USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > A history of California and an extended history of Los Angeles and environs : also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I > Part 69
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To provide for increased attendance, another building, known as East hall, has been erected. It is 68x150 feet, three stories in height and is located directly east of Polytechnic hall. It cost, finished and furnished, nearly $40,000. On the first floor are the class rooms for languages, lit- erature, mathematics, history, stenography, type- writing, etc. On the second floor are an assem- bly room, library and quarters for the department of biological sciences. In 1904 further enlarge- ment became necessary and a two-story brick ad- dition was made to Polytechnic hall, while all the shops were overhauled and extensive im- provements made. These changes were made possible by the generous action of the citizens of Pasadena in subscribing a fund of about $1,200 for the work. An out-door gymnasium, the gift of John S. Cravens, with a fine equipment of apparatus, was added in the autumn of 1904.
Miss Susan H. Stickney of Pasadena, in Aug-
ust, 1904, donated to Throop Institute a hand- some building at the junction of Fair Oaks and Lincoln avenues, known as the Stickney Mem- orial building, with the sole condition that the property be occupied by the art department of the institute. The building is entirely devoted to the work of the art department.
In 1908 the institution experienced a change of name for the third time. From the Throop Poly- technic Institute it became the Throop College of Technology. The college is modeled after the famous "Boston Tech." In 1910 the preparatory students were separated from the college students. They became the constituents of a distinct institu- tion, known as Throop Academy, which later was merged with the new Polytechnic High School of Pasadena. A site of 23 acres near the south- castern boundaries of the city was donated to the college as a campus for a group of buildings. The first of these-Pasadena Hall-was dedicated in June, 1910. It contains sixty-two rooms fitted with the most complete modern equipment. A second building was completed and occupied in September, 1910. It is the only college of tech- nology west of the Mississippi river.
WHITTIER COLLEGE.
Whittier College and the city of Whittier, where it is located, take their name from the Quaker poet, John Greenleaf Whittier.
On the 27th of September, 1891, the Whittier Educational Association, a corporate body under the laws of the State of California, established Whittier Academy in the town of Whittier. The beginning was made in a store building fur- nished by the Pickering Land and Water Com- pany. Three years later this company donated the beautiful site now occupied, and the sum of $8,000 was subscribed and paid by the citizens of Whittier and the members of the Friends Church in California. With this money the pres- ent building was constructed. In the summer of 1900 the Whittier Educational Association trans- ferred its interests to the California Yearly Meet- ing of Friends.
In 1901 Whittier College was organized and incorporated under the present management, and
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the first class, entering with advanced standing of one year, graduated in 1904.
In 1904 the college building was completed by the addition upon the south side of a wing containing laboratories, association rooms, of- fice and reception rooms, dining room, kitchen and dormitories. The auditorium was also re- modeled and all the older class rooms renovated.
In the summer of 1905 a spacious gymnasium was built and equipped, and the athletic field was graded for track, baseball and general field sports.
During the college year, ending in June, 1906, a continued effort has been made to raise an ad- ditional $100,000 endowment. At the close of the college year there was still lacking $32,000. "Everything that human plan could devise had failed to complete the amount. There was still lacking over $17,000, and the last available source seemed exhausted. It seemed that failure was stamped upon the effort. It was a day of gloom. So Saturday had passed. Worn out by a long week of almost continuous meetings, the people were beginning to disperse, the clerk was just calling for adjournment when he was interrupted by an additional gift to the endowment. The first was followed by another and another with- out solicitation so rapidly that the names could scarcely be taken." (Whittier College Bulletin, July, 1906.)
The amount was raised and the college is pre- pared to enter upon larger work in the future.
THE HARVARD SCHOOL ( MILITARY ).
The most successful effort in the history of Los Angeles to build up an educational insti- tution combining military training with a high standard of scholarship is the Harvard School (Military) founded by Grenville C. Emery, A. M., in 1900.
The ground was purchased for the school in April, 1900. The following summer two build- ings were erected, Rugby hall and Harvard hall (now Junior hall) in the mission style, with Ar- thur B. Benton as architect.
The school first opened September 25, 1900, with forty pupils. The number increased to seventy-two during the year. Six years later the school opened with 240 pupils.
