Finding Aid of the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park records
0320
Finding aid prepared by Jacqueline Morin
Processing of this collection was funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and administered by the Council on Library and
Information Resources (CLIR), Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives program.
USC Libraries Special Collections
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California, 90089-0189
213-740-5900
specol@usc.edu
2010
Title: Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park records
Collection number: 0320
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
11.0 linear ft.
11 boxes
Date: 1965-2008
Abstract: The Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park was founded in 1965 to organize public and official awareness and to raise support
to preserve the park land as public open space, and to develop it for recreational activities. The mission and efforts of
this vibrant "grass roots" organization are ongoing, and the Committee will continue to add materials which document its activities.
The collection consists of nine boxes of records dating back to the Committee's early history in the 1960s. It was donated
by the 2004 Board of Directors of the Committee.
creator:
Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park (Los Angeles, Calif.).
creator:
Simons, Grace E.
Biographical Note
This collection chronicles the life of Grace E. Simons almost as much as it does the Committee which she established--at least
the last twenty years of her life. Without Simons' vision and foresight, Elysian Park might look very different today--much
less "park-like."
Grace E. Simons was a journalist who worked for a French news agency in China where she met her husband, Frank Glass, who
was an organizer for the Communist Party. They came to Los Angeles in 1939 where Grace worked as a reporter and editor for
the California Eagle, an African-American newspaper that finally folded in the early 1960s. During an interview for the Eagle,
Simons met Malcolm X who was impressed by Simons' sharp questioning of him concerning his attitude towards women's rights.
It was in the mid-1960s that Simons first became involved in protecting the historic park when the city threatened to take
63 acres for what has become the Convention Center on Figureroa Street. Seeing what had happened with Dodger Stadium, Simons
and a few neighbors banded together to become the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park (CCSEP). Serving as President of
the Committee for many years, Simons led the fight in a series of battles that it won against proposals for an airport, oil
drilling by Occidental Petroleum, an Asian Cultural Center, a child care facility, a restaurant and parking lot on Radio Hill,
and several condominium projects.
The committee experienced its share of losses, among them a move to expand the Los Angeles Police Academy.
In 1979 the Sol Feinstone Environmental Award was conferred upon Simons--one of only five persons to receive the award nationally.
Grace Simons passed away in 1985 at Barlow Hospital, right next to Elysian Park. Her husband, Frank Glass, passed away in
1987. A memorial sculpture to Simons and Glass designed by ceramicist and sculptor Peter Shire was dedicated in 1994 and is
located at Angel's Point in Elysian Park.
Historical Background
Elysian Park is Los Angeles's first and oldest park. It was part of the original 1781 land grant to the pueblo of Los Angeles
from King Carlos III from Spain. The initial 550 acres of Elysian Park were, "...forever dedicated to the public..." in 1886,
and by 1937 had grown to a little over 600 acres. The park is the site of the first Botanical Garden in Southern California.
In the 1880s about 37,000 eucalyptus trees were planted on park land, and in the 1890s the Los Angeles Horticultural Society
began planting many specimens of rare trees including the double row of wild date palms north of Stadium Way. About 67 species
remain of the original plantings.
Elysian Park serves as an enormous backyard for the families who live in nearby neighborhoods such as Echo Park, Boyle Heights,
Lincoln Heights, and Elysian Heights. Notable sites and buildings at or near Elysian Park include the Portola/ Fremont Gate,
Victory Memorial Grove, the Chavez Ravine Arboretum, the Avenue of the Palms, the rock garden at the Police Academy, the Recreation
Center in the Solano Canyon section of the park, Barlow Hospital, tunnels on the Pasadena Freeway, Arroyo Seco Parkway, and
the Buena Vista Reservoir. Trees are regularly purchased and planted in Elysian Park by CCSEP members and friends as loving
memorials to the living and the dead.
