Water and Power Associates Informing the Public about Critical Water and Energy Issues facing Los Angeles and California

Historical Notes

In March 1881, after heavy lobbying by Los Angeles residents, the California State Legislature authorized the creation of a southern branch of the California State Normal School (which later became San Jose State University) in downtown Los Angeles to train teachers for the growing population of Southern California. The State Normal School at Los Angeles opened on August 29, 1882, on what is now the site of the Central Library of the Los Angeles Public Library system.

Historical Notes

The new facility included an elementary school where teachers-in-training could practice their teaching technique on children. That elementary school is related to the present day version, UCLA Lab School. In 1887, the school became known as the Los Angeles State Normal School.

Historical Notes

After the demolition of this structure (1922), 5th Street was straightened and the remainder of the site was eventually occupied by the L.A. Public Library.

Historical Notes

Through the years, the State Normal School was expanded and several new wings were added; the "new and improved" facility would eventually include an elementary school where the teachers-in-training could practice their teaching technique on real children.*

Historical Notes

By 1914 the little pueblo of Los Angeles had grown to a city of 350,000 and the school, whose enrollment far exceeded its capacity, moved to new quarters -- a Hollywood ranch off a dirt road which would later become Vermont Avenue.^^

Historical Notes

In 1917, UC Regent Edward A. Dickson, the only regent representing the Southland at the time, and Ernest Carroll Moore, Director of the Normal School, began working together to lobby the State Legislature to enable the school to become the second University of California campus, after Berkeley. They met resistance from Berkeley alumni, Northern California members of the state legislature, and Benjamin Ide Wheeler, President of the University of California from 1899 to 1919, who were all vigorously opposed to the idea of a southern campus. However, David Prescott Barrows, the new President of the University of California, did not share Wheeler's objections and, in 1919, the Southern Californians efforts finally paid off.*^

Historical Notes

On May 23, 1919, Governor William D. Stephens signed Assembly Bill 626 into law, which merged the Los Angeles Normal School with the University of California as the Southern Branch of the University of California. The same legislation added its general undergraduate program, the College of Letters and Science.

The Southern Branch campus opened on September 15 of that year, offering two-year undergraduate programs to 250 Letters and Science students and 1,250 students in the Teachers College, under Moore's continued direction.*^

Historical Notes

The cornerstone for Millspaugh Hall was laid on November 18, 1913; in September 1914, the school began its sessions in the new building. It was the center of student and administrative activity and occasionally an outdoor assembly area.

The University of California, Southern Branch campus was laid out along a central axis, with the fine arts, domestic science, and library buildings facing the gymnasium, science building and teacher training school; the administration building (Millspaugh Hall) sat at the head of the group. The University of California, Southern Branch would eventually come to be known as the University of California, Los Angeles - or UCLA for short.*

Historical Notes

UCLA's first Commencement was in 1920 and was held in Millspaugh Hall of what was then the Los Angeles State Normal School on Vermont avenue. The institution conferred its first bachelor's degree in education in 1923, and its first bachelor of arts degree in 1925. The Class of 1928 was graduated in ceremonies held in the Hollywood Bowl, the site of UCLA Commencements for several years, even following the move from the Vermont Avenue campus to Westwood in 1929.^*

Historical Notes

The valedictorian of his class at Jefferson High, Ralph Bunche was an all-around athlete who competed in football, baseball and track. He attended UCLA when the school campus was located on Vermont Avenue, playing basketball on an athletic scholarship. Later he helped to write the charter for the United Nations. Bunche won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 for his efforts in developing peace agreements in the Middle East.*

Historical Notes

The "Southern Branch" of the University of California was no longer merely a teacher's college but an institution that offered two years of instruction in Letters and Science. Third- and fourth-year courses were soon added, the first class of 300 students was graduated in 1925, and by 1927 the Southern Branch had earned its new name: University of California at Los Angeles (the "at" became a comma in 1958). As the student population of the University continued to increase, the need for a new site became obvious and the search was soon under way for a permanent home for UCLA.

