CITY OF SANTA MONICA – CITY PLANNING DIVISION DESIGNATION APPLICATION X Landmark Structure of Merit Applications must be submitted by appointment at the City Planning public counter, Room 111 at City Hall, located at 1685 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401. To schedule an appointment or if you have any questions completing this application please call City Planning at (310) 458-8341.

PROJECT ADDRESS: 3223 Donald Douglas Loop - Santa Monica Airport NOTES TO APPLICANT Land Use Element District: N/A Zoning District: N/A Please complete all Assessor Parcel: 4272 - 026 - 902 Lot Size: applicable sections of this application APPLICANT and submit all required materials. Name: Chattel,Inc., LA 99s Incomplete applications will not Address: 13417 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, California Zip: 91423 be accepted for Phone: 818-788-7954 Fax: filing. Email: [email protected] Landmarks Commission meets on the second CONTACT PERSON (if different) (Note: All correspondence will be sent to the applicant) Monday of each month. Name: Chattel Inc., Robert Chattel, President; Olivia White, Associate (see attached) The applicant, Address: 13417 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, California Zip: 91423 representative, or legal owner familiar Phone: 818-788-7954 Fax: with the project must [email protected]; [email protected] be present at the Email: Landmarks Relation to Applicant: Commission meeting.

PROPERTY OWNER A decision on designation is Name: City of Santa Monica rendered at the hearing. All Address: 1685 Main Street, Santa Monica, California Zip: 90401 decisions by the Landmarks Phone: 310-458-8411 Fax: Commission are subject to a 10-day Subject improvement is generally known as: appeal period. An GENERAL INFORMATION GENERAL official appeal form and fee schedule is Compass Rose available at the City Planning Division Existing use(s) of site: Airport Public Counter. Appealed projects Rent control status: N/A will be scheduled for a hearing before the Status: X Occupied Unoccupied City Council. Recognized in the Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory: X Yes No Condition: Excellent X Good Fair Deteriorated Ruins Unexposed Threats: None Private Development Vandalism Public Works Project Zoning X Other: pavement removal

This part to be completed by City staff Received By: Amount Paid: $ Date Submitted: Check No.:

City Planning Division (310) 458-8341 Planning and Community Development Department www.smgov.net 09/18 ~ Please Note ~ NOTES TO APPLICANT The following property and historical information identified below For more information must be provided in order for your application to be determined on designation procedures, refer to complete by the City Planning Division. SMMC Section 9.56. You may provide information on additional sheets of paper.

PROPERTY INFORMATION

Description of site or structure, note any major alterations & dates of alterations: See attached.

Statement of architectural significance: N/A OUNDINFORMATION BACKGR

Statement of historic importance: See attached.

Page 2 Person(s) of historic importance: N/A Local State National

Statement of other significance: N/A

Documents and publications that relate directly to proposed improvement (bibliography): See attached BACKGROUNDINFORMATION

FOR STRUCTURES ONLY: Date of construction: Original loc ation circa 1947, current Factual X Estimated location 1988 Source: Aerial photographs Architect/Designer/Engineer: Wilma Fritschey Contractor/ Other builder: Ninety-Nines International Association of Women Pilots Architectural Style: Historic Use of Structure(s): Air marking/Navigational Aid Present Use of Structure(s): Air marking/Navigational Aid Is/Are structure(s) on original site: X Yes No Unknown Is/Are structure(s) threatened with destruction: X Yes No Unknown

If yes, state reason: Pavement Removal

Page 3 APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS – all items must be provided

X Completed Application.

Payment of Fee, if applicable.

X Payment of Fee is WAIVED for Non-Profit Organizations. Documentation demonstrating Tax-Exempt Status must be included with this application and at the time of filing to be eligible for a Landmark/Structure of Merit Designation Application fee waiver.

Staff will confirm non-profit organization status prior to deeming this application complete. X Eight (8) sets of labeled Color Photographs of the building elevations or improvement on 8½" x 11" paper (Color photocopies are acceptable).

X Any information you feel would be of assistance in reviewing the application, such as original plans, old photos, or other historical information.

For structures only: if applicant is requesting approval of modifications, please submit all materials requested for a Certificate of Appropriateness Application.

I hereby certify that the information contained in this application is correct to the best of my knowledge.

______Robert Chattel Applicant’s Name (PRINT)

______05/30/2019 Applicant’s Signature Date APPLICATOIN REQUIREMENTS

Page 4 ADDITIONAL CONTACT PERSONS

This designation application is being filed by Chattel, Inc. and The 99s of the Area, Inc., (a chapter of The Ninety-Nines International Association of Women Pilots).

