Ph.D., University of Southern California

M.A., University of Southern California

B.A., Calvin College

email: a-kooistra@bethel.edu

Research Interests

My dissertation, “Angels For Sale: A History of Prostitution in Los Angeles, 1880-1940” considers a number of trends occurring in the business of prostitution in the first part of the twentieth century, and I offer a unique discussion of the involvement of men in the business—how a handful of men began a systematic domination of the business and the ways in which the prostitution racket drew people of various racial and ethnic backgrounds together.   Since completing the dissertation, I have continued to research the history of prostitution in Los Angeles which I hope will lead to the publication of a book on the subject.

Books That Have Influenced Me

• Lois Banner, American Beauty

• Kevin Mumford, Interzones: Black/White Sex Districts in Chicago and New York in the Early Twentieth Century

• Beth Bailey and David Farber, The First Strange Place: Race and Sex in World War II Hawaii

• Timothy Gilfoyle, City of Eros: New York City, Prostitution, and the Commercialization of Sex, 1790-1920