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Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
  • Provenance/Source of Acquisition
  • Preferred Citation
  • Processing Information
  • UCLA Catalog Record ID
  • Biography
  • Biographical Narrative
  • Chronology
  • Scope and Content
  • Organization and Arrangement
  • Related Material

  • Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
    Title: S. Charles Lee papers
    Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1384
    Physical Description: 14.0 Linear Feet (28 boxes and 114 oversize boxes)
    Date (inclusive): 1919-1962
    Abstract: S. Charles Lee (1899-1990) graduated from Technical College, Chicago in 1918 and the Armour Institute of Technology in 1921. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1922 where he designed numerous theaters and office buildings (1927-40), developed the Los Angeles International Industrial District (1948) and built several theaters in Mexico City (1942). The Collection contains drawings, renderings, blueprints, photographs, and surveys relating to Lee's professional career including his work as a developer and the most prolific architect of art deco movie palaces in Los Angeles.
    Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
    Language of Material: Materials are in English.

    Conditions Governing Access

    Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

    Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

    Copyright to portions of this collection has been assigned to the UCLA Library Special Collections. The library can grant permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to Library Special Collections. Credit shall be given as follows: The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
    • S. Charles Lee bequest, 1990
    • Gift of George E. Keiter, 1990 and 1995

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], S. Charles Lee Papers (Collection 1384). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

    Processing Information

    Processed by Maggie Valentine, 1986.
    Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
    We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections. 

    UCLA Catalog Record ID

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 9942332863606533 

    Biography

    S. Charles Lee was born in Chicago on September 5, 1899; graduated, Technical College, Chicago, 1918; senior architect, South Park Board, City of Chicago, 1918; U.S. Navy, 1918-20; graduated, Armour Institute of Technology, Art Institute of Chicago, 1921; moved to Los Angeles, 1921; opened architectural office, Los Angeles, 1922; designed and built Tower Theatre (1927), Fox Wilshire Theatre and Los Angeles Theatre (1929), Max Factor buildings, Hollywood (1931-35), Fox Florence Theatre (1931), Municipal Light, Water and Power Buildings, Los Angeles (1934-35), Bruin Theatre (1937), Tower Bowl, San Diego (1940), and built several theaters in Mexico City (1942); honored by Royal Institute of British Architects at International Exhibit of Contemporary Architects, London, 1934; began partnership with Sam Hayden, 1948; began development of Los Angeles International Airport Industrial District, 1948; established S. Charles Lee Foundation, 1962; named Vice Consul to Beverly Hills! by President of Panama, 1963; established S. Charles Lee Chair, UCLA Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, 1986; died in 1990.

    Biographical Narrative

    Born Simeon Charles Levi in Chicago in 1899, Lee was the son of American-born parents of German-Jewish ancestry, Julius and Hattie (Stiller) Levi. Lee (who later changed his name from Levi) grew up in the Chicago of Daniel Burnham, Louis Sullivan, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Lee's own favorite building was Sullivan's Carson Pirie Scott Department Store. He also grew up with the evolving motion picture; he went to vaudeville theatres, nickolodeons,and early movie houses. A tinkerer interested in mechanical things, Lee built three motorcars as a teenager.
    His interest in mechanics took him to Lake Technical High School in Chicago. He started out in architecture in 1915 by working after school in the office of Chicago architect Henry Newhouse, a family friend. Newhouse specialized in theatre design: small motion picture houses, nickolodeons and remodeling storefronts into theatres. After graduation in 1916, Lee attended Chicago Technical College, graduating with honors in 1918. His first job was as architect for the South Park Board of the City of Chicago. During World War I he enlisted in the Navy. After his discharge in 1920, he entered the Armour Institute of Technology to study architecture. The course followed the principles of the Ecole des Beaux Arts and this training is reflected in the composition and imagery of his later drawings. It is also reflected in his own emphasis on the plan as the driving force of the design. This practical approach would serve him well in his many commercial designs.
    Other influences on the young architect were Sullivan's lectures in his architecture classes and Wright's work, particularly Midway Gardens and Wright's house and studio in Oak Park. Lee was also impressed by the 1922 Chicago Tribune tower competition, which juxtaposed historicism with modernism. Lee considered himself a modernist, and his career revealed both the Beaux Arts discipline and emphasis on planning and the modernist functionalism and freedom of form (Valentine, p.32). He was also a pragmatist, designing his buildings to support and enhance the commercial ventures they housed.
    Scheid
    3/13/2000