Name: Eve Lopez, Compass Rose Chair, The 99s of the Los Angeles Area, Inc. Address: 3025 Airport Avenue #2, Santa Monica, CA 90405 Email: [email protected]

PROPERTY INFORMATION

Description of site or structure, note any major alterations & dates of alterations:

The Compass Rose is a painting of a compass rose on concrete paving (Compass Rose) located to the north of and adjacent to Runway 3 at the Santa Monica Municipal Airport (Santa Monica Airport). The Compass Rose is circular, with a diameter of approximately 50 feet and a circumference of approximately 160 feet. In the center of the Compass Rose are two blue interlocking numeral “9”s within a white circle. Twelve triangular points surround the central circle. Four points face the cardinal directions (cardinal points). These cardinal points are 15 feet from central circle to point. Two shorter points are located between each of the cardinal points (eight shorter points total). These shorter points are eight feet from central circle to point.

A Compass Rose is noted to have existed at an unknown location at the Santa Monica Airport in 1929, though no physical evidence has been discovered. A Compass Rose was painted on the northeast side of the Santa Monica Airport from circa 1947 to circa 1987 adjacent to Runways 21 and 22. The Compass Rose was relocated and first painted at its current location circa 1988. The Compass Rose is maintained by The 99s of the Los Angeles Area, Inc. (LA 99s), a chapter of The Ninety-Nines International Association of Women Pilots (Ninety-Nines), who are based at the Santa Monica Airport. It was most recently repainted in its current location in 2010.

Statement of historic importance: The Compass Rose is the trademark logo of The Ninety-Nines. The Ninety-Nines were founded in November 1929 by women pilots following the first Women’s Transcontinental Air Derby (Derby) which took off from the Santa Monica Airport on August 18, 1929. The eight day long, 2,800-mile Derby was the first sanctioned air race for women in the country. The Compass Rose is emblematic of over 90 years of the history of . While the history of aviation in Santa Monica is commemorated through sites such as the interpretive display for aviation innovator Waldo Waterman at 1550 5th Street, the Museum of Flying at 3100 Airport Avenue, the Aero Theater at 1328 Montana Avenue, and Douglas Park at 2439 Wilshire Boulevard (the earliest location of Douglas Aircraft), the history of women in aviation in Santa Monica is not documented or represented through designated Landmarks, Structures of Merit, or otherwise. The Rotating Beacon Tower built circa 1928 and moved to the Santa Monica Airport in 1952, was designated a City Landmark in 1988 in part because it represents an early aviation navigational tool. The Compass Rose is similarly an early navigational tool which continues to function as both a form of air marking and as a symbol of the traditions of women in aviation, and their important contributions. The Compass Rose is significant for representing the important and underrepresented history of women in aviation both locally and nationally. The first Compass Rose is believed to have existed at the Santa Monica Airport as early as 1929 though no physical evidence exists. Physical evidence of a Compass Rose at the original site location adjacent to runways 21 and 22 dates to circa 1947. Its present location, adjacent to runway 3, dates to circa 1988, which is sufficiently in our past to interpret and preserve. On March 26, 2019, Santa Monica City Council awarded contracts for an approved excess pavement removal Landmark Application—Compass Rose—Santa Monica Airport Page 2 project adjacent to the runways, which directly threatens demolition of both the original and current location of the Compass Rose.1

The following descriptions provide contexts by which to understand the Compass Rose as a significant historic site in Santa Monica.

The Ninety-Nines International Association of Women Pilots

The history of the Ninety-Nines is directly linked to the National Women’s Air Derby (Derby) of 1929 which began at the Santa Monica Airport. The first National Air Race took place in 1920 and early air races were restricted to male pilots. Mary Myers was one of the first documented women balloon aeronauts, completing over 500 ascents beginning in 1880.2 Early American female aviators include Bessica Raiche, Blanche Stuart Scott, Harriet Quimby, Ruth Law, and Katherine Stinson. In 1921, Bessie Coleman became the first licensed African-American pilot in the world.3 By 1929, there were approximately 60 women pilots in the , and potentially up to 117 worldwide. A total of 20 women pilots were registered to participate in the Derby, which was organized in part by the Santa Monica Bay Exchange Club.4 The night before the Derby there was a party at the La Monica Ballroom on the Santa Monica Pier.5 The Derby began at what had recently been renamed the Santa Monica Municipal Airport, but was still commonly referred to as Clover Field. It was the first sanctioned air race for women, and it attracted women pilots locally, nationally and abroad. The airplanes in the Derby were divided into two classes based on size and horsepower. Class A airplanes were between 510 and 800 horsepower (heavyweight), and Class B airplanes were between 275 to 510 horsepower (lightweight).6

The participants in the Derby who took off from Clover Field were:

1. Marvel Crosson 2. Florence (“Poncho”) Lowe Barnes 3. Blanche W. Noyes 4. Louise M. Thaden 5. Mary E. Von Mach 6. 7. Phoebe Omlie 8. Margaret Perry 9. Ruth Nichols 10. Opal Logan Kunz 11. Jessie “Chubby” Keith Miller 12. Claire Fahy 13. Thea Rasche 14. Ruth Elder 15. Mary “Me” Maizlip (who started one day late)