Before the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park was formed in 1965, the Pasadena Freeway had already split the park and
Dodger Stadium had been built on part of Chavez Ravine and Elysian Park. When a group of promoters presented a plan to take
the Avenue of the Palms for the Los Angeles Convention Center, the committee organized itself with Grace E. Simons as its
first president. They successfully stopped the development and continued to fight many more battles over the years in an effort
to preserve Elysian Park as a public park and an oasis in the heart of Los Angeles. The CCSEP felt that Elysian Park was essentially
Los Angeles's Central Park or Golden Gate Park, but had historically not been given the same status or protection as its more
famous parks. It was their opinion that the greatest danger to park survival was combined public indifference and special
interest pressures to take park land for non-park purposes. All of the Citizens Committee's volunteer energies were aimed
at arousing public and official awareness of the value of saving public park land and in preserving the section of the Los
Angeles City Charter which reads, "All lands heretofore or hereafter set apart or dedicated as a public park shall forever
remain to the use of the public inviolate..."
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder# or item name], Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park records, Collection no. 0320, Regional History Collection,
Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Conditions Governing Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Scope and Content
The collection documents the activities of the Citizens' Committee to Save Elysian Park from the mid-1960s through the early
2000s. Throughout almost four decades the organization's history, the Committee preserved the records that were generated
through its efforts to preserve Elysian Park. The nine boxes of materials include court transcripts, environmental impact
reports, photographs, correspondence with political figures, media notices, articles, and ephemera related to the topics championed
by the Committee. Subjects included in the records are court cases pertaining to the Police Academy, opposition to the widening
of the Pasadena Freeway, the Department of Water and Power's proposal to take over part of the Buena Vista Reservoir for a
pumping station, the battle to prevent a convention center from being built at the park, issues with Dodger Stadium, etc.
Processing Note
Processing of the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park records was generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,
and administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). USC Libraries was awarded a Cataloging Hidden
Special Collections and Archives grant from 2010-2012, "Uncovering California's Environmental Collections," in collaboration
with eight additional special collections and archival repositories throughout the state and the California Digital Library
(CDL). Grant objectives included processing of over 33 hidden collections related to the state's environment and environmental
history. The collections document an array of important sub-topics such as irrigation, mining, forestry, agriculture, industry,
land use, activism, and research. Together they form a multifaceted picture of the natural world and the way it was probed,
altered, exploited and protected in California over the twentieth century. Finding aids are made available through the Online
Archive of California (OAC).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California. Dept. of Transportation. -- Archives
Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park (Los Angeles, Calif.). -- Archives
Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.). -- Archives
Los Angeles (Calif.). Dept. of Water and Power. -- Archives
Los Angeles Convention Center. -- Archives
Los Angeles Police Academy. -- Archives
Neubauer, Sallie -- Archives
Simons, Grace E. -- Archives
Yorty, Sam, 1909-1998 -- Archives
Chávez Ravine (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Archival resources
Clippings
Correspondence
Echo Park (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Archival resources
Elysian Park (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Archival resources
Ephemera
Maps
Parks--California--Los Angeles
Photographs
Reports
Roads--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources
Tule elk
Uncovering California's Environmental Collections Project
Police Academy
Scope and Content
The Los Angeles Police Department established a Police Academy in Elysian Park in the mid 1920s. What began as a private shooting
range for officers evolved into the LAPD's main training campus. Since the late 1960s, the CCSEP has been involved in several
battles to preserve the Park from the physical expansion of the Police Academy as well as related activities such as terminating
the illegal use of Elysian Park for the training of police helicopter pilots, challenging in court the building of a police
firing simulator range in the park, challenging the building of police classrooms adjacent to the park, etc. This series contains
court transcripts, information on propositions and bonds, environmental impact reports, and ephemera related to the Committee's
involvement with the Police Academy and the LAPD.
