The daylong conference, which is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m., is presented by the Huntington-University of Southern California's Institute on California and the West, the USC Annenberg School for Communication, California State University, Northridge's Graduate Studies Distinguished Speaker Series and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation.

"In order to really understand the history of modern Los Angeles, we have to go back to the middle of the 19th century," said historian William Deverall, director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West. "It's at that exact moment of the American takeover of California that we discover the remarkable newspaper El Clamor Público. The paper was an early, and strident, voice for the civil rights of a new brand of citizen: the Mexican American."

The conference is free and open to the public through advance registration by Oct. 24. Lunch is available for a prepaid fee. A complete conference program and registration information are available at www.annenberg.usc.edu/elclamorpublico.

Founded in Los Angeles in 1855, El Clamor Público staunchly defended civil rights, including those of women, Chinese and African-Americans. The newspaper and its outspoken 18-year-old editor, Francisco P. Ramírez, urged Spanish-speaking "Californianos" to learn the language of the country whose borders surrounded them, and reported the lynchings and other abuses to which its readers were subjected.

A morning panel of historians and journalism scholars who have researched the Huntington's El Clamor Público holdings will discuss the political, religious, literary and social role of a newspaper published for Spanish-speaking Californians as the U.S. was exerting its control over the state following the end of the U.S.-Mexican War in 1848.

"Many historians and journalism educators ignore the rich history of Spanish-language journalism in America," said José Luis Benavides, a journalism professor at Cal State Northridge, where he developed the first Spanish-language journalism minor in the nation. "One of the main conference goals is to make this history more visible. Newspapers like El Clamor Público can inspire the next generation of journalists."

Following a luncheon speech by Nicolás Kanellos, co-author of Hispanic Periodicals in the United States, and director of the University of Houston's Arte Público Press, an afternoon panel of Latino news professionals will discuss the growing influence of Spanish-language and other Latino print media in Southern California today.

"As more newspapers across Southern California and the nation publish Spanish-language editions and more magazines target Latino readers, it's important that we access the history of Latino press and its bright future," said Félix Gutiérrez, a professor in USC's Annenberg School for Communication and first executive director of the California Chicano News Media Association.