Picture of Robert Spence

The picture at left is--clearly--a plane crash. It wasn't staged. It was taken at the opening of the Glendale Airport in 1923, and the pilot walked away to fly again and again. He was Joseph B. "Burt" Hill, and in the picture he's standing under the plane's tale, wearing a cap. Click on the picture to make it larger if you can't see him.

Here's how the crash happened, according Hill's son, Joe:

"As my dad was about to land, a little boy ran onto the runway followed by his father, apparently trying to save him. Dad's engine didn't have enough power then for him to pull back up, so he did the next best thing: He shoved the stick forward to hit the runway hard, and bounced over the two people. With not enough runway left after that maneuver, he went into the fence at the end of the runway. I still have the I. D. plate and altimeter from that plane !!"

Joe Hill sent these pictures and told me that story by email. His Dad, Burt Hill, flew for Robert Spence, the aerial photographer whose thousands and thousands of photographs are now housed at UCLA. The collection spans decades, from just after WWI through the 1960s.

Spence and Hill met in the Army Air Corps, at Ellington Field, Texas, according to Joe. This plane, a Curtiss Jenny, was probably the first plane to fly for "Spence Air Photography."

And yes, it was Bob Spence who took that picture.

Robert Spence's stepson told me that he never flew and didn't know how, so I wonder what his role was in the Army Air Corps.

When I wrote an article about Spence Air Photography for Air & Space magazine, I didn't know about Burt Hill's role--and I never would have, if Joe Hill hadn't contacted me. Finding out anything about the person(s) behind Spence Air Photography, a name that shows up on old pictures in textbooks and Chamber of Commerce brochures, was quite a feat. These two adventurers obviously weren't in it for the fame!

As for the second photo, as far as I know that's the only one floating around of Robert Spence, taken around 1938. His wife Daisy is the third from the left. The little boy is Joe Hill himself, and I thank him for letting me share these photos.

Joe says that his father was the pilot for Spence Air Photography in the 1920s, so there's still some mystery left--what other pilots flew with Bob and his camera?

Last Minute Railroad Talk: BNSF

Tonight at the Lomita Railroad Museum, (2137 West 250th Street Lomita, CA 90717, phone(310) 326-6255) there will be a talk by LaDonna DiCamillo of the BNSF Railway Company.

Here's what the email says:

"Hear how BNSF (formerly Burlington Northern & Santa Fe) Railway, the second largest freight railroad network in North America, serves as a major indicator in the U.S. economy, how BNSF is proposing to change how the San Pedro Bay ports connect to the rest of the country, and how railways are going green today and into the future."

The presentation starts at 7 pm, but there will be a reception earlier, at 6:30 pm.

North Long Beach Mosaic

Today's mosaic is in Long Beach, a recent addition to the city's public art. It's located in North Long Beach at Paramount and Artesia Blvd, in front of Paramount Petroleum. The dedication was in December, 2010.

The mosaic--Byzantine glass smalti--sits on a stainless steel sculpture, and is by artist Terry Braunstein, a Long Beach resident. Unfortunately, her website--filled with exquisite examples of her art, sculpture, and photography, has not been updated in several years. so this piece is not mentioned there.

That's Braunstein in the photo, and the photo came from an alumni web page--but I suspect it was originally found in the Long Beach Press Telegram--though it's been archived now.

Here's a statement about the artwork printed at Mosaika's blog--Mosaika being the company that fabricated the piece(s). The picture at left is from that blog as well.

This sculpture depicts workers constructing the future of the world. The work symbolizes the contributions of the largely working class, who live in this area of North Long Beach, and who take great pride in what they produce. These three workers, two men and a woman, are similar to those who work in the petroleum refinery adjacent to this small park. Two people are shown as Diego Rivera figures from the 1930s, when Long Beach began to develop as a city, and one person as a contemporary man.

