Charles Fletcher Lummis Memorial Association Collection, 1912-1980

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Summary

Title:
Charles Fletcher Lummis Memorial Association Collection
Dates:
1912-1980
Creators:
Dudley, Gordon, Warren, Althea H. (Althea Hester), 1886-1958, and Noel, Jean Pascol
Abstract:
The Charles Fletcher Lummis Memorial Association (CFLMA) was founded in 1939 with the goal to preserve the memory of Charles Lummis and protect the home called "El Alisal" that he built on the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena, California. The CFLMA Collection contains the papers of Althea Warren and Dudley Gordon (past Presidents of the CFLMA), Jean Noel (past Secretary) and other volunteers. Materials include administrative records and correspondence, meeting notes, written historical accounts about El Alisal, blueprints, and ephemera related to the CFLMA's activities from 1939-1980.
Extent:
.5 Linear Feet 1 document box and 2 oversize folders
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Charles Fletcher Lummis Memorial Association Papers, 1912-1980, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.90; [folder number] [folder title][date].

Background

Scope and content:

The CFLMA Collection contains business correspondence, administrative papers, meeting notes, historical notes, draft manuscripts, copies of formal agreements, blueprints, and ephemera related to Charles Fletcher Lummis and preserving and maintaining the home he built along the Arroyo Seco, called "El Alisal," as an historic monument. Notable among the files are communications between the CFLMA, the State of California, the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, and the Southwest Museum that negotiate the terms of the purchase and subsequent lease of the property, the establishment of the property as an historic monument, and the acquisition of funds to maintain the property and make it accessible to the public (1939-1970). The materials included within the collection were created or collected by former CFLMA officers such as President Althea Warren, President Dudley Gordon, Secretary Jean (Mrs. Francis) Noel, and other CFLMA members. The collection also includes historical information about the construction of, and activities at, El Alisal.

Biographical / historical:

The Charles Fletcher Lummis Memorial Association (CFLMA) was founded in 1939 with the goal of preserving the self-built, Craftsman-style stone home of Charles Lummis, called "El Alisal" or "Place of the Sycamore." Charles Lummis built his unique home along the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena, California over the course of 13 years, beginning in 1898. El Alisal was donated to the Southwest Museum by Charles Lummis in 1910 with the stipulation that Lummis' family could live in the home in perpetuity. In 1939, the Southwest Museum declared that it could no longer afford the cost of maintaining the home and put the property up for sale. The League of Women voters and a group of concerned neighbors and community members wanted to save the home and surrounding property as an historic landmark. In response, they established the CFLMA which lobbied the State of California to purchase the property and open it to the public. In 1943, the title of El Alisal was passed to the State of California from the Southwest Museum and El Alisal was declared a California Historical Landmark (Marker No. 531). The City of Los Angeles then leased the property from the State to use as a park, however, City funds were not originally allocated to maintain the property. A concerted lobbying campaign in 1954 led by then CFLMA President Althea Warren finally obtained funding and promises from the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department to maintain the property and open it to the public.

Throughout this time, members of Charles Lummis' extended family continued to live at El Alisal. Beatrice Lummis Simmons was Charles Lummis' daughter-in-law who served as resident caretaker, curator, and hostess at El Alisal and was the last Lummis family member to live in the home. When she died in 1961, the CFLMA and Southwest Museum invited the California Historical Society to set up its Southern California headquarters at El Alisal. In 1965, the California Historical Society moved their headquarters to San Marino and the Historical Society of Southern California moved its headquarters to El Alisal from 1965-2015. Since 2015, the property has been managed by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

References

Apostol, Jane. El Alisal: Where History Lingers. Los Angeles: Historical Society of Southern California, 1994.

Fiske, Turbesé Lummis and Lummis, Keith. Charles F. Lummis: The Man and His West. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1975.