Box 1, Folder 3
Proposition U, Proposition BB
1972, 1976
Box 1, Folder 5-6
Proposition U -Miscellaneous
1971-1972
Box 1, Folder 8
Proposed Charter Amendment
1972
Box 1, Folder 9
C 38034 -Charter Amendment
1972
Box 1, Folder 10
Relocation of Police Academy
1972
Box 1, Folder 11
Firearms Training Simulator
1976
Box 1, Folder 12
Firearms Training Simulator -Appeal
1976
Box 1, Folder 13
Firearms Training Simulator Building (CPC 8404)
1975-1976
Box 1, Folder 14
Grand Jury Final Report
1992-1993
Box 1, Folder 15
C 44053 -Reporter's Transcript on Appeal
1975
Box 1, Folder 16
C 44053 -Clerk's Transcript, Vol. I
1976
Box 1, Folder 17
C 44053 (Nullify Proposition U)
1972-1976
Box 1, Folder 19
C 55571, CPC 8404 -Appeals Against
1973
Box 1, Folder 21-22
2nd Civil 48044 (C 44053)
1976
Box 2, Folder 3
2nd Civil 55574 (C 217020)
1979
Box 2, Folder 6
City Plan Case #8404 + C 55571
Box 2, Folder 9-11
CPC 24046 (Conditional Use Permit)
1972
Box 2, Folder 12
CPC 25626 (Conditional Use Permit) -Transcript
1977
Box 2, Folder 13
CPC 29725 (Explosives Stored Near Park)
1981
Box 2, Folder 14
Notes and Clippings
1972-1976
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Reports
Box 2, Folder 15
Police Training Facility
1972
Box 2, Folder 16
Gift for Relocatable Police Training Facility
1973
Box 2, Folder 18-19
Combined LAPD & LACSD Training Facility
Box 2, Folder 26
New Construction
1991-1994
Box 2, Folder 28
Police Facilities Study
1996
Box 3, Folder 1
Traffic and Parking Study -Draft
1992
Box 3, Folder 2-3
Training Academy Summary of Resources
1991
Environmental Impact Reports
Box 3, Folder 8
Police Bond Program - Draft
1992
Box 3, Folder 9-10
Police Bond Program - Police Training Academy - Draft
1992
Box 3, Folder 11-13
Police Bond Program - Police Training Academy - Final
1993
Box 3, Folder 14
Noise Impact Assessment
1992
Roads and Highways
Scope and Content
This series chiefly concerns CCSEP's objection to a proposal to take away parkland for the widening of the Pasadena Freeway
between the Golden State Freeway and Hill Street. The plan would require demolition of natural landscape as well as an eight-foot
wide walkway which runs parallel to the freeway with several stairways. The series contains petitions, court documents, correspondence,
and ephemera regarding the freeway-widening proposal and tree-planting issues.
Box 3, Folder 15
Industrial Freeway
1966-1971
Box 3, Folder 16-21
Caltrans 110 Freeway Widening Project
1994-1999
Box 4, Folder 1-5
Caltrans 110 Freeway Widening Project
1999
Box 4, Folder 6
Route 2 (Beverly Hills Freeway)
1972
Box 4, Folder 7
Stadium Way Extension
1966 - 1978
Box 4, Folder 8
Stadium Way Extension
1966 -1978
Box 4, Folder 9
Stadium Way Extension
1966 - 1967
Box 4, Folder 10
Stadium Way Extension
1966 -1969
Box 4, Folder 11
Stadium Way Extension
1966 -1998
Dept. of Water and Power
Scope and Content
Beginning in the 1980s, the CCSEP began a decades-long battle with the Department of Water and Power (DWP) over several issues
documented in this series. One was the DWP's proposal to cover up the 55-million gallon Elysian Reservoir with an aluminum
roof as part of a water quality improvement project. The series consists of environmental impact reports, petitions, and court
documents related to the reservoir roof project, as well as documents concerning the DWP's proposal to take over a portion
of the former Buena Vista reservoir site for a pumping and chlorination station.
Buena Vista Pumping Station
Box 4, Folder 12
Project Background
1972-1984
Box 4, Folder 14
Environmental Impact Report - Notice of preparation
1981 -1982
Box 4, Folder 15
Environmental Impact Report - Draft
1983
Box 4, Folder 16-18
Environmental Impact Report - Final
1983
Box 4, Folder 19
Articles and Letters
1985
Box 4, Folder 20
G.G. Baumen Law Offices
1984
Box 5, Folder 6-8
Reservior Roof Project
1983-1990
Box 5, Folder 9
Solano Canyon Redevelopment
1985
Oil Lease
Scope and Content
While the CCSEP was challenging the building of a convention center in Elysian Park, they were also opposing the leasing of
77 acres of park land for oil exploration by Occidental Petroleum. In a 1965 petition to City Council (Box 5), Grace E. Simons
(for CCSEP) compared the plight of Elysian Park to that of other parks which had suffered from recent development such as
Hancock Park with the erection of L.A. County's art museum. A copy of the oil lease is also in this box along with the Superior
Court document of the lawsuit between Grace E. Simons et al, and the City of Los Angeles, Occidental Petroleum, and a host
of individuals and government entities. The result of the litigation process was that Occidental Petroleum cancelled its plans
to drill for oil in the park. The four folders in this series consist of the court documents, correspondence, and ephemera
related to this case.