The project cost $430,000 according to articles in the Signal Tribune and Gazettes.com, and Paramount Petroleum kicked in about a third of that. The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency was responsible for bringing this and other works of public art to the area, but I'm guessing that like most RDAs, that group is no more.

The idea of Long Beach's ethnically diverse population and position as an international port city is also part of the theme.

The LBRDA had big plans for North Long Beach--more art, getting chain restaurants and stores into the area, etc. Perhaps other benefactors can take up the baton?

That Signal Tribune article also says that Paramount Petroleum employees had input in the design of the artwork, which did not include hard hats and harnesses originally. They took photos of how workers would look performing the actual task, and the artist incorporated that into her design.

Terry Braunstein has been featured here before, for her open-book style mosaic in Cerritos, titled "Illumination."

She's also responsible for the enameled disks on pillars along the Blue Line station at Anaheim Street, and for the 15-foot tall sphere honoring the Navy on Queensway. But since those aren't mosaics they won't show up on future Mosaic Monday posts.

But they are lovely nonetheless.

Remembering The Tongva in Santa Fe Springs

Lynn Goodpasture created ten mosaics titled "Remembering the Tongva", now installed at the site of a Tongva village, Chokiishngna. Chokiishngna is Santa Fe Springs, today, and the site has a gated housing development on it.

I posted a map of known Tongva villages in Los Angeles County a while back. Chokiishngna was not on it.

The picture at left is from Lynn Goodpasture's website.

Where did I find the second picture, of the Coastal Live Oak with Woodpeckers? Mosaica, the same foundry in Montreal that has created all of the lovely mosaics on Los Angeles' Expo Line Metro Rail. They are busy up there!  These were fabricated in 2009. And the background was not complete when this picture was taken.

Here's what the artist says about this public art work:

These 10 individual mosaics explore indigenous flora & fauna that were integrated into the Tongva way of life and are still found today in the Los Angeles region. The mosaics are situated at the 5 pedestrian entryways of the Villages at Heritage Springs, Santa Fe Springs. Eleven bronze & opalescent glass lanterns, which coordinate with the mosaics, are located at 3 main driveway entrances. The pedestrian and vehicular gates were designed to complement the mosaics and lanterns. 

To see how these mosaics look mounted, you'll have to go to this page on the artist's website.  The pictures are done in pairs--two pictures of butterflies, two of the woodpeckers, the herons, the marsh wrens in the tules, etc.

At each entrance of the Village complex at Heritage Springs, two almost-matching mosaics sit on either side of iron gate designed to look more like reeds or plant stems, rather than a gate  Five entrances in all. Very lovely.

Death Speaker is available!

I'm going to let Mosaic Monday take a bye this week in favor of a huge announcement:

My new historical novel, Death Speaker, is published and for sale!
It has nothing to do with Los Angeles history.

Nope. It's set in Ancient Gaul, which today is France, Belgium and Switzerland. The action takes place over 2,000 years ago, when Julius Caesar began his Conquest of Gaul--a phrase that is also the English title of Caesar's writings. In fact, first-year Latin students throughout history have been forced to read that book.

My story is told from the point of view of the people Caesar conquered. The Gauls were Celts. Here's a teaser:

Emyn, a Celtic peasant, hears the dead and lets them plunge her into visions. Using her voice, ghosts advise druids and kings, warning them of danger from Caesar and his Roman troops. But can the spirits be trusted any more than the living? Emyn suffers loss, kidnapping and betrayal. Ultimately, she must rely on her own stubborn courage to face her destiny.

You can read the first five chapters at the book's website.

And, of course you can buy the book.

For ebooks--iPad, Nook, Kindle, pdf, etc.--just follow this link to Smashwords.com, where you can download Death Speaker.  Here's a 10% off coupon to thank you for your support: WA75V.

If you'd like a printed book, you can purchase it at CreateSpace  (the link takes you right to it) for $16.00.