Buildings have been erected from time to time as the need of the school demanded to the cost of $95,000. These are the new Harvard hall, Rugby hall, Arnold hall, Junior hall, and the gymnasium.
The older cadets are armed with Springfield rifles, 45 calibre West Point model, smaller rifles being provided for the younger boys. Waist belts, cartridge boxes and bayonet scabbard com- plete the equipment of the cadet private.
A fully equipped 80-foot indoor rifle range, underneath Arnold hall, permits the instruction of cadets in rifle shooting.
A cadet band has been organized, the larger instruments, such as the tuba, bass drum, etc., being the property of the school.
CHAPTER LX.
LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATIONS.
THE LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY.
T HE only attempt at founding any institu- tion of the character of our modern read- ing room and library during the Mexican era of our city's history was that made by the Amigos del Pais in 1844. The Amigos del Pais (Friends of the Country) was a society or club made up of the leading citizens of the town, both
native and foreign. A lot 100 varas square, free of taxes, was granted the society by the ayuntamiento. An adobe building was erected and fitted up with a dancing hall. A reading room was partitioned off from the main hall and a small library of books was collected. There were no daily newspapers in the reading room. A newspaper six months old was late news, and a
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book of the last century was quite fresh and readable. The Amigos for a time enjoyed their social privileges and the society flourished. Then the society ran in debt and its membership fell off. The building was disposed of by lottery. An- drés Pico drew the lucky number. The McDon- ald block, on North Main street, stands on the site of the Amigos' hall.
After the American conquest the question of founding a library and reading room was fre- quently agitated. The Mechanics' Institute, in 1856, '57 and '58, was a flourishing literary as- sociation. It maintained a course of lectures which were well patronized. The society owned a corrugated iron building on the southeast cor- ner of North Spring street and Court street, where the Home Savings Bank building now stands. It was ambitious to found a pub- lic library and reading room, but the times were unpropitious. Money was scarce and popula- tion migratory. The institution died and its good intentions perished with it or went where all good intentions go.
The first attempt under American rule to establish a library and reading room in Los An- geles that accomplished something was made in 1859. A call was issued for "all who are dis- posed to aid in establishing a library and read- ing room to meet in Wells, Fargo & Company's express office Monday evening, April 4, 1859."
The call was signed by H. N. Alexander, G. W. Wood, J. Fleishman, P. Sichel, H. S. Alan- son, J. Foy, L. M. Jacobs, William H. Workman, N. Williamson, E. H. Workman, M. J. Newmark, F. Mellus, F. Bachman and P. H. Downey. Of all the signers of that call only William H. Work- man and M. J. Newmark are living.
At the meeting a constitution and by-laws were adopted. A membership fee of $5 was re- quired and the monthly dues were fixed at $1. At a subsequent meeting John Temple was elect- ed president ; J. J. Warner, vice-president ; Fran- cis Mellus, treasurer ; Israel Fleishman, secre- tary, and the following-named were chosen a board of directors: E. Drown, J. H. Lander, J. Frohlong, H. Mellus, E. J. C. Kewen, S. F. Rey- nolds and R. Emerson.
The people were asked to contribute books to the library. A motley collection of volumes in
English, French, German and Spanish were do- nated. The membership was not large and the dues were not paid promptly; the result was that the rent of the rooms and the salary of the librarian bankrupted the association. The books were sold at auction to pay its debts and then there was another "light that failed" in the old pueblo-more good intentions that went to form additional pavement.
In the early '70s, when the city began to take on a new growth, the project of founding a pub- lic library was again revived. On the 7th of December, 1872, a meeting was called at the old Merced theater, located on North Main street just south of the Pico house or National hotel; the building is still standing but long since ceased to be used as a theater. Over two hundred cit- izens were present. Gen. J. R. McConnell, a prominent lawyer, acted as president, and W. J. Broderick, then the proprietor of a bookstore, acted as secretary. Sixty-six vice-presidents were selected from the prominent men of the city. These were to head the roll of membership and to give the enterprise a good send-off. The Los Angeles Library Association was formed, and a committee was appointed to canvass the city for members, subscriptions and donations of books. This committee included ex-Gov. John G. Downey, H. K. W. Bent, Harris Newmark, W. J. Broderick and S. B. Caswell. A life mem- bership cost $50, a yearly membership $5.