Box 5, Folder 10
Correspondence
1965 - 1966
Convention Center and Oil Lease
Scope and Content
In 1965 and 1966, the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park were fighting two battles simultaneously: the city's proposal
to build a convention center on park land, and the plans by Occidental Petroleum to drill for oil. This series contains ephemera,
newsletters, and signed petitions regarding both issues at the same time.
Convention Center
Scope and Content
This series documents the newly-formed CCSEP's efforts to block the City Council's proposal to build a new Los Angeles Convention
Center in the heart of Elysian Park near the corner of Stadium Way and Scott Avenue. The plan, backed by then-Mayor Sam Yorty,
would have cost $10 million dollars and taken away 63 acres of the park-- in addition to contributing to the noise and congestion
already supplied by nearby Dodger Stadium. The CCSEP rallied public support by mailing letters to City Hall, publicizing the
plight of the park in the media, and receivng a visit from Supreme Court Justice William Douglas who urged his support for
retaining the site for recreation. In August of 1966, the CCSEP claimed victory, and the City selected 31 acres at Pico and
Figueroa as the convention center's new home. Contained in this series are sixteen folders of letters, legal documents, petitions,
press clippings, and other papers related to the proposed building of the convention center in Elysian Park. There is some
overlap of issues and types of materials with the preceding series which also deals with the oil lease battle.
Box 5, Folder 16
Diane Schroerwke's Letter to City Council Members
1965
Box 5, Folder 28
Letters Of Appeal
1965-1966
Box 5, Folder 29
Speaker Statements and Resolutions
1965
Box 5, Folder 30
Summary Report on Proposal
1965
Charter Amendment
Scope and Content
The five files in this series document the Committee's battle to defeat several amendments between 1969 and 1977 that would
revise L.A.'s city charter and centralize power in the City Council. Beginning in 1969, the CCSEP opposed a ballot measure
that would (1) place independent city departments under the control of the Council and the Mayor; and (2) reduce the commissions
from policy-making to advisory bodies. The fear was that Elysian Park and other parks and recreation areas would no longer
be protected by the charter and would be demoted to the status of "surplus land." The series contains correspondence, clippings,
ephemera on various ballot measures ("no on 4," no on "U," "no on 1," etc.), and articles.
Chavez Ravine
Scope and Content
The two folders in this series contain information on the Chavez Ravine Arboretum and the proposal for the Chavez Ravine Memorial
project. The folder on the arboretum has information on the trees in Elysian Park as well as a short history of the arboretum.
The folder on the proposed memorial has a color print-out of Stephen Farley's proposed memorial and a videotape sent to Sallie
Neubauer (2000) from Sherilyn Mentes regarding a similar memorial wall in Tucson.
Day Care Center
Scope and Content
The three folders that comprise this series contain information regarding the proposed plan to convert the Elysian Park Recreation
Center into a child care center administered by the Board of Education. The CCSEP asked that the Board rescind its decision
to make available the Center as a day care center for children of City employees, inasmuch as neighborhood children--many
of whom having working mothers and are members of minority races-- would be excluded. The materials in this series consist
of much correspondence between Grace E. Simons and city council members and other relevant entities, articles, and newsletters.
Box 6, Folder 8-10
Miscellaneous
1971 - 1972
Dodger Stadium
Scope and Content
This series consists of agreements, payment schedules, and memorandums between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the city of Los
Angeles regarding the transfer of 300 acres of park land for the stadium in 1959, and subsequent agreements related to a 40-acre
parcel adjacent to Dodger Stadium which the Dodgers later turned into a parking lot.
Irrigation
Scope and Content
This series concerns the topic of an irrigation system in Elysian Park and the necessity of budgeting funds for it. Much of
the material in this series consists of correspondence between Grace E. Simons and various local officials and councilmen,
newsletters, articles, and newspaper clippings of fires in the area.