1“Staff Report 3418 Award Construction and Construction Management Contracts for the Santa Monica Airport-Reuse of Excessive Airfield Pavement Projects,” City of Santa Monica, http://santamonicacityca.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?Frame=&MeetingID=1178&MediaPosition=&ID=341 8&CssClass=. 2 Gene Nora Jessen, Powder Puff Derby of 1929, Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2002, p. xi. 3 Ibid., xiv. 4 Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, Amelia: The Centennial Biography of an Aviation Pioneer, Washington DC: Brassey’s, Inc., 1997. 5 “Women Fliers, Famous Throughout World; Gather at Airport for Final Plans For Contest; at Ballroom Tonight,” Santa Monica Evening Outlook, August 17, 1929. 6 “Clover Field Ready for Air Races,” Santa Monica Evening Outlook, August 17, 1929. Landmark Application—Compass Rose—Santa Monica Airport Page 3

16. Evelyn “Bobbi” Trout 17. Gladys O’Donnell7 18. Vera Dawn Walker 19. Edith Foltz 20. Neva Finley Paris8

The Derby was a grueling 2,800 miles over eight days, encompassing brutal terrain, extreme heat, and little ground support.9 The schedule of the Derby was as follows:

• Sunday, August 18: Santa Monica to San Bernardino, overnight stop • Monday, August 19: San Bernardino to Phoenix, overnight stop • Tuesday, August 20: Phoenix to Douglas, Arizona; Douglas to Columbus, New Mexico, Columbus to El Paso, overnight stop • Wednesday, August 21: El Paso to Pecos, Texas, Pecos to Midland, Texas, overnight stop • Thursday, August 22: Midland to Fort Worth, overnight stop • Friday, August 23: Fort Worth to Tulsa, Tulsa to Wichita, Kansas, overnight stop • Saturday, August 24: Wichita to Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City to East St. Louis, Illinois, overnight stop • Sunday, August 25: East St. Louis to Terre Haute, Indiana, Terre Haute to Cincinnati, Cincinnati to Columbus, overnight stop. • Monday, August 26: Columbus to , end of race.10

Louise Thaden won first place in the Derby, in the heavyweight aircraft class. She was followed by Gladys O’Donnell in second, and Amelia Earhart in third. In the lightweight class, Phoebe Omlie won first place, followed by Edith Folz in second, and Chubby Keith Miller in third11.

In a Cleveland hotel room following the Derby, Amelia Earhart and others met to discuss starting a women pilot’s organization.12 Amelia Earhart had the idea of starting an organization of women pilots even before the Derby, and the first documentation of this is in a September 15, 1927 letter to Ruth Nichols.13 The success of the Derby was the impetus to start such an organization. In the months following the Derby, four women pilots—Margery Brown, Fay Gillis, Frances Harrell, and Neva Paris—wrote to all licensed women pilots in the United States about the idea to form an organization. On November 2, 1929, 26 women pilots from around the country met at Curtiss Field in Long Island, New York (no longer extant) to start the organization.14 A suggestion by Amelia Earhart that a number rather than a name for the organization be chosen and that the number coincide with the total number of charter members was met with unanimous approval15. Between November 1929 and February 1930, the name changed from the 86s to the 97s and eventually to The Ninety-Nines

7 “Clover Field Ready for Air Races,” Santa Monica Evening Outlook, August 17, 1929. 8 D.D. Hatfield, Los Angeles Aeronautics 1920-1929, Hatfield History of Aeronautics, Northrop Institute of Technology, 1973, 188. 9 Terry Von Thaden, Amelia Earhart Fellow Presentation, https://web.archive.org/web/20060813221706/http://www.zontafrederick.org/Terry_von_Thaden_speech_July_2004.p df. 10 Ibid. 11 D.D. Hatfield, Los Angeles Aeronautics 1920-1929, Hatfield History of Aeronautics, Northrop Institute of Technology, 1973, 188-189. 12 Kathleen C. Winters, Amelia Earhart: The Turbulent Life of an American Icon, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, 51. 13 Amelia Earhart, Letter to Ruth Nichols, September 15,1927, Purdue University Libraries, http://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/earhart/id/3195/rec/2. 14 Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, Amelia: The Centennial Biography of an Aviation Pioneer, Washington DC: Brassey’s, Inc., 1997, 74. 15 Margaret Cooper, Canadian Aviation, December 1933. Landmark Application—Compass Rose—Santa Monica Airport Page 4 based on the total number of charter members16. In 1929, there were 117 licensed women pilots at the time, and 99 agreed to membership.17 The organization was first chaired by , and in 1931, Amelia Earhart was elected the Ninety-Nines’ first president.18