Governor Downey gave the use of four rooms on the second floor of his block, corner of North Main and Temple streets, free for three months; these rooms were fitted up with open shelves, newspaper racks and reading tables. The first board of trustees consisted of J. G. Downey, S. B. Caswell, H. K. W. Bent, G. H. Smith, Ignacio Supulveda, W. H. Mace, A. W. Potts, T. W. Temple, R. H. Dalton, Gen. George Stoneman, E. M. Stanford, W. B. Lawler and J. R. Mc- Connell; this board to have control of the library and the appointment of the librarian and assist- ants. The legislature of 1873-74 passed an act authorizing the levying of a small tax on the property of the city for the maintenance of the library. In 1878, by act of the legislature, the : mayor and members of the city council were
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made ex officio a board of regents to manage the affairs of the library.
During the '70s, subscriptions, donations, balls, theatrical performances and membership fees mainly supplied the funds for the purchase of books and periodicals. The amount raised by taxation was barely sufficient to keep up the run- ning expenses, salary, rent, etc. The period between 1880 and 1889 was not covered by so many donations, but occasional subscriptions and membership fees kept the library running until the adoption of the new charter changed the manner of conducting the institution. The new charter dispensed with the board of regents and provided for a board of five directors appointed by the mayor. In July, 1889, the library was re- moved from Downey block to the city hall. The Dewey system of classification was then adopted and is still used. The records show that the library then contained just 6,600 books. An extra large appropriation was made that year on condition that $10,000 be applied to the purchase of books.
The librarians, with their term of service, are : J. C. Littlefield. . .December, 1872-January,1879 Patrick Connolly .. . January 1879-June, 1880 Mary E. Foy. . June, 1880-January,1884 Jessie A. Gavitt. . . . January, 1884-January,1889 Lydia A. Prescott. . January,
Tessa L. Kelso .. April,
1889-April, 1889 Clara B. Fowler. ..... May,
1889-May, 1895
1895-June, 1897
Harriet C.Wadleigh . June, 1897-May, 1900
Mary L. Jones ..... May,
1900-June, 1905
Charles F. Lummis. June, 1905-March, 1910 Prud B. Wright. ... July, 1910-April, 1911 Everett R. Perry ... Sept., 1911
In 1891 the annual membership fee which at that time was $3 was abolished and the library made free. A training class was organized the same year for training attendants and the follow- ing year (1892) the board of education placed the school library in custody of the library board.
The question of securing a library building has been agitated for a number of years. At a special election held in 1893 the question of issu- ing bonds to the amount of $50,000 for a library building to be located in Central Park, was sub- mitted to the people. It was voted down on the plea that the title to the park would be invali- dated by using it for any other purpose than a place for recreation. This claim has no valid
foundation. At the city election of 1904 a ma- jority vote of the people decided in favor of locat- ing the library building in the park.
In August, 1906, the volumes belonging to the public school library, numbering about 15,000, were withdrawn and a library room for the schools fitted up in the Grand Avenue school.
In April and May of the year 1906 the library was moved from the city hall, where it had been housed for seventeen years, to the Homer Laughlin Annex on Hill street south of Third street. When it moved into the city hall it con- tained 6,600 volumes; when it moved out it had 123,000 volumes. Its growth while there crowded out all the other occupants of the third floor of the city building. First the school super- intendent and the board of education had to hunt other quarters, then the city engineer and the street department.
It was claimed the weight of tons of books made the building unsafe and the council or- dered the library board to find new quarters. The quarters in the city hall "were wholly inade- quate for library purposes and the library author- ities were as willing to move as the council was to have them go."
The new quarters were a great improvement on the old. The library occupied the second and third floors of a reinforced concrete building, fire proof and claimed to be earthquake proof. The floor space was increased from seven thou- sand square feet in the city hall to twenty-thou- sand feet in the new quarters. In addition to this there was about seven thousand square feet on the floor back of and on a level with the first library floor devoted to a roof garden. In this were flower pots containing a great variety of flowers, flowering shrubs and a fountain where gold fish played. The roof garden was an at- tractive feature of the library.
