Common Ground: the Histories of the Ambassador Hotel’s Neighborhood.

The Studio for Southern History (Studio) is pleased to announce a new community history project: Common Ground: the Histories of the Ambassador Hotel’s Neighborhood. In collaboration with the Honors College at California State University and the New Open World Academy—the school at the former Ambassador Hotel site- the Studio is organizing a series of activities designed to gather and share stories connected with the former Ambassador Hotel and its neighborhood including a five-block radius with Hobart on the West, Olympic to the South, Shatto to the East and 2nd Street to the North— all sections of the 90005 zip code and sometimes known as ‘Wilshire Center.’

Common Ground hopes to illustrate vast change over time in Los Angeles that is often known for one place—the Ambassador Hotel—by highlighting its neighborhood social history. For many people the Ambassador was an icon of the city, from its opening in 1921 until its demolition in 2006 to make way for the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools Complex. For over twenty-five years, many people battled to save the hotel, to preserve the personal memories it represented. But less attention has been paid to a different kind of icon and monument to memories of Los Angeles: the community surrounding the site of the Ambassador. The personal histories associated with the Ambassador Hotel itself created a barrage of distress letters and preservation efforts to save it over the last twenty-five years.

The histories gathered through this project will provide one microcosm of Los Angeles urban history--from serving as barley fields in the late 19th century, to now representing one of the most diverse and densely populated sections of Los Angeles. While the Ambassador Hotel may rightfully hold a place in historical memory for various political and cultural events, the history of its neighborhood provides an even more pluralistic vision of Los Angeles’ history.

The Studio invites those interested in sharing their histories of the neighborhood and of the Ambassador Hotel in two ways. The public is invited to call the Studio for Southern California History at 213-229-8890 if they are interested in scheduling an interview between now and July 1, 2011 to share their experiences of the Ambassador Hotel. The Studio will be hosting three monthly collection days on April 2, May 7, and June 4 from noon – 4:00 pm for individuals wishing to loan photographs or ephemera to be digitized and included in the project. Short interviews will also be conducted on Collection Days.

The Studio for Southern California History is a nonprofit organization dedicated to critically chronicling and disseminating the region’s social history in order to foster sense of place. In addition to history projects like Common Ground, the Studio sponsors walking tours, exhibits and maintains an extensive reference library.

STUDENT ASSIGNMENTS:

NOW ACADEMY Students from the NOW Academy will take photographs and compose essays on how their neighborhood illustrates “home,” to them; to provide a tour of their school to visiting CSULA students; and develop different sites to include on a guide to the neighborhood. Sharon Sekhon will provide a workshop to students on March 22, from 8 -11 am in Link Mize’s course. Dr. Sekhon will provide a thumb drive to Link Mize to save each set of student assets.

“My Neighborhood Photo Essay” Each student will turn in 5 – 10 photographs and provide the following information for each photograph: Caption; Date, location and time of photograph; 2 – 3 sentences on how each photograph illustrates “home.”

CSULA Students from the CSULA Honors College will conduct short surveys in the neighborhood; research change over time in the neighborhood through different sources; assist in the collection of oral histories related to the neighborhood; and assist in developing a guide and website to the history of the neighborhood. This work will begin in April during Dr. Willard course. CSULA History students in Dr. Angela Vergara’s class will also work on this project.

Oral Histories The Studio will begin scheduling oral histories in mid-March. Students are encouraged to attend interviews and come prepared with questions to ask related to the Common Ground project. The schedule will be updated regularly and posted at: www.lahistoryarchive.org/CommonGround/schedule.html. Each student must RSVP to the scheduled interview by calling 213-229-8890 or emailing [email protected]. We will post your reservation online on the schedule. We are limiting each interview to four students to maintain a level of intimacy. These interviews will take place at the Studio for Southern California History. Students are also encouraged to conduct oral histories apart from the scheduled Studio interview. For example, if you know someone with experience related to this project and would like to interview them, please do so. However, please bring a classmate and be sure to get signed interview release forms.

Students should: · Attend one of the scheduled oral histories at the Studio for Southern California History. · Assist at the April 2 and May 7 Collection Days. · Attend the April 22 lecture with Dr. Catherine Gudis at the Studio. · Complete 10 surveys & 1 neighborhood needs assessment using the forms provided. With a partner, conduct surveys of those working or living in the neighborhood around AHS. · Provide two sites to include on a guide to the neighborhood. Each site must include a thorough description of the site, its history and the significance of the site.