If you'd like me to send you a signed book, I'd love that! Just email me, either by leaving a comment on this blog, or by going through the book's website (Deathspeaker.com). I'll ask $3.00 more to cover shipping, so the price will be $19.00.

So enjoy! Even if you don't read historical fiction--with elements of magical realism and romance--chances are you know someone who does, so please tell them about Death Speaker!

Back to the Metro

Comic book art is the theme of the mosaics at the USC Station of our Expo Metro line.

Samuel Rodriquez designed 20 panels, each 8 feet wide, of mosaics in bright colors, all with white silhouettes of bicycle parts over them. Here is his artistic statement about the work, titled Urban Dualities:

“One thing many of us do when using public transportation is travel. Both physically and in our mind’s eye. When we look at something, we may be seeing a face, a light pole, perhaps somebody’s shoe, but simultaneously what happens is a mental picture. To capture the nature of public transportation is to crop different and small moments that form together to tell a story.”

Rodriquez actually lives in Northern California, where he was raised. His studio in San Jose is called Shortyfatz. The name comes from a comic strip he was doing about ten years ago. The picture above and the one below is from that website.

I love this shot of work on the mosaics--it's from The Source Blog, a Metro site, but I suspect it originally came from Mosaika studios in Montreal, where all the Expo line mosaics were assembled:

Long Beach Cemetery

The Palm Cemetery of Long Beach was for the poor people who couldn't afford fancy funerals, or even graves. The land was donated by Jotharn Bixby, and no one is sure how far back it goes.

Where is it now?

According to this article in the Press Telegram, it lies beneath the Forest Lawn Sunnyside Cemetery and Mausoleum, on Cherry Avenue.

The newspaper interviewed librarian Claudine Burnett, who has done extensive research into the final resting places of Long Beach notables. Apparently, only an old groundskeeper at Forest Lawn knew about Palm Cemetery, even though it's mentioned in obituaries dating back to 1918.

Palm Cemetery is probably under the courtyard of the Sunnyside Mausoleum, which was built in 1923. That's it, above. Although it doesn't really look like that at the moment--the courtyard is being redesigned, and will soon include a marker about Palm Cemetery.

Leslie K, thank you for sending me this article!

Peck Park Mosaic Dedication

Last week, the Sea Creatures Mosaic at Peck Park in San Pedro was dedicated. I took this picture from across the pool before the rain really started to come down in earnest and we all got drenched.

If you remember last week Thursday, getting drenched with rain was a lot better than being sweaty and clammy with humidity all day.

Not that the lovely mermaid at right has any problems with being drenched. That blank space near her hip is where the dedication plaque will go.

With the exception of the mermaid--all of the creatures in the mosaic are native to the area.

And...to whom is this mosaic dedicated? Well, since the Girl Scouts of America is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and since several Girl Scout troops helped make tiles for the mosaic (some of them even look like cookies--see this previous post and look at the yellow background), and since artist Julie Bender is a leader in Girl Scouts: the mosaic is dedicated to the Girl Scouts of America.

To the left is artist Julie Bender with Girl Scouts Los Angeles' CEO, Lise L Luttgens. From their smiles you would never know they were getting soaked, would you?

Many local Girl Scout groups, as well as students from Mary Star of the Sea and  other local schools, the Moms from Art to Grow On, as well as a few families, contributed to the mosaic by taking clay from Julie and making the tiles themselves, and coming by on weekends to help with the assembly.

A member of Councilman Buscaino's staff announced that the pool--which was scheduled to close this summer due to budget cuts--will stay open at least through Labor Day.

As I understand it, practically no city money was used for the mosaic. Sadly, Los Angeles--and all California cities--have cut way back on budgeting, even for necessities. Julie said that, with some supplies being donated, the mosaic cost no more than $2500 to install. Her time was  volunteered, not that you could put a price tag on it.

One of the reasons for the dedication ceremony, in fact, was to raise money to pay off that $2500. There was a Silent Auction (unfortunately, all the goods had to go under the table when the rain started), and games, patches, and even several water ballet performances by the Peck Park Pool Synchronized Swim Team.

