BIOGRAPHY OF SIMON RODIA

Simon Rodia was bom on February 12, 1879, in Ribottoli, Italy, a tiny village in the region of Campania, close to the Sabato River. Rodia's parents named him Sabato, either for the river or the Italian word for Saturday, but he never was called by the name given him at birth. During his life in the United States, Rodia was known by a variety of names including Don Simon, Simon Rodilla and Sam. Although his neighbors in Watts knew him as Sam Rodilla, the official name of his work is "The Watts Towers of Simon

Rodia." Rodia was about 15 when he sailed for America, possibly to avoid being drafted into the Italian army. He went to live with his older brother Ricardo, who had emigrated to the United States two years earlier and settled in Pennsylvania working in the coal mines.

Young Rodia could not read or vmte Italian, let alone EngUsh, and had no training for any job. He was small and slender, but had powerful arms and strong hands. In the few jobs he was able to get with his brother's help, Rodia built a reputation as a good, hard worker. After his brother Ricardo died in a mining accident, Rodia moved to Washington State where he married Lucia (Lucy) Ucci in 1902. The following year his son Frank was bom. In 1904 or 1905, the couple moved to Oakland, California, where a community of Italian immigrants was already settled. His wife gave birth to their second son Alfred in 1905 and later a daughter Bel, who died in childhood. By working very hard, Rodia saved enough money to buy a house, though according to relatives, his marriage broke up. In 1910, evidently discouraged with his life in Oakland, Rodia moved to El Paso, Texas. There he found work and in 1917, married a Mexican woman named Page 2/ Biography

Benita. The newlyweds moved to Long Beach, California, where he found work with independent contractors at the port. By late 1917, he had begun to build small sculptures in his yard at 1216 Euclid Avenue. After work and on holidays, he built a set of five colorfully decorated, steel- reinforced and mortar covered planters, a stationary merry-go-round and a fish pond. The materials and techniques employed were similar to those used four years later in his majestic Towers in Watts. His artistic imagery may have been inspired by his childhood exposure to the architectural characteristics in the town of Nola, very close to Rodia's birthplace. By 1920, Rodia and Benita moved their residence again to 1204 North Redondo Avenue m Long Beach, but shortly thereafter they separated. The following year Rodia married Carmen, a Mexican immigrant. By then, Rodia was ready to start building his dream. He and Carmen bought a small house with a large side yard at 1765 East 107^ Street in the city of Watts, a small town between Los Angeles and Long Beach. The property was situated on an inexpensive, oddly shaped, triangular lot, the last on a dead-end street. The few one-story houses on the street were small, occupied mainly by gardeners, laborers and their families. Rodia^s lot was noisy and dusty as Southern Pacific trains rumbled by and the Pacific Electric streetcars added distracting vibration all day. Despite these annoying distractions, the highly visible lot in Watts was exactly where he wanted to create his towers, to provide his work the largest possible audience. Rodia's obsession with the artistic project caused the demise of his third marriage, and Carmen left him shortly after they moved to Watts, taking all his belongings. Now Rodia lived alone and was free to create his dream without the responsibilities of mamage. After his family abandoned him, he had no contact with his wives or sons, so it is not surprising that none of them have ever visited the Towers. When Rodia began building his sculptures in Watts, he was 42 years old and had lived in the United States for 26 years. However, he still spoke with a heavy Italian accent that made it difficult to understand him. This situation may have led to some of the P a g e 3 / B i o g r a p h y J ' historical confusion about the Towers. Several times it is reported, he said that he built the Towers in honor of the highways of California. Other times, he expressed that his

wife died and he buried her under the tallest tower. In a 12-minute documentary, The Towers, made in 1953 by William Hale, Rodia said; "I had it in mind, I'm gonna do something (...) I did it all by myself. I never had a single helper, this was all my own idea." Simon Rodia began his Towers in 1921 and finished 34 years later. Rising to nearly 100 feet, the three tall towers were built without machine equipment, scaffolding, bolts, rivets, welds or plans. The monument is one of the largest single works of art created by one man using tile setter's tools. Rodia himself left the site in 1955, never to return. He settled in the Northern Califomia city of Martinez. His final years, firom 1955 to 1965, were spent in a run-down, two-story boarding house in which he rented two small upstairs rooms. He spent his days wandering the streets of Martinez and hanging around the railroad stations. On July 12,1965, Rodia died after a short illness.

Source: Goldstone, Bud and Aarloa Paquin. THE LOS ANGELES WATTS TOWERS. Los Angeles; The J. Paul Getty Trust, 1997.