Historical Notes

Westwood and UCLA were developed on the lands of the historic 'Wolfskill Ranch', a 3,000-acre parcel that was purchased by Arthur Letts, the successful founder of the Broadway, and Bullock's department stores, in 1919. Upon Arthur Lett's death, his son-in-law, Harold Janss, vice president of Janss Investment Company, inherited the land and started to develop the area in 1922.*^

Historical Notes

The view above, from about the time of the Letts purchase, shows the land with the Wolfskill ranch house (center left), located on what is today the northwest corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Beverly Glen.

Historical Notes

Built by the Janss Investment Corporation in the 1920s, this oddly shaped tower was located on the northeast corner of Wilshire and Beverly Glen Boulevards. It stood at 420 feet above sea level, making it the highest point on Wilshire Boulevard at the time and was used primarily as a landmark advertisement. At night, the lightning bolts along the sides and the 'WESTWOOD' sign would light up and be seen for miles.

Potential home owners were allowed to climb the tower to get a better view of the new community and identify the lot they would like to purchase.^#

Historical Notes

The large empty parcel, upper left, within the platted area is the Wolfskill ranch house, on the P.E. route, at the T-junction with Overland Ave, standing alone on twenty-five plus acres. The Harold Lloyd Motion Picture Company's Westwood studio ranch occupied this site a bit after this photo was taken. The northern portion was sold off to build the Saint Paul the Apostle RC church and school circa 1930. Lloyd's declining fortunes caused him to sell the rest to the LDS church in 1937. The church finally built the LDS Temple there in 1956.^#

Historical Notes

In 1925, in a deal to get the University of California, Los Angeles built, the Janss Investment Company sold 375 acres to the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills at the bargain price of $1.2 million — about a quarter of its value. The cities, whose voters had passed bond issues to pay for the site, turned around and donated it to the state. While the UCLA campus was being built, Janss Investment Company went to work developing the Westwood Village commercial area and surrounding residential neighborhoods.*^

Historical Notes

In May 1927, ground was broken at UCLA’s new Westwood campus and the first priority was to construct a bridge to cross the deep arroyo. The bridge was necessary for transporting construction supplies over the ravine that divided the east and west parts of the site.

Historical Notes

The Arroyo Bridge was dedicated in a ceremony officiated by Gov. C. C. Young on Oct. 23, 1927, marking the completion of the first structure on campus.^*^

Historical Notes

Modeled after the Roman aqueducts by University of California supervising architect George W. Kelham, the bridge was necessary for transporting construction supplies over the chaparral-covered ravine and was originally intended to be UCLA's main entryway. Mules pulled materials including cement sacks, lumber and bricks over the Arroyo Bridge from the east entrance on Hilgard Avenue.^

Historical Notes

Hailed as the "avenue to the future," the $100,000 Arroyo Bridge was dedicated at a ceremony officiated by Associated Students President Thomas J. Cunningham and attended by California Gov. C.C. Young on October 22, 1927, officially marking the completion of the first structure on campus.

"In opening this bridge, we are opening the portals for a new era in the history of the university," Cunningham said.^

Historical Notes

The reinforced concrete walls of the bridge contained three huge arches, and Kelham's Romanesque design featured intricate rosette and diamond patterns of carved limestone and inlaid red brick, with decorative parapets and a series of smaller arches running along the upper portion of the structure. It stood approximately 300 feet long, 75 feet wide and 50 feet above the arroyo.^

Historical Notes

Over the years, the bridge has become a storied part of UCLA's history. During the Great Depression, it provided shelter for impoverished students. In wartime, when the Japanese were targeting the California coast via submarine, enough food was reportedly stored beneath it to feed 50,000 people — in case of attack.^

Historical Notes

In the summer of 1947, the gully was filled to increase the amount of useable property on the campus. Today, the bridge’s arches remain hidden underground at Dickson Plaza.^*^

Historical Notes

Today, the bridge's arches remain hidden underground at Dickson Court, largely ignored by the many crossing it daily. A sign cautions a weight restriction, and it continues to be inspected to meet safety and earthquake standards.^

Historical Notes

Ground was broken on the new campus in Westwood on September 27, 1927. The original four buildings were the College Library, Royce Hall, the Physics-Biology Building, and the Chemistry Building (presently Powell Library, Royce Hall, the Humanities Building, and Haines Hall, respectively), arrayed around a quadrangular courtyard on the 400 acre  campus. George W. Kelham of San Francisco was the supervising architect, assisted by David Allison of the Los Angeles firm Allison & Allison. Allison, who was also the designer of the Vermont Avenue campus, envisioned the Romanesque style of the Westwood campus.*^