The Ninety-Nines were formed to create an organization where women pilots could form relationships with other women pilots, network for jobs, and share their love of flying. Women pilots faced significant discrimination, were discouraged from flying, and were often negatively compared to their male counterparts. In covering the Derby, Will Rogers was quoted saying “It looks like the Powder Puff Derby to me.”19 Though derogatory, the Ninety-Nines quickly came to adopt the moniker “Powder Puff Derby” and used it as a name for an annual air race for a number of years. Women pilots were frequently referred to as “petticoat pilots,” “ladybirds,” “flying flappers,” and “sweethearts of the air.”20 There was some speculation among the press that none of the women pilots would even show up to the Derby, and reportedly someone told Amelia Earhart that they had dustpans ready to sweep up the wreckage from the Derby they believed would inevitably be scattered across the country.21 Before the Derby, the National Aeronautical Association attempted to require that a male navigator accompany each female pilot, and that the Derby begin east of the Rocky Mountains because they believed it would be too dangerous for women to fly across them. The Derby entrants successfully fought back against both of these provisions. The discrimination and derogatory commentary went beyond flying; when Margaret (Perry) Cooper succeeded Amelia Earhart as president of the Ninety-Nines in 1933, she was described as being “much too young and pretty” to be the organization’s president.22

By the early 1930s, the Ninety-Nines were divided into regional chapters. As described in the in 1933:

The Ninety-Nines grew out of that 1929 air derby and is the only organization of licensed women pilots in the land. The organization aids women in many ways and stimulates interest in flying on the part of the fair sex. The United States has been divided by the club into sections, each of which sponsors some activity furthering feminine flying and aviation in general. The southwestern section has a loan fund at the disposal of members in good standing who find it financially impossible to maintain the required number of flying hours to hold their tickets.23

There are currently 155 chapters of the Ninety-Nines in 44 countries with over 6,000 members. The mission of the Ninety-Nines is to “promote[s] advancement of aviation through education, scholarships, and mutual support while honoring our unique history and sharing our passion for flight.”24

The Ninety-Nines were first headquartered in Washington, D.C. In 1955 they moved to Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in order to be more centrally located in the United States. At their headquarters they support both the 99s Museum of Women Pilots and the Aviation

16 “Charter Members,” Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots, https://www.ninety- nines.org/charter-members.htm. 17 Doris L. Rich, Amelia Earhart: A Biography, Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989, 95. 18 Kathleen C. Winters, Amelia Earhart: The Turbulent Life of an American Icon, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, 100. 19 Gene Nora Jessen, Powder Puff Derby of 1929, Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2002, 66. 20 Ibid., 59. 21 Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, Amelia: The Centennial Biography of an Aviation Pioneer, Washington DC: Brassey’s, Inc., 1997, 72. 22 “Much Too Pretty,” Los Angeles Times, November 15, 1933. 23 Jean Bosquet, “Skyways,” Los Angeles Times, December 3, 1933. 24 “About the organization,” Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots, https://www.ninety- nines.org/who-we-are.htm. Landmark Application—Compass Rose—Santa Monica Airport Page 5

Research Library.25 The Ninety-Nines also own and manage the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum (Museum) in Atchison, Kansas. The house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The interior of the Museum was designed by Cheryl Jolene (CJ) Strawn, a longstanding, active member and former Chair of the Los Angeles-Palms Chapter based out of Santa Monica Airport. Strawn was a costumer and theater crafts artist as well as a certified flight instructor. She helped coordinate the Palms to Pines yearly air race and used funds raised from the air race to help fund the Museum.26

Although Amelia Earhart is remembered for many of her achievements including setting numerous aviation records, and as a pioneer for women in aviation, the most impactful and enduring aspect of her legacy is The Ninety-Nines because the organization continues to support and encourage women pilots throughout the world over 90 years since its founding.

The 99s of the Los Angeles Area, Inc.

On March 2, 1932, three years after the founding of The Ninety-Nines, the Los Angeles Chapter, based out of Santa Monica airport, became one of the original two chapters of the Southwest Section. The Chapter was founded at a banquet at the Old Venice Noodle Company. By 1951, the Chapter had grown and voted to split into three chapters; Los Angeles, Long Beach, and San Fernando. A Santa Monica Bay Chapter also existed briefly at the Santa Monica Airport from 1974- 1984. In 1978, Claire L. Walters formed a Palms Chapter. She also founded the annual Palms to Pines Air Race Classic in 1969, which took off from Santa Monica Airport each year and ran consecutively for 40 years, making it the longest running all-female air race in history. Together with CJ Strawn, Claire ran the final Palms to Pines air race in 2009 before her passing in January of 2010. Both the Los Angeles and Palms Chapters operated at the Santa Monica Airport until they merged in Spring of 2001 and became known as the Los Angeles-Palms Chapter (the first merger of two chapters in Ninety-Nines history).27

By 1933, the number of licensed women pilots had grown to 607. Of those 607, 97 lived in southern California.28 By 1986, California had over 800 members of The Ninety-Nines, more than any other state.29

Today the Los Angeles Chapter of The Ninety-Nines, based at the Santa Monica Airport, continue the mission of The Ninety-Nines. They host chapter meetings, participate in air derbies, and promote air marking through the Compass Rose initiative.