Althea Warren (1886-1958) was born in Waukegan, Illinois to Lansing Warren and Emma Blodgett. She graduated from the University of Chicago in 1908 and the University of Wisconsin Library School in 1911. Warren worked for the Chicago Public Library before moving to San Diego, California. She worked at the San Diego Public Library from 1915-1925. After moving to Los Angeles, she worked for the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) as the First Assistant City Librarian and Head of Branches from 1926-1933 and City Librarian from 1933-1947. She served as the California Library Association (CLA) president in 1921 and American Library Association (ALA) president in 1943-1944, the first Californian to hold that office.

After Warren retired from LAPL in 1947, she taught in the library science programs in Wisconsin and Michigan and at the University of Southern California. She served as President of the Charles Fletcher Lummis Memorial Association from 1947-1958. During this time, she lobbied successfully to transfer management responsibilities from the State to the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department and secured funding to preserve and maintain El Alisal. Warren was inducted into the California Library Hall of Fame in 2013.

References

Boaz, Martha. Fervent and Full of Gifts: the Life of Althea Warren. New York : The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1961.

Dudley Chadwick Gordon (1897-1982) was born in July 1897 in Brooklyn, New York to parents Catherine May Carpenter Gordon and John Gordon. Dudley Gordon earned degrees from Hobart College, Havard University, and Columbia University. He moved to California with his wife Jean Lamon Sparrow in 1928. Gordon taught in the English Department of Los Angeles City College from 1930-1963. Gordon was an active community member who served as President of the Southern California Folklore Society, President of the Twenty Club (USC), served on the Board of Directors of the Historical Society of Southern California, and was a member of the Westerners in Los Angeles, San Diego, and London. He was President of the Charles F. Lummis Memorial Association (circa 1962-1970) and wrote many publications about Charles Lummis, El Alisal, or the Southwest Museum. Gordon also worked as a consultant in history and folklore at the Southwest Museum.

References

Dudley Gordon Collection, 1906-1985, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.1231.

"New York, County Marriages, 1847-1848; 1908-1936", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FFRL-WDC : Sun Mar 10 00:05:02 UTC 2024), Entry for Dudley Chadwick Gordon and John V Gordon, 23 August 1923.

C., P. "Some Memories of an Old Friend." Historical Society of Southern California Newsletter. Los Angeles: Historical Society of Southern California, September 1982.

Jean Pascol Noel (1908-?) was born to Amelia Lassek and John Pascol in Wisconsin in 1908. She married Frances Noel in San Francisco, California in 1935. Her mother-in-law, Francis Nacke Noel, was a leader in the Southern California labor and women's suffrage movements. Jean (aka Mrs. Francis Noel) was an active community member who lived near El Alisal and spearheaded the initial campaign to save the property. She enlisted Althea Warren to get involved and served as Organizer and Secretary of the CFLMA for many years.

References

Apostol, Jane. El Alisal: Where History Lingers. Los Angeles: Historical Society of Southern California, 1994.

"California, San Francisco County Records, 1824-1997", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL41-3W8M : Thu Mar 07 17:52:17 UTC 2024), Entry for Francis Noel and Primm D Noel, 31 Aug 1935.

Acquisition information:
The Charles Fletcher Lummis Memorial Association (CFLMA) materials were donated to the Autry Museum of the American West as part of a larger donation from the Historical Society of Southern California (HSSC) in 2018. The CFLMA materials have been separated from the HSSC donation and established into a distinct collection. Most of the materials in the CFLMA collection were originally part of the Dudley Gordon Collection, donated to the HSSC in May 1982. Additional files were separated from the Charles Fletcher Lummis Papers (MS.1) and added to this collection.
Processing information:

Processing and finding aid completed by Molly Smith, 2024.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into one box of documents and two oversize files of blueprints and news clippings. Where possible, the papers are organized by their creator.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Molly Smith
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-12-02 17:34:01 +0000 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives and fill out the Researcher Application Form.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Library and Archives at the Autry. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred citation:

Charles Fletcher Lummis Memorial Association Papers, 1912-1980, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.90; [folder number] [folder title][date].

Location of this collection:
4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, CA 90027, US
Contact:
(747) 201-8448
rroom@theautry.org
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