SURVEY Use the following script to introduce yourself and describe the project. Always work in pairs. “Excuse me, I am research this neighborhood for class at CSULA and would like to get your opinions. Would you be willing to answer a few questions? It should take no more than 5 minutes.” If they say ‘no,’ thank them and walk away. If they answer ‘yes,’ thank them and ask if they are willing to be videotaped (if you have a video camera) for the research project. If they answer, ‘no’ thank them and let them know they can answer anonymously and proceed with the survey. If they answer ‘yes,’ ask if they are willing to sign an interview release form, which will allow us to use their footage for research purposes. If they answer ‘no,’ then proceed with the survey without videotaping.

Date & Time:______Location:______

Conducted by: ______&______

INTRODUCTION 1. AGE: 2. GENDER:

3. Do you live in this neighborhood? Yes No 3a. How long have you lived here?______.

4. Do you work in this neighborhood? Yes No 4a. How long have you worked here?______.

AHS SECTION 5. What do you know about AHS?

6. If anything, what is the most important thing to remember about AHS?

7. Have you spent any time at AHS? 7a. What did you do?

NEIGHBORHOOD 8. How would you rate this neighborhood on a scale of 1 – 10? Why?

9. What are the best parts of this neighborhood?

10. What are the biggest problems facing this neighborhood?

“Thank you for your participation in this survey. If you are interested in more information on this project or if you feel you are someone we should interview about AHS in further detail, please provide your contact information so we may schedule an interview.”

Name: Telephone: E-mail: Postal Address:

NEIGHBORHOOD NEEDS ASSESSMENT Conducted by:

______&______

After learning the different histories of this neighborhood through the lens of the Ambassador Hotel’s history, answer the following questions. Be sure to cite examples to illustrate your answer.

1. What is the most important thing to this neighborhood? 2. What is the biggest problem you feel the neighborhood struggles with? 3. To what extent does the neighborhood surrounding AHS know its history? 4. Who are the people who would benefit most from the programming provided by AHS? 5. Why do you think the history of AHS is important? 6. Are there other places that are like AHS? If so, please cite examples. 7. What is the best way to document this urban history? Cite examples.

INTERVIEW AGREEMENT FORM You have been asked for information to be used in an oral history with the Studio for Southern California History to gather and preserve information for historical and scholarly use.

A recording of your interview will be made by the interviewer. A copy of this tape will be provided to you by the project. Other institutions or persons may obtain a copy. These materials may be made available for purposes of research, for instructional use, for publications, or for other related educational purposes.

www.socalstudio.org I, ______, have read the above and 977 N. Hill Street (Interviewee, please print full name) Los Angeles, CA 90012 the historical and scholarly value of this information, I knowingly and voluntarily permit the Studio for Southern California History the full use of this information with the following (if any) caveats: 213 – 229 - 8890

I hereby grant and assign all my rights of every kind whatever pertaining to this information, whether or not such rights are now known, recognized, or contemplated, to the Studio for Southern California History.

______Interviewee (signature) Interviewer (signature)

______Date Date

TIMELINE Date Entry 1865 La Brea Tar Pits: 5800 . Señor Jose Antonio Roche sells the land now known as La Brea Tar Pits to New Hampshire transplant Major Henry Hancock. In the agreement Hancock ensures that Los Angeles residents may continue to use as much of the tar as they desire. Hancock himself makes a small fortune digging out tar that is used for asphalt for Los Angeles and streets. In so doing, he creates the “pit.” By 1901 the area is nicknamed “la Heusementa” or “the Bone yard” for all of the bones pulled out of the tar and discarded to the side. Scientists investigate and discover a treasure trove of fossil records. The discovery of oil also brings dozens of oil drills to the area to pump the site for “black gold.” 1895 November 24: The Wilshire brothers ask City Council to improve the land they donated to be used as a boulevard and to name it Wilshire Boulevard. The lane is called Nevada Street. They petition for the 120 feet wide boulevard to "be laid out in a 50 foot roadway, with 35 foot sidewalk on each side [and] a cement curb and cement sidewalk, six feet wide." In addition, they request that the land running eastwardly that is donated by the city for another boulevard be laid out the same and named Benton Boulevard. 1896 In the 1860s this area was known as an unsightly ravine with alkali cones. The land was put up for public auction by the city and no one would purchase it so in 1896 Mayor William Workman decided to create a lake and park instead. In 1930 the park was divided in 2 and after WWII what was called “Westlake Park” was renamed in honor of WWII hero General Douglas MacArthur. 1896 February 8: City Council approves the Wilshire Company's petition and dedicates Wilshire Boulevard as a public street. The following ordinances are put into effect: No railroad track shall ever be laid on Wilshire Boulevard, from Park View Avenue to the western city limits; No house-moving on or across the street is ever permitted; No vehicle (truck, dray, wagon, or cart) "carrying goods, merchandise, coal, manure, sand, lumber or other articles of commerce or trade" may travel on or across the street, unless the goods are to be delivered to Wilshire Boulevard residents. Any ordinance violators are charged with a misdemeanor and punished with a "a fine no less that $5 or more than $50, or imprisonment in the City Jail for not less than five days or more than six months." 1897 February 4: The Wilshire brothers request that the Park Commission take care of the boulevard's horticulture and after the request is declined, they petition for an ordinance forcing the Park Commission to be in charge of maintaining, caring for and protecting the lawns, shrubberies and trees on the boulevard for a period of no less than two years from the ordinance's establishment. 1900s Wilshire Center section developed by Gaylord Wilshire, between MacArthur Park and Wilton Place. 1912 Originally part of the Rancho Las Cienegas, Lafayette Square was subdivided in 1912 from barley fields and pastures by the Crenshaw Security Co. The elegant residential park, is about a 15 minute drive west of downtown and is bordered by Venice and Washington Boulevard Crenshaw and West Bl/LaBrea Ave. Its main feature is St Charles Place, a broad, palm lined avenue with a landscaped center strip as its centerpiece. The Square, which in 1910 sat on Los Angeles westernmost boundary was the last and greatest of George L. Crenshaw’s 10th Los Angeles residential developments. Crenshaw, a Midwest banker was a major residential was a major residential developer and architectural trendsetter who often set the pace for development in the city. The neighborhood has been home to many prominent citizens, many of whom built their homes in decade following World War I. Prominent residents included George Pepperdine, WC Fields, Fatty Arbuckle, Norton Simon, Joe Louis, Princess Pignatelli & Paul Williams.