Early Navigational Tools/History of Air Marking

In the earliest days of aviation, pilots could easily become lost and confused looking for landmarks to tell them where they were. Pilots often followed railroad tracks and roads to get from town to town30.

By 1924 the Postal Service developed a system of ground-based navigation beacons to help pilots fly across the country at night.31 The beacons featured a 50-foot tower with 5,000 candlepower

25 “International Headquarters,” Ninety-Nines International Association of Women Pilots, https://www.ninety- nines.org/headquarters.htm. 26 Claire L. Walters and Betty McMillen Loufek, This Flying Life, AirWoman Press Publication, 1999, 203. 27 “Compass Rose History,” The Ninety-Nines Inc., Los Angeles Chapter Southwest Section, 2019, 2. 28 Jean Bosquet, “Skyways,” Los Angeles Times, December 3, 1933. 29 Charles Hillinger, “Amelia Earhart’s Legacies Fly High,” Los Angeles Times, October 12, 1986. 30 Jacqline Barnes, “Early Earhart Rival Leaves Legacy of Safety: Guides Pilots Home.” Journal of Air Traffic Control, Fall 2013, https://www.atca.org/uploads/Blanches%20Noyes%20ATCA%20Journal%20Fall.pdf. 31 “Concrete Arrows and the U.S. Airmail Beacon System,” Sometimes Interesting, https://sometimes- interesting.com/2013/12/04/concrete-arrows-and-the-u-s-airmail-beacon-system. Landmark Application—Compass Rose—Santa Monica Airport Page 6 rotating lights that would flash every ten seconds. The airmail beacon program continued to operate full-scale until 1933, when technology advancements and the higher cost of operation during the Great Depression rendered it obsolete. The Department of Commerce decommissioned and disassembled the towers for their steel, a resource in short supply and desperately needed to support the war effort.

Air Marking

Air Marking is known as a program of painting or other otherwise marking the roofs of buildings and ground area at and around airports to make the location of airports identifiable to pilots from an airplane. Its history signifies the emergence of women in aviation and the valuable role they play to the aviation community both locally and internationally. The following indented text is taken from “Air Marking” by Ellen Noble-Harris, International Airmarking Chair, The Ninety-Nines, Inc., published in the 99NEWS Magazine, March/April 2002.

The National Air Marking Program was established by the United States government in 1933 and was a program of the Bureau of Air Commerce. It was the first U.S. government program conceived, planned and directed by a woman with an all-woman staff.

In 1933, Phoebe F. Omlie was appointed Special Assistant for Air Intelligence of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics - NACA (forerunner of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA.) The following year Phoebe convinced the chief of the Airport Marking and Mapping Section of the Bureau of Air Commerce to institute a program where each state would participate to better identify its towns and cities from the air.

Under the program, a state was divided into sections of 20 square miles. Where possible, a marker with the name of the nearest town was painted on the roof of the most prominent building at each 15-mile interval. If the towns were far apart, white painted ground markers, such as rocks and bricks, were used.

At the time that the program was established, few pilots were flying on established airways or had the benefit of radios. Pilots often followed railroad tracks and known roads to get from town to town but could become easily lost on their way to their destination without landmarks. With the aid of markers, pilots of all skill levels could determine where they were.

The program was funded as a system of state grants from the Works Progress Administration. Not only was this the first appropriation of funds specifically set up to aid private pilots, but it was also hoped that the program would provide jobs for the unemployed and would establish valuable permanent airway aids. By the middle of 1936, 30 states were actively involved in the program, with approvals given for 16,000 markers at a cost of about one million dollars.

In 1935, Phoebe chose five leading women pilots as field representatives for the program; Louise Thaden, , Blanche Noyes, Nancy Harkness and Helen McCloskey. Noyes was responsible for travelling and training others to paint town and airport names, directional arrows, mileage, and eventually latitude and longitude on rooftops and on open land where a pilot could see the air markings. Noyes and her colleagues helped aid in the painting of 13,000 air markers before World War II.32

32 Jacqline Barnes, “Early Earhart Rival Leaves Legacy of Safety: Blanche Noyes Guides Pilots Home.” Journal of Air Traffic Control, Fall 2013, https://www.atca.org/uploads/Blanches%20Noyes%20ATCA%20Journal%20Fall.pdf. Landmark Application—Compass Rose—Santa Monica Airport Page 7

During World War II the Civil Aeronautics Administration was concerned that air markings could aid enemy pilots and mandated that all air markings within defense zones were covered up. Following the war Noyes was selected to head the air marking division for the CAA. She served as President of the Ninety-Nines from 1948 to 1950.33