These quarters became too small and the li- brary was again compelled to move. July 1, 1908, it was moved to the third floor of the Hamburger building, corner of Broadway and Eighth street. This was a long trek from its old neighborhood near Third street, where for twenty years it had purveyed to the reading public. In the Ham- burger building it occupied 35,000 feet of floor space. Its growth increased with the rapid growth of the city and again it was compelled to move. A lease was secured for the seventh,
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eighth, ninth and tenth floors of the Metropolitan building, northwest corner of Broadway and Fifth street, while the building was in course of erection. May 25-31 the library was moved to its new location. It has now fifty thousand feet of floor space. The total number of volumes in the library April, 1915, was 244,320. There are one hundred and eighteen employes connected with it, and its revenue last year (1914) amounted to $172,251. The Los Angeles County Free Library was established September 5, 1912. Miss Celia Gleason, formerly assistant librarian of the city library, was appointed librarian, and Mary L. Jones assistant. The headquarters of the library are on the tenth floor of the hall of records. It has ninety-two branch libraries in the country districts. The number of volumes in the main library and branches is 68,000. The circulation is 30,000 per month.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Although Southern California is rich in his- torical material, yet more than a century passed before any society was organized for its preserva- tion. On the evening of November 1, 1883, in a room of the old Temple block, corner of North Main and Market streets, used at that time for a council chamber, the following-named gentlemen met for the purpose of organizing an historical society : Col. J. J. Warner, Gen. John Mans- field, H. D. Barrows, N. Levering, Prof. J. M. Guinn, Maj. C. N. Wilson, ex-Gov. J. G. Dow- ney, Prof. Ira More, J. B. Niles, A. Kohler, Don Antonio F. Coronel, George Hansen, A. J. Brad- field, Maj. E. W. Jones and Prof. Marcus Baker. The question of organizing a society was dis- cussed and a plan formulated. At a subsequent meeting held December 6th, officers were elected, a constitution and by-laws adopted and the or- ganization completed. The first officers of the society were: J. J. Warner, president; H. D. Barrows, A. F. Coronel, J. G. Downey, John Mansfield, vice-presidents; J. M. Guinn, treas- urer; C. N. Wilson, secretary. Its meetings at first were held in the council chamber, later on in the city court room, and now at the houses of the members. During the twenty-three years of
its existence about two hundred and fifty per- sons have been received into membership. Of these fifty are dead, a number have been lost through removal, withdrawal and non-payment of dues. The active membership is now about fifty.
The society has issued thirty annual publica- tions of papers read before it or contributed to it. These publications make three thousand oc- tavo pages and form nine complete volumes of valuable history. It has expended in publication, purchase of books and newspaper files about $5,000 cash; and in addition to this it has re- ceived in donations of books, curios, files of papers, periodicals, pamphlets, manuscripts, maps, etc., historical material worth at least $5,000 more. Its library includes bound volumes and pamphlets, in all about six thousand titles. Its publications have a wide circulation. They are sent to historical, scientific and geographical so- cieties, to public libraries and to the leading col- leges and universities of the United States and Europe.
The society was incorporated February 12, 1891. It is the oldest historical society on the Pacific coast and the only one in California doing state work. The legislature of 1905 passed an act appropriating $125,000 for the erection of a building for the society and for the newly cre- ated court of appeals. Governor Pardee vetoed the bill on the plea that the legislature had made appropriations in excess of the revenue.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE
The Southern California Academy of Science first bore the name of the Southern California Science Association. It was organized in 1891. Its first president was Dr. A. Davidson, and Mrs. Mary E. Hart filled the position of secretary. Its growth was slow at first. In 1896 the asso- ciation was reorganized and took its present name. Since then it has had a healthy growth. Its present officers and board of directors are: W. H. Knight, president; Abbot Kinney, first vice-president ; J. D. Hooker, second vice-presi- dent; W. C. Patterson, treasurer ; B. R. Baum- gardt, secretary ; Prof. J. A. Foshay, C. D. Cun-
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ningham, Prof. W. L. Watts, A. Campbell-John- H. D. Barrows, J. W. Gillette, J. M. Guinn, Dr. ston, Dr. S. M. Woodbridge, directors. Its pros- pectus thus outlines the object of the society : "It is the special province of our Academy to engage in those investigations which will ac- quaint us with our physical environment. No richer field exists for the prosecution of scien- tific inquiry than that of which Los Angeles is the metropolis. Its peculiar topographical fea- tures, rugged mountain chains, varied mineral deposits, and plains and fertile valleys, and its strange forms of animal and plant life, furnish abundant material for the physicist and the stu- dent of nature." The Academy has an active membership of about one hundred and fifty. The members are divided into sections for spe- cial and technical work. The following are the principal sections : Astronomical, Botanical; Agricultural Experiment ; Biological; Geolog- ical.