Historical Notes

Built between 1927 and 1929, the Powell Library was constructed in Italian Romanesque Revival style and designed by architect George W. Kelham.*

Historical Notes

Because the rolling terrain of the campus suggested northern Italy, a Romanesque or Italian Renaissance style of architecture was adopted, featuring red brick, cast stone trim, and tile roofs. Many of the early buildings were modeled from churches and universities in Bologna, Milan, and Verona.**

Historical Notes

Powell Library (originally called College Library) is named for Lawrence Clark Powell, the University Librarian at UCLA from 1944 to 1961 and Dean of the Graduate School of Library Service from 1960 to 1966.*^

Historical Notes

The UCLA campus's "Janss Steps" is named for two brothers, Harold and Edwin Janss of the Janss Investment Company who developed Westwood and also made it possible for UCLA to be built. The steps were donated to UCLA by the Janss brothers.

Historical Notes

The Janss Steps were were constructed in 1928-29 and designed by architect George W. Kelham.

Historical Notes

Royce Hall was built in 1928-29 and designed by Allison and Allison, Architects. It was constructed in a northern Italian Romanesque Revival style, inspired by Sant' Ambrogio in Milan (12th century). It is one of the four original buildings on UCLA's Westwood campus and has come to be the defining image of the university.

Historical Notes

The brick and tile building is in the Lombard Romanesque style, and once functioned as the main classroom facility of the university.  Today, Royce Hall’s twin-towered front remains the best known UCLA landmark.

Royce Hall was named after Josiah Royce, a California-born philosopher who received his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley in 1875.*^

Historical Notes

Powell Library (originally called College Library) is named for Lawrence Clark Powell, the University Librarian at UCLA from 1944 to 1961 and Dean of the Graduate School of Library Service from 1960 to 1966.

Like the building facing it across the quad, Royce Hall, the building's exterior is modeled after Milan's Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio.*^

Historical Notes

The entrance of the library is adorned with several mosaics, one of which depicts two men holding a book bearing the phrase, from Cicero's Pro Archia Poeta, "Haec studia adulescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant". This loosely translates as "Studying in youth sustains delight into old age", an appropriate dictum for the vast collection for undergraduate students.*^

Historical Notes

The great amount of skilled hand work needed for the detailed tile and brick work of the Lombard style of architecture made it impossible to continue in the same architectural tradition when costs rose after World War II. The above view shows the interior of the main lobby and stairs to the reading room at the Powell Library.*

Historical Notes

Royce Hall’s first performing arts season was 1937. The first subscription series included the great contralto Marian Anderson, the Budapest String Quartet and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Also appearing at Royce Hall that year were Jimmy Dorsey’s Band and the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by famed conductor Otto Klemperer. A year later in 1937, Duke Ellington’s Orchestra and avant-garde composer Arnold Schoenberg made appearances.

Luminaries who have appeared on its stage include musicians George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and Ella Fitzgerald, and speakers Albert Einstein and John F. Kennedy.*^

Historical Notes

During the 1930s several other buildings were added to the cluster around the main quadrangle--the Education Building, Kerckhoff Hall, the Men's Gymnasium, the Women's Gymnasium, Mira Hershey Hall, and the Administration Building.**

Historical Notes

On March 27 and 28, 1930, the formal dedication of the University of California at Los Angeles took place.  Speakers at the ceremonies included Dr. Arthur Thompson of the University of Aberdeen and Dr. Ernest Carroll Moore, director of UCLA.  Delegates representing 168 colleges and universities from around the world were present.

Historical Notes

Designed by architects Allison & Allison, Kerckhoff Hall was completed in 1931. The hall is named for William G. Kerckhoff, a successful lumber and energy magnate, who died prior to the building's completion. Mr Kerckhoff's widow spent $815,000 to build and completely furnish Kerckhoff Hall.