In Fly Girls, Keith O’Brien’s 2018 New York Bestseller, he discusses how air marking helped women pilots defy the odds and make aviation history:

In 1935, aviators could still easily get lost flying across the country, especially in bad weather, and they crashed and sometimes died as a result. Air-marking pilots helped to prevent that by identifying barns or factories with roofs at least a hundred feet long and twenty feet wide on which the government could paint large letters spelling out the name of the nearest town to help confused aviators determine their location and land safely. It wasn’t glamorous work; there were no cheering crowds. But it was important. More to the point, it was almost the only job a female aviator could get in 1935.34

As Noyes noted in an address at the Seventh Annual Convention of the National Association of State Aviation Officials in 1937, “our sky-ways should be as completely marked as the highways.”35 She described the importance of air marking to keep pilots safe, and expressed that it is the responsibility of the government to make flying safer. She wrote in Southwest Aviation “Air route markers are more important than highway markers, because a pilot can’t stop at every crossroads and shout to ask ‘Which way to where.’”36

Chapters of The Ninety-Nines continue the tradition of air marking at airports across the country by painting Compass Roses and other forms of air markings.

The Compass Rose – A Part of Air Marking History

The Compass Rose is the trademark logo of The Ninety-Nines, and it was designed by Wilma Fritschey, a member of what was then known as the Los Angeles Chapter, in 1939. According to Census records, Fritschey was born in Kansas in 1897. In the September 1936 Ninety-Nines Newsletter, Fritschey is listed as a new member of the Los Angeles Chapter. The newsletter describes that Fritschey flew out of Dycer Airport, which was located in Inglewood at 94th Street and Western Avenue. The Compass Rose logo features two interwoven blue number 9s in the center of a white circle with a blue and white Compass Rose surrounding. Guidelines for air marking a Compass Rose were first published by The Ninety-Nines in 1985 (Attachment F).

The Compass Rose serves three distinct purposes. As a form of air marking, the Compass Rose provides a visual feature on the ground to help pilots find airports. Another function of the Compass Rose is to calibrate airplane compasses by taxing an airplane onto a Compass Rose and turning the airplane in a circle beginning at what the Compass Rose notes as the North magnetic reference and calibrating the airplane’s compass according to the markings noted on the Compass Rose. Before the invent of modern avionics, the compass served as a primary and critical navigational aid for pilots. Using a Compass Rose is necessary to ensure compass accuracy. Importantly, it functions as a visual symbol of the mission and traditions of The Ninety-Nines. At airports across the country, the Compass Rose symbolizes the important history of women in aviation.

At the Santa Monica Airport, there is evidence that some form of a Compass Rose existed even before air marking became standardized and before the logo of The Ninety-Nines was designed. In

33 Roger A. Mola, “Show Me the Way to Go Home,” Air & Space Magazine, September 2006. 34 Keith O’Brien, Fly Girls, An Eamon Dolan Book, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2018), 207. 35 Blanche Noyes, “Airport Marking in the States,” Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Vol 9 Issue 1, 1938. 36 Roger A. Mola, “Show Me the Way to Go Home,” Air & Space Magazine, September 2006. Landmark Application—Compass Rose—Santa Monica Airport Page 8 her memoirs of the Derby, Evelyn “Bobbi” Trout recounts her memory experienced around the Compass Rose at the start of the 1929 Derby:

Girl pilots from all over wanted to fly in this derby. There was approximately 50 to 75 women coming to the Santa Monica Airport with hopes of borrowing, renting, or acquiring an airplane with which to enter the derby…The early morning of August 18 found me full of excitement. I rushed to the airport to see my 100HP Golden Eagle Chief, which had been delivered about midnight the night before. It was so beautiful. I am sure it was just waiting for us to hurry there and admire it. After some loving pats, we pushed it over to the compass rose to start work.37

In 1929, the Compass Rose was the primary if not exclusive navigation aid in existence available to assist in compass calibrations. Today there are five acceptable procedures that may be used.38

In 1936, another founding member of The Ninety-Nines, Blanche Noyes, took a job with the federal Bureau of Air commerce’s National Air Marking Program.39 Noyes’ government job was to travel and train others to paint town and airport names, directional arrows, mileage, and, later, latitude and longitude on rooftops and anywhere else a pilot could see the air markings. She and her colleagues saw to the painting of 13,000 air markers between 1936 and before the Japanese aerial attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) feared air makings could potentially aid enemy pilots and on January 17, 1942, the CAA mandated the obliteration of all air markings the enemy could plausibly use to their advantage and specifically directed that air markers on the east and west coasts be removed. What had taken Omlie and Noyes over six years to air mark, was obliterated in approximately six weeks.

Santa Monica’s Compass Rose

Because of the War Department’s January 17, 1942, directive to obliterate air markings and the central role Douglas Aircraft played in air defense during World War II, it is unlikely that physical or photographic evidence of the Compass Rose that existed at Santa Monica Airport just prior to the war and 1947 will be revealed.