1915 Wilshire Boulevard Temple, off Wilshire and Hobart Rabbi Magnin, a native Californian, witnessed the transformation of LA from a land of tourists and orange and lemon fields to a great city of its own. Honored for his 50 years’ of service at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple off Wilshire and Hobart blvd., he brought many to the city by serving residents from the west side of LA to the starting in 1915. The temple was built by a congregation descended from one organized in 1862. 1920s Late 1920s-Early 1930s: Several landmarks are erected in the mid Wilshire area. The Bullocks Wilshire and the Pellissier Buildings house the Wiltern Theatre and are designed in known as Zigzag Moderne; the buildings are mini skyscrapers with strong vertical lines. Bullocks is the first to have

the main entrance in the parking lot rather than the sidewalk; the easy parking attract shoppers from Downtown. Mid-Wilshire is where the first “linear downtown” in the world is created with popularity of automobiles near four-mile stretch of Wilshire Blvd. between Mac Arthur Park and Beverly Hills: with first elegant apartment houses, large churches, the first luxury resort hotel, the Ambassador- and first major office buildings. But the original car orientation of the street was at the expense of pedestrians. 1920s Joseph Schenck, president of United Artists builds the Talmadge Apartments at 3278 Wilshire for his wife and silent movie star Norma Talmadge. 1921 The Ambassador Hotel, first major structure in the neighborhood, opens on the site of a former dairy farm at 3400 Wilshire Boulevard on the outskirts of the city. Employees have to walk seven blocks from the last trolley stop to their jobs. 1921 Miracle Mile, between Sycamore and Fairfax avenues, purchased by developer A.W. Ross, paid $54,000 for 18 acres. Land was a service road for oil wells in the neighborhood. 1923 December 18: Santa Monica's City Commissioner is served an injunction preventing the city from widening Wilshire Boulevard to primarily prevent the removal of the shade trees that line its sides. A hearing on the matter is scheduled in Superior Court for Friday morning. 1927 Construction of new Immanuel Presbyterian Building at Wilshire Blvd. and Berendo St. begins, slated to cost $1,500,000. Originally founded by W. J. Chichester forty years ago. 1927 Shatto Place to remain restricted and exclusive as deemed by the California Supreme Court. Ruling includes property bounded by Wilshire Boulevard, Vermont Avenue, Fifth Street and Westmoreland Avenue and prohibits property worth less than $10,000 as well as business buildings. 1929 New B’nai B’rith Temple (Wilshire Boulevard Temple) built at 3663 Wilshire Blvd. Originally founded in 1862 by Congregation B’nai B’rith at Temple and ; the new structure includes a 320-foot mural frieze and three large lunettes depicting Jewish History--gifts of the Warner Brothers. 1929 Construction of new Immanuel Presbyterian Church at Wilshire Boulevard and Berendo Street is completed. A Gothic style edifice is completed at the cost of $1,300,000. 1929 November 13: Thirty-two posts of the American Legion sponsor the Western Aircraft Show for American Legion Day. Festivities begin with a parade of drummers and those in the represented American Legion posts. The Western Aircraft Show takes place at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. The show has sixty-five airplanes and aviation equipment on display. Attendees include wartime aviators and film celebrities. 1931 December 20: Along with the rest of the city, Wilshire Boulevard undergoes beautification efforts in preparation for the 1932 Olympic Games. Realty broker Howard B. Lawson takes responsibility for the clean-up of vacant lots and planting of gardens therein for Wilshire Boulevard. City officials advise to plow the empty lots instead of burning them when clearing the vacant lots of brush and weeds. An estimated 25,000 trees are planted citywide. 1931 Jobless Girls’ Club is created. The old Elite (restaurant) on Flower street and Wilshire Boulevard to be renovated and used as a girls’ club. Women can find rest, recreation and vocational counseling at the venue. 1933 Kittens rescued from tree: 3 kittens left in a paper bag hanging in a tree off Commonwealth Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard are rescued by police and given homes. 1947 Representatives from six Wilshire boulevard businessmen’s groups plan to beautify Wilshire Blvd; first, tackle hot dog stands and “unartistic” billboards. 1949 There are 43 drive-in restaurants along Wilshire Boulevard. Bob’s Airmail Service, “a gas station set under the wings of a twin-engined airplane” is found at the corner of Cochran Avenue. 1950 The median dividing Wilshire Boulevard at "the Miracle Mile" has palm trees planted on it. 1952 Richard Nixon composes his “Checkers Speech” at the Ambassador Hotel. 1963 The Wilshire-Shatto area grows with the opening of the Mission National Bank, the first independent bank to headquarter between the and Beverly Hills-Westside financial centers in years. Papy H. Toy, the president of the new bank, calls this area “the most rapidly growing part of the Wilshire community.” The décor of the bank recalls early Spanish, complete with murals illustrating California’s mission trails and missions. The color scheme will be Spanish as well: green, red, ivory, black and gold. 1968 June 5: Senator Robert Kennedy is assassinated in the ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel after delivering

