Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1989 Saints in the Secular City: A History of the Los Angeles Stake Chad M. Orton Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the History Commons, Mormon Studies Commons, and the Sociology Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Orton, Chad M., "Saints in the Secular City: A History of the Los Angeles Stake" (1989). Theses and Dissertations. 5002. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5002 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. D 1021.02 0770 77 1909 SAINTS IN THE SECULAR CITY A HISTORY OF THE LOS ANGELES STAKE A thesis presented to the department of history brigham young university in partial fulfillmentFulfill nentment of the requirements for the degree master of arts by chad NM orton august 1989 this thesis by chad M orton Is accepted in its present foraformtorm by the department of history of brigham young university as satisfying the thesis requirement for the degree of master of arts c jftoesjftifes B alienailen committeecolitCoMit tee chairman aw 7wC robert kenzer committee member Z JX ur 1 J date c david C montmontomerymerya urgraduateaouate coordinator 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE iv 1 one of the great fields in which the church would thrive 1 4 1 1 2 0 A sunday school a branch and a mission conference 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 32 3 exodus and promised land 0 0 0 53 4 the los angeles stake of zion 0 74 5 forward hollywood 11 11 1 11 4 99 6 hollywood stake part II11 128 7 the war years and beyond 160igoISO 8 A 80 spiritual renaissance 0 185 9 an era of transition 206 10loolow100 A stake for all people 242 lieilelle11011 unity in diversity 0 277 12012 A vision that we must cause to be fulfilled 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 310 13013 microcosm of a worldwide church 343 bibliographic essay 376 illitittl PREFACE this thesis is a revision of a longer history of the los angeles california stake of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints I1 was contracted to write and which was published in 198t1987 as part of that stakes sixtieth year celebrations L while most graduate students hope that some day their thesis will become a book my hope was that this book which interrupted my graduate studies would one day become a thesis although it is a brigham young university policy to encourage the use of publications for theses as a result of a misunderstanding I1 have reworked my earlier history in anywanymany ways this misunderstanding has been a blessing in disguise as it has allowed me to bring my thesis closer to the history of the los angeles stake I1 would have written if I1 had not been a contract historian it has allowed me to delete many of the items which I1 had included for the benefit of stake members but which I1 felt were not vital to understanding the growth of the stake more importantly it chadilchadilchak M orton more faith than fear the los angeles stake story salt lake city bookcraft inc 1987 iv has allowed me to include many items which I1 felt were vital to the story and which the publisher deleted it also allowed me to expand the number of footnotes undertaking these changes has produced a thesis geared more towards the scholarly audience although the outline remains the same as does much of the language which is directed towards the faithful mormon audience for whom the work was originally writtenwr itten while making these revisions I1 felt that a more scholarly title was also in order in using the phrase the secular city however I1 am not undertaking an analysis of mormonism in light of harvey coxs book of the same title 28 rather I1 am using secular in the sense in which the term was used several centuries after the time of christ when it came to mean the present age as compared with an earlier age 2 in this sense the title connotes the expansion of mormonism into a twentieth century urban environment from which most nineteenth century cormonsmormons tried to escape largely by gathering to utah this work looks at how a religion nurtured predominentlypredominantly in nineteen century isola harveysharvey cox the secular city new york macmillan 19651965. coxs thesis is that scientific and technological advances have made urbanization inevitable and that urbanization has led to secularization which in turn has destroyed traditional christianity and that the whole process calls for celebration forifor2for a look at the issue of secularism as it relates to mormonismkorNor monism see james L clayton the challenge of secularism dialogue 3 autumn 1968 647664 76 v tion has progresedprogressedprogre sed in one twentieth century cosmopolitan settingsett ing such a study is needed since most indepth studies of mormonism in the twentieth century tend to focus on utah in spite of the fact that most cormonsmormons now live outside of utah and a majority face the challenges associated with living in major urban enviornmentsenvlornments many of the problems and issues important to the large urban centers of the united states such as changing demographics have barely touched the church in utah while church members living outside of utah have had to face the challenges head on in a small way this thesis answers the twenty year old call of mary L bradford and garth L mangum for research into the influence of urbanization on mormonism 4 it is logical to begin the study of urban mormonism with the los angeles stake since it was the first stake established in a major urban setting because of their location members of the stake have had to develop an approach to their religion applicable to their environment and challenges while maintaining devotion to the fundamental doctrines of their religion in so doing they were able to make their religion relevant to a major urban setting consequently the stake has been very important to the wary4marymaryamary L bradford and garth L mangum cormonsMormormonsmons in the secular city an introduction Dialodialogueluegue 3 autumn 1968 41 this article is an introduction to a series of essays on cormonsmormons in an urban enviornment see dialogue 3 autumn 1968 39 108 vlvi churchchurchy not just in los angeles but also far beyond stake boundaries several of the programs introduced to meet stake needs have been later implemented on a church wide basis the stake has also been a training center for many local leaders in southern california and throughout the world of operation at this writing five of the present general authorities received part of their training there I1 anam indebtedendebted to many people without whose help this thesis would never have been possible president william W tanner of the los angeles california stake not only intro- duced me to twentieth century urban mormonism and provided freely of his insights and time but also has encouraged ieme to see my study to this end arthur wallace and the stakes history committee gathered invaluable information and identified areas which needed to be studied I1 have been aided also by many former and present stake members who willingly furnished information reviewed the manuscript and provided financial assistance dr james B alienailen of the BYU history department and G wesley johnson of the center for family and community history studies at BYU recognized the value of this project and generously provided assistantships as well as their knowledge dr alienailen also sacrificed countless hours refining the manuscript gordon irving of the LDS church historical department has contin- uously offered encouragement and support as did also the other members of the historical department staff finally vii a special thanks belongs to my wife elizabeth for her support and sense of humor throughout this twice told story and for amy laura spencer and taylor for their patience vviliviiii i I1 CHAPTER I11 ONE OF THE GREAT FIELDS IN WHICH THE CHURCH WOULD THRIVE outside utah the greatest concentration of members of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints Is located in california at the beginning of 1987 church membership in the state exceeded 650000 and the number of stakes exceeded 140 A11 such a presence is remarkable when viewed in light of the fact that during the era of its beginnings in california some church members despaired that a significant number of latter day saints would ever be located within the statedstatesstaten boundaries the prominent role the latter day saints played in the settlement of utah and the great basin has been well publicized however the important role latter day saints played in the history of california is not as well known 2 they were among the first anglos in los angeles san eseretaseretdeseret news 1987 church almanac salt lake city deseret news 1986 appp 207 255 theathe2the best account of mormon involvement in the settlement of california is eugene E campbell A history of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints in california 1846 1946 phd dissertation university of southern california 1952 2 francisco san diego and san bernardino and were present when gold was discovered at suttersSut lersters mill through their experiences in california from 1846 1857 latter day saints left not only an important heritage for the people of the state but also an interesting history of individual and group struggles successes and failures As a result of