The first aerial photographs of the Santa Monica Airport where the Compass Rose is visible is in 1947. At this time, it was depicted in thin lines, and did not bear the logo design of the current Compass Rose. From 1947 until about 1987, a Compass Rose was located in the northeast portion of the Airport, adjacent to Runways 21 and 22. Initially it was surrounded by a semi-circle lighting system and subsequently that semi-circular was erected to form a sound wall. The sound wall remains but the Compass Rose was relocated circa 1988 because of the new airport layout plan approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 1986. The Compass Rose was one of several airport improvement projects completed between 1986 and 1989. Aerial photographs indicate that the Compass Rose has been in its current location adjacent to Runway 3 since circa 1988 following its relocation and it was last repainted in this location by the LA 99s in 2010.

While Chapters of the Ninety-Nines maintain Compass Roses and participate in air marking at other airports across the country, this Compass Rose is of singular importance because it is the only physical representation of the 1929 Derby at the Santa Monica Airport. The

37 Jill Rutan Hoffman, First Flights: Stories to Inspire From Those Who Fly, iUniverse 2009, 206. 38 U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal aviation Administration, Advisory Circular No. 43-215, August 7, 2017. 39 Jacqline Barnes, FFA, The Journal of Air Traffic Control, Fall 2013, https://www.atca.org/from-the- archives-early-earhart-rival-leaves-legacy-of-safety. Landmark Application—Compass Rose—Santa Monica Airport Page 9

Derby, which was the precipice for the founding of The Ninety-Nines, was a pioneering achievement of early women aviators. The Compass Rose is a transcendent symbol of the pioneering contribution women pilots have made in aviation history.

Douglas Aircraft Company (Douglas Aircraft)

Indented text below is taken from the 2017 City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory Update Historic Context Statement:

The War Effort in Santa Monica

With the advent of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for an air force of 50,000 planes in 1940. Santa Monica rose to that challenge. In 1941, the Los Angeles Times described Santa Monica as “the nerve center of the defense aviation industry. All over the world the city is known for its Douglas warplanes and civil transports.” As a result of the presence of Douglas Aircraft, Santa Monica was also headquarters for one of the seven divisions of the United States Civil Aeronautics Administration and for the United States Army Air Corps Procurement Division of the west. In addition to Douglas, numerous small industries sprang up in Santa Monica for the making of airplane parts, tools, dies, jigs, and precision instruments. They were located all over the city, including Central Aircraft and Engines Company at 2000 Colorado Avenue (demolished), Federal Screw Products Company at 1748 Berkeley Street, J.H. Engle (machinist) at 800 4th Street (demolished), and GMC Tool and Die at 2731 Lincoln Boulevard.

Douglas Aircraft Company (1940-1944)

After moving its operations from Wilshire Boulevard to 3000 Ocean Park Boulevard in 1929, Douglas Aircraft Company grew significantly with the awarding of defense contracts. Along with Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Hughes Aircraft Company, North American Aviation, Vultee Aircraft Corporation, and Northrop Corporation, it was one of the premiere defense contractors of World War II. The company’s main plant was located adjacent to Clover Field at the Santa Monica Airport; Sanborn maps from 1942 show the company operated the Shipping and Receiving Plant No. 7 directly adjacent on the south side of the railroad tracks on Exposition Boulevard between Stewart Street and Dorchester Avenue. In 1942, the company moved the hiring office for its Santa Monica plant to Pico and Lincoln Boulevards.40 During the war, Douglas rented storage space in other buildings, such as 1552 5th Street in downtown Santa Monica. The Employee Transportation and Housing Bureau was located at 2639 Ocean Park Boulevard, and the Douglas Employee Welfare Office was located at 2907 Ocean Park Boulevard.

The Douglas Aircraft Company occupied a 124-acre site bordered by Ocean Park Boulevard to the north, the runway to the south, Centinela Avenue to the east, and 25th Street to the west. Sanborn Maps from December 1945 indicate that by the end of World War II, some forty distinct “units” occupied the site with functions ranging from manufacturing, tooling, metal working, assembly, research and development, storage, shipping and receiving, auto repair, cafeteria, executive’s club, and engineering.

During World War II, the federal government leased the Santa Monica Airport from the City in order to provide security for Douglas Aircraft, which had become a major contributor to the

40 City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory Update Historic Context Statement, 251. Landmark Application—Compass Rose—Santa Monica Airport Page 10

war effort. The airport was expanded during this period, and the runway was reconfigured from the original “X” pattern to a single east-west runway.