Historical Notes

The Kerckhoffs visited the Westwood campus under construction in early 1929 and were told by the provost of the need for a student union. On his deathbed a month later, Kerckhoff told his wife that he wanted to build such a building.*

Historical Notes

William Kerckhoff moved to Los Angeles from Indiana in 1878-1879 and worked for the Jackson Lumber Company. In 1887, he built the first ocean-going vessel to use oil for fuel. In the 1890s, he founded the San Gabriel Power Company, a hydroelectric power company. By the turn of the century, together with A.C. Balch, he owned half the stock of Henry E. Huntington Pacific Light & Power Company used to provide electricity to Pacific Electric, and he served as its President. In 1902, they purchased the San Joaquin Electric Company. They also founded Southern California Gas Corporation in 1910, and built a 120-mile pipeline from the San Joaquin Valley to Los Angeles.

In 1900, Kerckhoff together with Burton E. Green, Charles A. Canfield, Max Whittier, Frank H. Buck, Henry E. Huntington, William F. Herrin, W.S. Porter and Frank H. Balch, known as the Amalgated Oil Company, purchased Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas from Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker and renamed it Morocco Junction. After drilling for oil and only finding water, they reorganized their business into the Rodeo Land and Water Company to develop a new residential town later known as Beverly Hills, California.

Historical Notes

Today, Kerckhoff Hall is one of the main student union buildings of UCLA. Among its offerings are: study lounges, an art gallery, a coffeehouse, meeting rooms, a salon and the student government offices.*

Historical Notes

For many Bruins, the iconic Gothic spires of Kerckhoff Hall, rising majestically high above campus, are second only to Royce Hall as a symbol of UCLA.

Historical Notes

Marymount was established in 1923 by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. Mother Joseph Butler of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary founded the school in 1923. Marymount students and teams are known as the "Sailors." *^

Historical Notes

In the early years, parking on the UCLA campus was not a significant concern.  After World War II, UCLA experienced significant growth, and this growth led to increased demand for parking facilities. This expansion coincided with the post-war boom in car ownership in the United States. To address the growing parking demand, UCLA constructed its first parking structures in the 1950s and 1960s. These multi-level parking garages helped alleviate some of the parking congestion on campus.

Historical Notes

Named for philanthropist Glorya Kaufman, Kaufman Hall was originally UCLA's women's gym. She is the widow of Donald Bruce Kaufman, who co-founded KB Home with Eli Broad in 1957.

The building was eventually remodeled and renovated in 2005 to become the house of UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures as well as dance. Aside from the WAC department, Kaufman Hall also is host to the Kaufman Garden Courtyard, the Kaufman Garden Theater, the Kaufman Hall Dance Theater, and the North pool.

Glorya (Pinkis) Kaufman was born in Detroit, Michigan during the Great Depression. Her father worked as a production manager for Automotive News and her mother volunteered for Jewish charities. Her parents could not afford dancing lessons for her.

In 2009, she donated $20 million to the Los Angeles Music Center to establish the Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance series. She has also donated millions to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Juilliard School in New York City. In 2011, she donated several millions to the University of Southern California for the establishment of the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and the construction of the Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center.*^

Historical Notes

On August 8, 1933, just 14 years after the Los Angeles campus became a part of the University; the Regents authorized graduate training for the M.A. degree and specified a graduate enrollment of 125 students. In the first year, 170 qualified students applied and were enrolled. Graduate enrollment has been climbing ever since.

On May 22, 1936, the Regents extended their authorization to include the Ph.D. degree. At June Commencement two years later, the first Ph.D. degree was awarded to Kenneth P. Bailey, a student in the Department of History. One year earlier, a Ph.D. degree had been conferred at Berkeley on Norman Watson, a student in the Department of Physics who had done much of his graduate research at Los Angeles.**

Historical Notes

Kenny Washington led the nation in total offense and became the first consensus All-American in the history of the school's football program in 1939. He rushed for 1,914 yards in his college career, a school record for 34 years. He was one of four African American players on the 1939 UCLA Bruins football team, the others being Woody Strode, Jackie Robinson and Ray Bartlett. Washington, Strode, and Robinson starred on the 1939 UCLA Bruins football team, in which they made up three of the four backfield players. This was a rarity to have so many African Americans when only a few dozen at all played on college football teams. They played eventual conference and national champion USC to a 0-0 tie with the 1940 Rose Bowl on the line. It was the first UCLA-USC rivalry football game with national implications.*^

Historical Notes

In this 1965 speech at UCLA, Martin Luther King called for students to join a "Domestic Freedom Corps" to work in 120 counties of the Deep South to help increase the number of registered African American voters.*

On October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence. In 1965, he and the SCLC helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches and the following year, he took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include poverty and speak against the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled "Beyond Vietnam".

