Title: Peter Aguilar Despart Papers

Dates: 1930-1994

Collection Number: GC 1393

Creator/Collector:

Extent: (Boxes: 2 letter; 1 flat ov)

Repository: Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Abstract: Photographs, letters, clippings, ephemera, commendations and documents in original, copy, and digitized format. Also research print-outs compiled by the donor. Papers relate to a Mexican circus; Despart's local restaurant businesses; his military service in World War II and the Korean War; his association with several Japanese American friends during WWII; his affiliation in founding the American Legion Post 804 in East Los Angeles, California; his political career and civilian career at the Department of Water and Power. There are some minor references to the Hollywood motion picture industry. The collection strongly resonate his lifelong involvement with sports and team athletics that took place at many well-known southern California venues and in Mexico. 1930-1994, undated

Language of Material: English

Research is by appointment only

Permission to publish, quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder

[Identification of item]. Peter Aguilar Despart Papers. Collection Number: GC 1393. Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Despart (1906-1997) was an Angeleno of Sicilian/Mexican heritage. He was a descendant of Los Angeles Mayor Cristobal Aguilar. He was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War.

Photographs, letters, clippings, ephemera, commendations and documents in original, copy, and digitized format. Also research print-outs compiled by the donor. Papers relate to a Mexican circus; Despart's local restaurant businesses; his military service in World War II and the Korean War; his association with several Japanese American friends during WWII; his affiliation in founding the American Legion Post 804 in East Los Angeles, California; his political career and civilian career at the Department of Water and Power. There are some minor references to the Hollywood motion picture industry. The collection strongly resonate his lifelong involvement with sports and team athletics that took place at many well-known southern California venues and in Mexico. 1930-1994, undated The papers document his World War II military service following his notoriety as the first Mexican American draft pick by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1940 after enactment of a peacetime draft law called the Selective Training and Service Act; his service at Camp Haan in Riverside County, California; his association with his Japanese American friends, the Wagatsuma's, who were interned at the Manzanar War Relocation Center during WWII; his involvement with a Japanese children's orphanage in Korea and his time in Sendai, Japan, during the Korean War which he volunteered to serve; after the war his founding of American Legion Post 804 in 1954 named in memory of Eugene A. Obregon in East Los Angeles, California; his run for elected office as a local Assemblyman; and his civilian career at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. There are several copy and digitized letters written to him by his friends, the Wagatsuma's, as they were settling in to their surroundings at Manzanar, and they were in need of favors from the outside enlisting the help of Despart. Digitized business documents for their two businesseses that Despart took care of in their absence: a barber shop and pool hall located at First and Alameda Streets. Two original wartime letters from Private George Tanaka to his friend Despart written in the summer of 1942 and a 1942 Christmas card from the same. There are minor references to the Hollywood motion picture industry: he was a stunt double for actor Gilbert Roland; director Frank Capra grew up in his neighborhood. The collection strongly resonate his lifelong involvement with sports and team athletics. He was a youthful performer in the Escalante circus; he organized a track and field program based at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California. The USA-Mexico Athletic Exchange Program, later known as the Mt. San Antonio College Relays, emphasized U.S., Mexico and international athletic activities to promote goodwill. He served as a Mexican delegate for California in the Mexican Athletic Confederation (Confederacion Deportiva Mexicana); this culminated in his participation in the 1968 Summer Olympics. The variety of sports promoted include baseball, basketball, boxing, soccer, softball, and track and field, through youth programs such as neigborhood little leagues. Sporting events took place at well-known southern California venues including East Los Angeles College, Gilmore Field, the Los Angeles Athletic Club, the Olympic Auditorium, and Wrigley Field. Despart organized a combined track and field and Cinco de Mayo festival in 1941 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Documented are baseball team activities during wartime in WWII and the Korean War. Also documented are sports trips to Mexico City and other cities in Mexico.