The Douglas plant was the site of production of the C-47 (Gooney Bird) and C-54 for the Army Air Force, and the R-4D and R-5D for the Navy for missions ranging from cargo transport to parachute drops to medical evacuation. The A-20 and the A-26 were also developed there. The best-known plane developed at the plant was the B-19 bomber, the largest plane in the world at the time, known as “The Guardian of the Hemisphere.” 41

During the early 1940s the Santa Monica plant employed some 32,000 workers. 12,000 employees worked the day shift. Given the shortage of men in the labor force, Douglas turned to training and hiring women for production jobs – a wave of “Rosie the Riveters” who helped pave the way for integrating women into the national workforce. Douglas Aircraft was known for hiring more women than many of the other firms — and the Santa Monica plant’s use of women as pre-flight mechanics was widely publicized.

Due to the importance of the Santa Monica plant to the war effort and the fear of a Japanese attack on the west coast, a sophisticated camouflage structure was erected to shield the plant during the war. Designed by Edward Huntsman-Trout (1889-1974)42 and architect H. Roy Kelley (1893-1989), 43 and supplemented with the work of set designers from Warner Brothers, the camouflage consisted of a tension compression structure with a burlap cover that extended the entire length of the mile-long plant. A residential neighborhood was depicted on the burlap, and an adjacent dummy aircraft plant was erected. The camouflage structure was erected circa 1942 and remained until July 1945.

Douglas Aircraft Company was the single most important employer in the history of Santa Monica, and a significant contributor to the United States’ victory in World War II.

Clover Field/Santa Monica Municipal Airport

Indented text below is taken from the 2017 City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory Update Historic Context Statement:

The Santa Monica Airport, originally called Clover Field, dates to 1919, when it was a local landing strip. In 1923, Santa Monica’s airport was formally dedicated by the U.S. Army Air Corps, and named Clover Field for Lieutenant Greayer Clover, a World War I flyer who was killed in France. It was one of the first airports in the Los Angeles area, well used by early aviators for barnstorming and flight testing. In 1926, the City of Santa Monica held a special election to approve a bond for the purchase of 165 acres comprising most of Clover Field. The property was acquired in July 1926, and in 1927 the name was changed to the Santa Monica Airport.44

Originally a grass field, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project included paving 85,000 square yards at the Santa Monica Airport in 1937.45

41 City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory Update Historic Context Statement, 254. 42 Ibid, 255. 43 Ibid. 44 City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory Update Historic Context Statement, 249. 45 American Aviation, July 15, 1937. Landmark Application—Compass Rose—Santa Monica Airport Page 11

During World War II, the federal government leased the Santa Monica Airport from the City in order to provide security for Douglas Aircraft which had become a major contributor to the war effort. The airport was expanded during this period, and the runway was reconfigured from the original “X” pattern to a single east-west runway. In 1948, the federal government relinquished its lease on the property and control was transferred back to the City.46

In the late 1960s interest in general aviation peaked nationwide. Take-offs and landings at the Santa Monica Airport reached an all-time high of over 356,000 a year, or 975 per day.47 In 1978, there were 20,000 take-offs from Santa Monica Airport, 700 per day.48 In 1983 the City of Santa Monica adopted a new Airport Master Plan, followed by the Santa Monica Airport Agreement in 1984, conducted between the City of Santa Monica and the Federal Aviation Administration.49 Between 1986 and 1989, a number of airport improvement projects are completed, including the relocation of the Compass Rose in its new location.

Conclusion The Compass Rose is eligible as a Santa Monica Landmark under Criterion 1 because it is associated with The Ninety-Nines, an organization of women pilots founded as a result of the 1929 Derby which took off from the Santa Monica Airport. The Compass Rose is a historic site emblematic of the history of women in aviation in Santa Monica, which has deep connections to its location at the Santa Monica Airport. It symbolizes the important contributions of women in aviation, which is an important cultural history in the City. The Compass Rose is also eligible under Criterion 3 because it is associated with an event important to local, state, and national history; the first Women’s Air Derby of 1929, which began at the Santa Monica Airport, was the first sanctioned air race for women in the world, and was the precipice for the founding of The Ninety-Nines. The Compass Rose is a symbol of this event which remains one of the most important events in the history of women in aviation internationally. The Compass Rose is an important historic site threatened with demolition which should be protected with Landmark status.

Attachments: Attachment A: Contemporary Photographs Attachment B: Historic Images and Aerials Attachment C: Newspaper Articles Attachment D: Ninety-Nines Historic Newsletters Attachment E: Trademark Registration Compass Rose Attachment F: “Compass Rose…The Easy Way” From the 1985 Newsletter of the 99s By Claire Drenowatz

46 City of Santa Monica Historic Context Statement, 256. 47 Rod Merl, Marsha Jones Moutrie, and Bob Trimborn, “A Partial History of the Santa Monica Airport,” September 26, 2011, 3. 48 “Santa Monica Airport rich in aviation history,” Los Angeles Times, July 9, 1978. 49 Rod Merl, Marsha Jones Moutrie, and Bob Trimborn, “A Partial History of the Santa Monica Airport,” September 26, 2011, 4-5. Landmark Application—Compass Rose—Santa Monica Airport Page 12

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