Stolport
1969
Scope and Content
This series documents the Committee's successful efforts to prevent a STOLport (Short-Takeoff-and-Landing) from being built
at or near Elysian Park. Materials include correspondence among and between CCSEP and the organizations involved in the proposal
of the STOLport including the Federal Aviation Administration, the 13th district Councilman, then-councilman Thomas Bradley,
the Board of Recreation and Parks commissioners, the Los Angeles Police Department, and an acoustical engineer. This series
also documents a related topic from around the same time period: the LAPD's plans for a heliport for the training of police
helicopter pilots. In their research into both of these projects, the CCSEP kept a large file of correspondence and articles
just on noise pollution, also part of this series.
Proposition A Funding
1988-1993
Scope and Content
This small series concerns Proposition A, the Safe Neighborhood Park Acts of 1992 for the acquisition of various properties
and grants to non-profit organizations throughout Los Angeles County. The CCSEP was in support of the Santa Monica Mountains
Conservancy's efforts to apply for funding for several different projects including enhancing land along the Los Angeles River.
Part of the funds would go towards developing a connecting trail between the historic Pueblo de Los Angeles, Elysian, and
Griffith Parks-- a route that most likely was traced by explorers Portola and de Anza. Materials include correspondence, memorandums,
articles, and a proposal coordinated by the National Park Service titled,
The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. Original letters of support include those of County Board of Supervisors Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, Gloria Molina, and Michael
D. Antonovich.
Box 6, Folder 19
De Anza Trail
1988 - 1989
Box 6, Folder 20
De Anza Trail
1988 - 1989
Tule Elk
Scope and Content
The two folders of this series contain newsletters, correspondence, and ephemera concerning the tule elk, including correspondence
from the Committee for the Preservation of the Tule Elk. There is a good deal of information conerning a joint resolution
to establish the Tule Elk National Wildlife Refuge. The goal was to raise the number of Tule Elk in the Owens Valley to 2000
(from around 300) and to "enhance the recreational opportunities of the area which are compatible with pure water and watershed
protection." Materials consist of correspondence, articles, reports, and ephemera.
Elysian Park Centennial
1986
Scope and Content
The four files in this series document the activities surrounding Elysian Park's centennial celebration in 1986. A Centennial
Committee was formed in 1984; its minutes, correspondence, and notes of proposed activities were saved and comprise the first
folder. Other materials in this series consist of publicity materials, historical articles on Elysian Park, correspondence
with the artist of the brochures, and samples of the brochure, and information on the 1986 Firecracker 10K Run through Chinatown.
Box 7, Folder 1
Centennial Committee
1986
Box 7, Folder 2
Publicity and Brochures
1986
Box 7, Folder 3
Firecracker 10K Run (Chinatown)
1986
Public Events
Scope and Content
This series consists of ephemera related to various CCSEP events, such as the annual Tree Dedication and Planting. Each fall,
CCSEP members and friends, in cooperation with the Los Angeles City Recreation and Parks Department, purchase and plant trees
as memorials to the living and dead. Photographs of the events are in the Photographs series.
Box 7, Folder 5
That Was the Park That Was
1966
Box 7, Folder 6
Tree Plantings and Dedications
Miscellaneous
Scope and Content
This series consists of specific topics for which CCSEP kept individual files such as the Firecracker 10K run through Chinatown
(for Chinese New Year), the Soledad Canyon Sculpture Garden Project, a file on Elysian Park history, the Grace E. Simons Lodge,
etc. Series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Box 7, Folder 10
Community Planning Flow Chart
Box 7, Folder 11
Elysian Park History and Maps
Box 7, Folder 12
Firecracker 10K Run (Chinatown)
Box 7, Folder 15
Grace E. Simons Memorial Service and Eulogies
Box 7, Folder 16
Peter Shire Memorial to Grace E. Simons and Frank Glass, Angel's Point
Box 7, Folder 18
Los Angeles County Drainage Area Project
1993
Box 7, Folder 19
Los Angeles Public Library
Box 7, Folder 21
Soland Canyon Sculpture Garden Project
1999
Box 7, Folder 23
Sunset Lane Magazine Article
1965
Box 7, Folder 27
KNX / KNXT Editorials
1965 - 1966
Box 7, Folder 28
Newspaper Articles - Photocopies
1965 - 1972
Box 7, Folder 30
Press Clippings - Mostly Convention Center
Box 7, Folder 33
Press Releases
1965-1966
Scope and Content
The eleven folders in this series contain newspaper clippings, press releases, speeches, newsletters, and ephemera publicizing
the concerns and activities of the CCSEP. Though the CCSEP Newsletter is represented all the way to 2002, the bulk of these
materials date to the 1960s and 1970s. The CCSEP Newsletter is possibly the best overall instrument in the collection for
studying the history of the CCSEP over time, as there is a fairly complete run of it from the mid-1960s to 2002 and it is
all together in one folder, in chronological order. Another file of interest is that of the KNX and KNXT editorials-- copies
of the broadcasts primarily from 1965 and 1966 when there was much public debate regarding the erection of a convention center
in Elysian Park.