In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee.

King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986.*^

Historical Notes

From 1967–69, Lew Alcindor played under coach John Wooden, contributing to the team's three-year record of 88 wins and only two losses: one to the University of Houston in which Alcindor had a not fully healed eye injury, and the other to crosstown rival USC who played a "stall game" (i.e., there was no shot clock in those days, so a team could hold the ball as long as it wanted before attempting to score). In his first college game, Lew set a UCLA single game record with 56 points.

The 1965–66 UCLA Bruin team was the preseason #1. But on November 27, 1965, the freshman team led by Alcindor defeated the varsity team 75–60 in the first game in the new Pauley Pavilion.  Alcindor scored 31 points and had 21 rebounds in that game.

During his college career, Alcindor was twice named Player of the Year (1967, 1969); was a three-time First Team All-American (1967–69); played on three NCAA basketball champion teams (1967, 1968, 1969); was honored as the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament (1967, 1968, 1969); and became the first-ever Naismith College Player of the Year in 1969.*^

Historical Notes

Ihe UCLA Bruins have won 125 national championships, including 108 NCAA team championships as of December 2011, more than any other university. UCLA student-athletes have won 214 Olympic medals – 106 gold, 54 silver and 54 bronze. The Bruins have had at least one competitor in every Olympics since 1920 with one exception (1924), and UCLA has won a gold medal in every Olympics since 1932 with the exception of 1980 (boycott).*

Historical Notes

In some cases, the word "legend" is an understatement. That was the case with former UCLA coach John Wooden, winner of 10 national titles in a 12-year stretch. He'd announced his retirement before the 1975 national title game against Kentucky. The 1974 -75 squad was not Wooden's best -- he didn't have Lew Alcindor or Bill Walton -- but the Bruins' 92-85 win in the national title game that year guaranteed a proper sendoff for Wooden. He left the game on top. Few coaches in any sport can match that.*

Historical Notes

After World War II, the architects changed to a less costly and more modern style buildings which still featured red brick. The 1950s and early 1960s saw a building boom that produced more than 60 permanent structures on campus.**

Historical Notes

Westwood and UCLA were developed on the lands of the historic 'Wolfskill Ranch', a 3,000-acre parcel that was purchased by Arthur Letts, the successful founder of the Broadway, and Bullock's department stores, in 1919.*^

Historical Notes

Westwood Village would contain a unique blend of pedestrian and automobile-oriented development.  Wide sidewalks and landscaping were priorities.  Corner buildings would be accessible from both streets and interior courtyards.

Historical Notes

Westwood Village was created by the Janss Investment Company, run by Harold and Edwin Janss and their father, Peter, in the late 1920s as an autonomous shopping district and headquarters of the Janss Company. Its boom was complemented by the boom of UCLA (which selected the Westwood Hills as its new home in 1926), developed as a shopping district not just for the residents of Westwood but also for the university.*^

Historical Notes

In 1911 Harold Janss married Arthur Letts' daughter Gladys. In 1923 after Arthur Letts, Sr. died, leaving control of the 3,300-acre William Wolfskill ranch on Rancho San Jose de Buenos Ayres to Harold and Gladys Janss. Through a three-way deal with the State of California and the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and Beverly Hills, the UCLA campus was built. Janss Investment Company went to work in parallel developing the Westwood Village commercial area and surrounding residential neighborhoods.*^^

Historical Notes

The Janss Dome ranks alongside the white Spanish Revival/Moderne tower of the Fox Theater as an iconic landmark of Westwood Village.

Historical Notes

Back of postcard reads: Westwood is a district 13 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, and includes the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a residential neighborhood, and Westwood Village, a shopping district. Clustered around its central thoroughfare of Westwood Boulevard, the shopping district serves the affluent neighborhoods of Bel Air and Westwood to the north, as well as students from UCLA. ##

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