    Chronology

    1899 Born Chicago, Illinois.
    1914 Built full-scale gas-powered automobile.
    1915 Licensed radio operator.
    [191_] Graduated Technical College, Chicago, with honors.
    1918 Senior architect, South Park Board, City of Chicago.
    1918-20 Served United States Navy, Great Lakes Training Station.
    1921 Graduated Armour Institute of Technology, Art Institute, Chicago.
    [192_] Worked in office of Rapp and Rapp, Chicago.
    1921 Came to Los Angeles.
    Licensed by State of Illinois to practice architecture.
    1922 Opened architectural office in Los Angeles.
    1920s Designed and built houses, apartment buildings, hotels.
    1927 Married Miriam (Midge) Zelda Aisenstein, Los Angeles.
    Designed and built Tower Theatre, Los Angeles.
    1928 Daughter Constance born, Los Angeles.
    Designed and built Hollywood-Western Building for Motion Picture Producers Association, Hollywood.
    1929 Designed and built Fox Wilshire Theatre, Beverly Hills.
    Designed and built Los Angeles Theatre, Los Angeles.
    1931 Designed and built Fox Florence Theatre, Beverly Hills.
    1931-35 Designed and built Max Factor Buildings, Hollywood.
    1930s Designed dozens of commercial buildings and remodellings.
    1934 Honored by Royal Institute of British Architects at International Exhibit of Contemporary Architects, London.
    1934-35 Designed and built Municipal Light, Water and Power Buildings, Los Angeles.
    1935 Licensed airplane pilot.
    1935-50 Designed and built scores of small theatres throughout California and elsewhere in United States.
    1937 Designed and built Bruin Theatre, Los Angeles.
    1939 Designed and built Academy Theatre, Inglewood.
    1940 Designed and built Twoer Bowl, San Diego.
    1942 Built several theatres, Mexico City.
    1948 Began partnership with Sam Hayden.
    Began development of International Airport Industrial District.
    1948-50s Built dozens of small factories throughout Los Angeles.
    1959 Began serving on Board of Directors, Braille Institute (treasurer).
    1960 Wife died, Los Angeles.
    1962 Established S. Charles Lee Foundation.
    1963 Named Vice Consul to Beverly Hills by President of Panama.
    1966 Married Hylda Moss, Buenos Aires.
    1968 Received Presidential Medal, Order of Vasco Nuñez Balboa, Panama's highest order of merit.
    1974 Named Consul to Beverly Hills from Panama.
    1986 Established S. Charles Lee Chair, UCLA Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Los Angeles.
    Sources:
    • Biography of S. Charles Lee issued by Mr. Lee's office; John M. Grenner, Ed.D.
    • Interview with Mr. Lee, December 14, 1984
    • Men of California 1925-26
    • S. Charles Lee Collection, UCLA
    • Maggie Valentine, Conversations with Mr. Lee, 1984-86

    Scope and Content

    Collection contains drawings, renderings, blueprints, photographs, and surveys relating to the professional career of architect S. Charles Lee. Most of the collection reflects his work as a developer and the most prolific architect of art deco movie palaces in Los Angeles.

    Organization and Arrangement

    Arranged in the following series:
    1. Photographs (14 Boxes).
    2. Surveys (7 Boxes).
    3. Negatives (7 Boxes).
    4. Blueprints (114 Oversize boxes)
    5. Drawings, plans, renderings (172 Oversize folders).
    Arranged alphabetically by client and project name.

    Related Material

    The Show Started on the Sidewalk [oral history transcript] / S. Charles Lee, interviewee.   UCLA Oral History Department interview, 1985-86. Available at UCLA Library Special Collections.
    The following oral histories are available through the UCLA Library Center for Oral History Research:

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Architectural drawings (visual works).
    Motion picture theaters -- Design and construction.
    Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- California.
    Architects -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archives
    Blueprints.
    Photographs.