Clippings
Scope and Content
This series consists solely of newspaper clippings, primarily on two different topics. One folder--and the bulk of the series--contains
dozens of newspaper clippings from the Los Angeles Times having to do with the 1965 Los Angeles riots in Watts. It is not
clear why this particular file was saved with the CCSEP records, except that the topic evidently was of much interest to Grace
Simons, who was the keeper of all the Committee's records until her death.
The other major topic represented in the clippings is the two fires that consumed approximately 300 acres of Elysian Park
in the Buena Vista Reservoir area in 1981. There is only one newspaper story included in the file, along with a typed report
of the fire prepared by Richard Ginevan, Chief Park Maintenance Supervisor, and a photostat of a "fire progress report" from
September of that year. Because these items were kept together in their own folder, separate from other clippings, they were
left that way in the processing of the collection.
The clippings file from the 1970s contains a few articles on issues very relevant to the concerns of the CCSEP: the Police
Academy's presence in the Park, Mayor Sam Yorty vetoing a ban on oil drilling, etc.
The one clipping in the 1990s file is a "letter to the editor" (Los Angeles Times) from Sallie Neubauer, president of CCSEP
at the time, concerning the issue of building an NFL stadium in Elysian Park.
Box 8, Folder 3-4
Various
September-October, 1965
Correspondence
Scope and Content
This series contains correspondence, chiefly from the 1960s, but also including up to 2000.
There is a folder of correspondence to and from Paul Bruce Dowling, executive director of the America the Beautiful Fund (1969).
The bulk of the series consists of correspondence between the CCSEP and other indiduals, organizations, and government entities
on a variety of issues including fund-raising, the convention center proposal, membership, etc.
Publications
Scope and Content
This series consists of 23 folders of published materials-- magazines, serials, annual reports, booklets, and small flyers
and leaflets. Several items are directly related to Elysian Park, such as the
Sunset magazine from September 1965 with its article,
The Forgotten Forest Retreat Right in Central L.A. or the
California History Magazine's
Where the Brake Fern Grows-- L.A.'s Elysian Park. Other publications are related to issues concerning the Park and the CCSEP such as
Quality on Tap, a customer publication put out by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Box 8, Folder 10
Annual Report - Board of Park Commissioners, City of Los Angeles
1931
Box 8, Folder 11
Annual Report - Board of Park Commissioners, City of Los Angeles
1933
Box 8, Folder 12
California History, The Magazine of the California Historical Society
Fall 1983
Box 8, Folder 13
Cornell, Bridgers, and Troller A.S.L.A
Box 8, Folder 14
Cry California - The Journal of California Tomorrow
Winter 1965 - 1966
Box 8, Folder 15
Cry California - The Journal of California Tomorrow
Winter 1965 -1966
Box 8, Folder 16
Cry California - The Journal of California Tomorrow
Summer 1967
Box 8, Folder 17
Cry California - The Journal of California Tomorrow
Spring 1970
Box 8, Folder 18
Elysian Park Memorial Tree Plantings
Box 8, Folder 19
Elysian Park Must Be Saved For the People
Box 8, Folder 20
Geology of the Elysian Park - Repetto Hills Area, L.A. County, California
1970
Box 8, Folder 21
The Park That Was Preserved
1967
Box 8, Folder 22
Proposed Public Ownership Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
May 1979
Box 8, Folder 24
Recreation and Parks, City of Los Angeles, Annual Report
1963 - 1964
Box 8, Folder 25
Recreation and Parks in Los Angeles
March, 1966
Box 8, Folder 26
Safeguarding a Vital Asset
Box 8, Folder 27
Sunset Magazine
September, 1965
Box 8, Folder 28
Water for Los Angeles
1988
Box 8, Folder 29
Water, Power, and the Growth of Los Angeles
1988
Box 8, Folder 30-31
Flyers, Leaflets, and Pamphlets
Awards
Scope and Content
This series is comprised of actual awards and certificates as well as press coverage and other papers regarding the awards.
