Some Holes.” Erik Piepenburg, June 5, 2023.
LAist
Coverage of the Cooper Do-nuts / Nancy Valverde Square ceremony and LAPD apology. June 2023.
Los Angeles Times
Coverage of the 1959 uprising and 2023 landmark designation. Various.
Los Angeles Magazine
“Ask Chris: Did LA Really Have the First Gay Riot?” and earlier coverage of the uprising story.
USC ONE Archives
Archival materials and documentation held at the USC ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives. Ongoing.
Category 08
Cooper Do-nuts / Nancy Valverde Square, 2023
On June 22, 2023, the City of Los Angeles named the corner of 2nd and Main Streets “Cooper Do-nuts / Nancy Valverde Square.” LAPD Commander Ruby Flores issued a formal public apology to LGBTQ citizens.
The collection — as timeline
The history, told through what remains.
1940s
Jack Evans opens Evans Cafeteria at 213–215 S Main Street
He sells donuts named for their creator Richard Cooper — a name he doesn’t yet own.
Source: Jack Evans’ firsthand account · Evans family archive
1948
Nancy Valverde is arrested for the first time, age 17
Charged with masquerading — wearing men’s clothing. Sentenced to three months. The beginning of repeated arrests that will eventually lead her to the LA County Law Library.
Source: Lillian Faderman & Stuart Timmons, Gay LA (2006) · LA LGBT Center
1950
William H. Parker becomes Chief of the LAPD
Arrests of LGBTQ people increase 86.5% over the following decade. Parker builds a media management apparatus controlling press access to police records. He runs the department until his death in 1966.
Source: University of Colorado Boulder scholarly research · Clio historical record
1952
Jack Evans purchases the Cooper Donuts name for $50,000
The chain begins its expansion. Marge Evans designs the logo — a donut with a bite taken out to form a C — and selects salmon for every counter in every shop.
Source: Jack Evans’ firsthand account · Evans family archive
Spring 1959
The uprising on South Main Street
Two LAPD officers conduct ID checks at a donut shop on the 500 block of South Main Street. Someone resists. Patrons pour from the shop. Officers flee without their arrestees. The date is uncertain. The testimony is consistent.
Source: John Rechy, first-person account (2005–2023) · Nancy Valverde · Full documentation on The Evidence page
December 22, 1960
Cooper’s Doughnut Shop at 517 South Main Street enters the court record
In sworn LAPD undercover testimony later used in a criminal conviction, an officer places himself in front of Cooper’s Doughnut Shop at 517 South Main Street.
Source: People v. Shepherd, 200 Cal. App. 2d 306 (Cal. Ct. App. 1963)
1962
A Frommer’s guide independently lists Cooper Donuts at 517 Main Street
John Wilcock’s budget travel guide describes it as a counter place where coffee and a donut cost a dime. The LA Public Library acquires its copy August 9, 1962.
Source: Wilcock, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas on $5 and $10 a Day (Frommer, 1962), p.97 · Evans family archive
1952–Mid-1990s
The chain at its peak: 33+ locations across California
More than 27 Southern California locations and 6 in Northern California. All open 24 hours. All serving wholesale to independent cafes and diners as well.
Source: Jack Evans’ account · Evans family archive · See all documented locations
Mid-1990s
Cooper Do-nuts closes
After more than four decades the chain closes. By 1991 the Main Street location is a surface parking lot. What remains is in family boxes, community memory, and scattered documentary record the Foundation is now assembling.
Source: Evans family archive · Keith Evans, 2023 ceremony speech
June 22, 2023
The City of Los Angeles designates Cooper Do-nuts / Nancy Valverde Square
The corner of 2nd and Main Streets in the Historic Core is officially named. LAPD Commander Ruby Flores issues a formal public apology. The corner that once anchored The Run is now part of the public record.
Source: City of Los Angeles · LAist · New York Times
This archive is incomplete.
Help us build it.
If you have photographs, documents, memories, or any evidence connected to Cooper Do-nuts — we want to hear from you. Every fragment adds to the record.
Share a memory →The archive grows as we find it.
Follow our work as new materials are added and new research findings are published.
We’ll only write when we have something worth saying.