Cooper Do-nuts

06/07/2026

A fascinating look at the story of Cooper Do-nuts and its place in LGBTQ+ history. Long before Stonewall, patrons at a small Los Angeles donut shop stood up against police harassment, helping spark one of the earliest documented acts of resistance by the LGBTQ+ community.

As a member of the Evans family, whose family owned Cooper Do-nuts, it’s incredible to see this important history continue to be shared and remembered. 🍩🏳️‍🌈

Cooper Do-nuts sets the stage for the trans rights movement.

05/25/2026

Another Cooper Do-nuts breadcrumb.

Before City of Night became one of the most influential q***r novels of the 20th century, John Rechy was already publishing semi-autobiographical stories about downtown Los Angeles in Evergreen Review.

In The City of Lost Angels (1959), he mentions "Cooper's coffee-and-donuts-for-a-dime" while describing the world around Pershing Square and downtown street life.

It's a small reference, but these passing mentions matter. They help place Cooper Do-nuts inside the lived geography of Los Angeles — not just as a doughnut shop, but as part of the city's nighttime ecosystem and the communities that gathered there.
Every little thread helps us understand the larger story.

DTLA QueerHistory PershingSquare HiddenLA

Rechy, John. “The City of Lost Angels.” Evergreen Review 3, no. 10 (November–December 1959): 10–27.

03/08/2026

Some of the sweetest parts of the Cooper Do-nuts story begin with my grandparents.

My grandfather, Jack Evans, started the Cooper Do-nuts chain with a simple idea: serve good donuts, treat people kindly, and create a place where everyone felt welcome. What began as a small family operation grew into something that became part of Los Angeles history.

But Cooper Do-nuts was never just one person’s dream. My grandmother, Marge Evans, was right there beside him helping manage the shops, keeping everything running, and adding her own creativity to the brand. She’s also the one who came up with the signature half-bitten “C” donut in the Cooper Do-nuts logo — a small detail that became an unforgettable symbol of the shops.

Together they built more than a donut stand. They built something that people still remember decades later — a place of community, late-night coffee, laughter, and a little bit of sweetness in the middle of Los Angeles.

I’m grateful to be able to share and preserve their story. Their legacy lives on in every memory people share about Cooper Do-nuts. 🍩❤️

02/22/2026

Blanche was a regular at Cooper Do-nuts.

She was deaf and non-verbal, communicating through sign language. In the language of the time, she was described as “deaf and dumb.” She created small watercolor paintings, and one of them hung inside the shop at 316 E. 6th Street and later at 6th & Town for years.

She wasn’t famous.
She wasn’t written about.
But she was part of the community.

Marge Evans befriended her and treated her with dignity and respect. In a neighborhood many outsiders dismissed, Blanche was seen.

When the Cooper Do-nuts shops closed, Jack Evans Jr. kept her painting. It remains stored safely to this day — a quiet reminder that the shop was more than a business. It was a place where people on the margins were not invisible.

Some history makes headlines.
Some history hangs quietly on a wall.

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Note:
The image shared here is an AI-generated likeness based on Jack Evans Jr.’s memory of Blanche.