One of the awards conferred upon Grace E. Simons in 1979 was the Sol Feinstone Environmental Award, presented annually by
the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Other awards which Simons received which are
included in the collection are the Governor's Design Award of Exceptional Distinction (1966), a certificate of recognition
from the Echo Park Community Coordinating Council (1983), a community leadership award from KABC-TV (undated), and an Honor
Award from the California Conservation Council (1969).
Administration of CCSEP
Scope and Content
This series is comprised of the files kept by the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park, including financial records, membership
lists, meeting minutes, etc. See collection inventory for more comprehensive list of types of materials kept.
Box 8, Folder 42
Financial (Ledgers)
1965 - 1976
Box 9, Folder 1
Meetings and Hearings, Telephone Lists
1965
Box 9, Folder 7-8
Meeting Minutes
1973 - 1982
Box 9, Folder 9-10
Steering Committee Minutes
1979 - 1998
Photographs
Scope and Content
The Photographs series consists of a few professional photographs, but chiefly candid snapshots of Elysian Park activities,
events, and people. Most of the photographs are undated and unlabeled, though some attempt was made to group "like" photos
together based on location or estimated age of photo. There are a few slides and negatives included at the end of the series.
Box 9, Folder 17-18
Buena Vista Pumping Station
Box 9, Folder 19
Buena Vista Resevoir
1974
Box 9, Folder 20-21
Caltrans 110 Freeway Expansion Lawsuit
Box 9, Folder 27
Dedication of Grace E. Simons Lodge
Box 9, Folder 28
DWP Illegal Slurry BV Meadows
Box 9, Folder 29
Elysian Park Centennial
1986
Box 9, Folder 39
Photo Journalism by Joe Stermer
Box 9, Folder 40
Police Academy (Open House)
1973
Box 9, Folder 41
Police Academy (Little League)
1974
Box 10
Elysian Park Lodge Drawings
1978
Scope and Content
Four architectural drawings for the new Elysian Park lodge (later named Grace E. Simons Lodge), by Abrahamian & Pagliassotti.
Box 10
Project Description of Lodge
1978
Scope and Content
One-page project description of the new lodge described on stationery of Abrahamian & Pagliassotti.
Box 10
Memorandum
1978
Scope and Content
Memorandum to Grace [E. Simons] from Allen Habicht regarding schematic plans for the new lodge.
Box 10
Stone Quarry Hills Maps
1868
Scope and Content
Photocopy of 1868 map of Stone Quarry Hills, stamped by the city clerk in 1918. Also, the photocopy from which this photocopy
was made-- by taping together several 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper, as the map was copied in sections.
Box 10
Los Angeles Map
1887
Scope and Content
Photocopy of a map of Los Angeles, showing Elysian Park.
Box 10
Ordinance
Scope and Content
Photocopy of an 1886 ordinance dedicating Elysian Park as a public park.
Box 10
Park in Quarry Hills
1886
Scope and Content
Photocopy of a recommendation by the Committee on Parks that the park in Quarry Hills be known as Elysian Park and that $200
be spent on plowing and planting of trees.
Box 11
Season's Greetings Drawings
1973-1975
Scope and Content
Two large drawings with the caption of "Season's Greetings"-- one for 1973-1974 and one for 1974-1975. One is a drawing of
a church and canal in Leningrad; the other is described as "Imrpression Manaznillo, Mexico." Both say, "From A. Quincy Jones,
FAIA, & Associates, Architects."
Box 11
Elysian Park Map
1917
Scope and Content
Large photocopy of a map of Elysian Park, 1917.
Box 11
Elysian Park Map
1931
Scope and Content
Photocopy of a map of Elysian Park, 1931.