Tee shirts were for sale too. All in all, a lovely wet evening. And I won't even mention the food...which was kept dry under tents and was delicious.

If you'd like to contribute, I suggest contacting Julie Bender through her website.

Here's one last picture, taken through the rain. By the way, all of these photos are pretty dense and if you want to see more detail, you can just click on each for a larger image.

What does not show up well is how sunlight catches on chips of mirror and glazes--iow, the mosaic sparkles!

Hopefully the pool will stay open and people will be enjoying this for years to come.

Happy Birthday Randy's Donuts & Hollywood Bowl

When I drove by this morning, the sky was not as blue (this picture is from October 2010) and there were birds sitting atop the donut like so many candles. Randy's Donuts, in case you missed the news last night, turned 60 yesterday (July 11, 2012).

And--how cool is this?--July 11, 2012 is the day Marty McFly arrived in the future, at 11:21 AM.

As for the Hollywood Bowl, it opened July 11, 1922, so it's NINETY. Can that be possible? Vintage Los Angeles (on FB) says it's so.

That was the date of the first Symphony Under the Stars, although the Los Angeles Library (where I found this photo) has shots of 50,000 people attending an Easter Sunrise Service earlier in the year. However, none of those pictures show a stage--only the audience.

The place used to be called Bolton Canyon, according to the Bowl's own history pages. Civic-minded folks got together as the Theater Arts Alliance and raised funds to buy 59 acres. They persuaded the LA Philharmonic to play for Easter Sunday services in 1921, and there were also choral performances and Shakespeare plays performed before the Bowl officially opened in 1922.

Los Angeles' Lost Tiffany Mosaics

This is one of three exquisite favrile glass mosaics that graced Los Angeles for sixty years, but which now reside in Oakland. Oakland! Boy, were we asleep at the wheel.

Well, not asleep. But it just shows what can be lost if a community doesn't make a real effort to save its art and history.

These mosaics, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, came through the port of Los Angeles (San Pedro) in the 1920s, to be installed in a new church at 813 Hope Street. Each of the three panels was 17 ft. high and 8 ft. wide. Collectively they are titled "Te Deum Laudamus."

Their home? The First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles. This was called the "Million-Dollar Church" when it opened on July 8, 1923--89 years ago yesterday. Generous donations had helped pay down the debt so that nothing was owed on the building. The three mosaics had been gifted as well, and were each valued at $5000.

At left is a close up of the image above, so you can see some of the colors in greater detail.

The church building was sold and razed in the mid-1980s, and the church offered the panels, through an art conservator, to the Lake Merritt United Methodist Church in Oakland, which was constructing a new church. So L.A. lost these gorgeous Tiffany mosaic panels.

A more complete history and many pictures are at the Lake Merritt church website.

But what happened? Why was the building gutted and demolished?

The church fell on hard times, going from a membership of 6,000 to only 400 in the last decade of its existence, according to a Los Angeles Times article in 1983.

A tweet posted by La Angelena @LAHistory alerted me to this story, and that tweet led to a post by BlogDowntown about the Church's July 8 opening. That post has more details about the actual history of the church & congregation.

Here is a picture of the Los Angeles church just before it was demolished. The sign-carrying protesters wanted to save it, but their efforts were unsuccessful. According to a story in the LAT, what was needed was $100,000 to repair and maintain the church...annually.

And it had never been declared an historical monument, which might have bought it some time.

So, the land was sold and the contents were auctioned off, then the church was demolished. The Times article mentions Tiffany leaded glass windows going for up to $575 (that was the top price). Also sold were big chandeliers, oaken doors, and potted palms.

The photo was taken by James Ruebsamen and is part of the LAPL's Herald Examiner collection.

What's at 813 S. Hope now? Parking lot, I think. Next to Y.A.S. Fitness.