General meetings are held the second Tuesday evening of each month from September to June inclusive. The Academy is incorporated and has accumulated a considerable collection of sci- entific material. It publishes scientific papers read before the society or contributed to it.
PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.
Among the purposes for which this society was organized are "to collect and preserve the early history of Los Angeles County and to per- petuate the memory of those who, by their hon- orable labors and heroism, helped to make that history." The work, therefore, of this society is largely historical in its nature and it cannot be classed with purely social or fraternal societies, extended historical notices of which it has been found impossible to insert in this work.
The preliminary meeting for the organization of a Pioneer Society was held in the business office of the Daily Herald, then located on Third street in the Bradbury block, August 2, 1897. There were present J. M. Griffith, A. L. Bath, H. S. Orme, M. Teed, J. M. Elliott, J. W. Gil- lette, J. M. Guinn, H. W. O'Melveny and W. A. Spalding. The question of forming a Pioneer or Old Settlers' Society was discussed and a com- mittee to formulate a plan of organization was appointed. The members of the committee were:
H. S. Orme, Dr. J. S. Griffin, Harris Newmark, Henry W. O'Melveny and B. S. Eaton. The president of the meeting, J. M. Griffith, was made a member of the committee. At the meet- ing of the committee, August 5th, B. S. Eaton was made chairman and J. M. Guinn secretary. A sub-committee, consisting of B. S. Eaton, J. M. Guinn and H. D. Barrows, was appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws and submit them to the general committee at a meeting to be held on August 10th. At that meeting the name of the organization was chosen and the time of res- idence in the county necessary to render a per- son eligible to membership was fixed at twenty- five years. It was argued that by adopting a movable date for eligibility to membership the society would continue to grow, whereas if a fixed date was adopted the society would begin to decline as soon as all eligible had been en- rolled. The growth of the society has proved the wisdom of this argument. A call was issued for persons eligible to membership under the twenty-five-year-residence clause to meet at the Chamber of Commerce, September 4, 1897, at 8 p. m., for the purpose of adopting a constitu- tion and by-laws, electing officers and otherwise completing the organization. At the meeting of September 4, twenty-four persons were pres- ent and signed the roll. The constitution and by- laws prepared by the committee, after a few changes, were adopted. The following-named persons were chosen a board of directors: Louis Roeder, W. H. Workman, H. D. Barrows, J. M. Griffith, B. S. Eaton, J. M. Guinn and H. W. O'Melveny. The directors then proceeded to elect the officers of the society from their num- ber. B. S. Eaton was chosen president; J. M. Griffith, first vice-president; W. H. Workman, second vice-president ; Louis Roeder, treasurer, and J. M. Guinn, secretary. The society grew rapidly and at the end of the first year its mem- bership reached two hundred; it now numbers four hundred.
The Society of Pioneers in connection with the Historical Society of Southern California has, beginning with 1897 and continuing up to 1906, published an annual containing historical papers read before the society, and short bio-
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graphical sketches of deceased pioneers. The society has preserved a considerable amount of valuable historical matter through its publica- tions.
THE SOUTHWEST SOCIETY ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTI- TUTE OF AMERICA.
The Southwest Society of the Archaeological Institute of America was founded November 30, 1903. At thirteen months old it was numerical- ly third among the fifteen affiliated societies of the Institute, which at that time was twenty-five years old and embraced the most important uni- versities and centers of learning in the country. At three years old it had eighty per cent larger membership than any other society in the coun- try. The present membership is four hundred.
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