his victory speech for winning the California Democratic primary in his bid for president. 1968 Jimmy Webb records hit song “MacArthur Park”—it will be reprised by Donna Summer in 1978 and be a number one pop song for three weeks. It is now a disco anthem. 1971 June 6: Six parks in L.A. to receive $791,000 in federal funding for improvement and expansion. They include the Ramona Gardens, Hazard Park, Gilbert W. Lindsay Community Center, Macarthur Park, Ardmore Recreation Center and Echo Park. 1977 April: the Ardmore Recreation Center will be having an Easter Egg Hunt on Thursday at 1:30 for 6 – 13 year-olds. 1980 January 30: For writer Mary Ellen Strote, a corner of land at Wilshire Boulevard at Warner represents American empty lot which serves as a Christmas Tree lot in December across the street from the Jewish Temple she attends, when she sees a Muslim man stop to prayer there. 1980 July: Chief of Police Daryl Gates concludes that although a few officers may have used excessive force on protestors during the May 1 Parade, police action was justified. The Communist Revolutionary Party had requested a permit for its parade but was denied one. The group proceeded on the sidewalks and when a few crossed against a red light, a police “skirmish line” was put in force. The “skirmish line” included thirty officers who waited at Bixel Street in order to be deployed by the LAPD. Local television crews recorded police officers swinging batons in order to keep the crown in place. According to Gates, the Communist Revolutionary Party is known to encourage violence and thus justified what some perceived as “excessive force.” 1981 February 28: Dean Williams, owner of the Dolores Drive-In Restaurant (one of a the few remaining drive- ins with carhop service in Southern California) on Wilshire Boulevard near La Cienega loses an eviction battle against the landowners, Don Levin and the Mardon Investment Company. Dolores Drive-In is popular amongst teenagers and celebrities in the 1950s and 1960s but after being unable to stay a writ of possession from Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Smith, the owners plan to build a three-story office building in its place. After 34 years of delicious service, Dean Williams the owner for the past 10 years receives a six-month eviction notice. The property owner plans to build a three-story building in its place. The site is unable to be preserved as an historic landmark because the home of the Suzy-Q French Fries and the Jumbo Jim Hamburgers is “not of sufficient archeological or cultural significance,” according to the Beverly Hills Architectural Commission although now it would be recognized for its Googie architecture, a truly Southern California style. 1981 George Moussazadeh opens Mr. Price, one of the largest discount operations in the nine-story Desmond’s tower. Built in 1928, it was the first major building along the Miracle Mile. Although Desmond’s closed in 1980, its name is still hanging on the tower wall. The whole building was empty before Mr. Price moved in. 1983 Plans to rejuvenate the “most historically significant areas of Los Angeles’ ‘main street’” take are announced. Meanwhile, the “once grand 65-year-old” Ambassador Hotel, is up for sale. 1983 November 13: The revitalization of Wilshire Boulevard is evident in the $35 million expansion of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the building of new commercial centers. 1984 October 28: The Los Angeles Conservancy recommends the Miracle Mile be recognized for its architectural treasures and for its innovation in urban planning. The preservation organization nominates it to the National Register of Historic Places and sponsors a festival with a parade, a barbershop quartet and carnival in its honor. The Wilshire Boulevard neighborhood west of La Brea is noted for the fine examples of Art Deco and Moderne buildings including the May Company with its tiles and tower at the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire; the Dark Room at 5370 Wilshire Boulevard is an Art Deco gem whose storefront includes a 1930s camera, using the lens as a porthole; Tru Litho Service at 5401 Wilshire which is noted for its Streamline Moderne style; and the black and gold terra cotta Zigzag Moderne style of the El Rey Theatre at 5515 Wilshire. According to The Los Angeles Times, “The district was one of the first retail strips of its kind to accommodate the shopper arriving by automobile. The stores were given windows, facades and towers to catch a driver’s eye, and, among other things, provided parking in the rear.” 1984 May 4: the Federation for Progress agrees to change the route of its Anti Reagan administration protest march during the Olympic Games. The group switches the route from Wilshire Boulevard to 6th Street and assuages concerns about traffic expressed by the Olympic Games Organizing Committee and the Los

Angeles Police Department. Governor Deukmejian had threatened to send in the National Guard to Los Angeles should an impasse not be reached. 1985 May 17: the LAPD files assault charges against four protestors involved in a May 1, May Day protest that led to a confrontation. According to the Los Angeles Times, four men from the Revolutionary Communist Party were charged with battery against a police officer, but the bruises and scratches the police men sustained in the alleged assault did not warrant felony assault charges. The alleged assault took place on Wilshire Boulevard between Bixel Street and Lukas Avenue. 1986 Urban Innovation’s Lottery to determine, “what is the goal for Wilshire center.” To put Wilshire Center in a “community context” and not just a boulevard. 1986 June 22: The 100 birthday of MacArthur Park is celebrated with through different events including free music concerts, a 5K run, a children’s carnival and the relighting of different lamps and signs in the park. The festivities were sponsored by the Otis/Parsons School of Design and primarily through the organizing efforts of Al Nodal from the School. In addition to refurbishing lighting, Nodal spearheaded the addition of public art to the park including a mural at the bandstand. For the intensive electrical work, Nodal was aided by Local 11 who supplied three electricians, five laborers and an operating engineer who worked for three months. Local 11’s headquarters are adjacent to MacArthur Park. 1993 R.H. Macy & Co. closes Bullocks and strips the building of all its Art Deco elements. 1994 After being saved from demolition, Bullocks is purchased by the Southwestern University Law School and is used as a library and offices. 1995 August 31: Some “urbanists” declare the “lack of continuity” along Wilshire Boulevard as its most “crucial overall failure.” Architects Ron Altoon, who is involved in efforts to preserve and develop the Boulevard’s architectural heritage states “today Wilshire is more of a kind of urban clothesline than a real grand avenue—a line with good and bad, elegant and trashy elements hanging from it.” Fellow architect, Scott Johnson, “blames the mixture of social change and economic decline for the absence of any real visual cohesion along Wilshire.” Johnson declares “The income levels of the new immigrants that have settled along eastern and central Wilshire are low, and so the economic engine for regeneration just isn’t functioning there right now.” Mid-Wilshire has the highest commercial vacancy rate in comparison to any other city. 1999 James M. Wood Blvd, formerly 9th Street is renamed in 1999 (portion of 9th Street from Figueroa to Western Avenue). A labor leader, he contributed to the downtown Los Angeles vertical skyline with community dedication and social change for the working class as he fought for affordable downtown housing and good wages. During his career, he was able to forge a relationship between labor and business and community leaders. He held various positions that helped to build Los Angeles which included his time on the board and Chair of the Community Redevelopment Agency with urban renewal projects and the Los Angeles State Building Authority team which actually got the State Building built in downtown. However, he was accused of helping real estate interest (private industry) with subsidies above the needs of the poor and homeless during his time at CRA. He also created the SRO Housing Corporation for the housing needs of low-income wage earners in the midst of redevelopment efforts in Bunker Hill. He worked in various political programs (Associate Director for Political Education), and later became head of the LA County Federation of Labor.