by Paul R. Spitzzeri
The timing of dropping this report late on Independence Day was notable as the White Domestic Policy Council said this about the leadership of the Smithsonian Institution, led by former California Afro-American Museum curator of history and program manager, Lonnie Bunch and, especially, the National Museum of American History, headed by Anthea Hartig, a native of greater Los Angeles.
The Council, headed by Vince Haley, bluntly asserted that,
The Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic. As this report shows, confirmed in the words of Museum leadership, this ideological capture has moved the Museum’s mission away from straightforward historical education and scholarship toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country.
The essential question of interpreting American history is a vital one and bears directly on the subject of our recent and current posts here relating to the commemoration of the American centennial in 1876 and the sesquicentennial of 1926. At the former, while the role of women was given visibility (and Los Angeles women raised some limited funds in support of that objective), it has been noted that “the fair’s exhibits perpetuated prevalent cultural stereotypes of blacks and Native Americans.”
During the latter, a Committee on Negro Activities was formed to present the point of view of Black Americans, including a pageant called “Loyalty’s Gift,” described by the organization as “portraying the achievements and struggles of the Negro” with Marian Anderson, famed later for her astounding 1939 Easter concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial following a ban from the Daughters of the American Revolution for a performance at Constitution Hall.
As for the local contribution to the festivities at the City of Brotherly Love, the Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News of 3 January 1926 informed readers that,
A replica of an old Spanish mission, with Spanish serenaders, gray-garbed padres, an extensive patio, playing fountains and a wealth of California trees and shrubs, will compose the Los Angeles county exhibit which will be installed at the Philadelphia sesqui-centennial exposition June 1 to November 30 . . .
While far more elaborate and many times larger than the exhibit which last summer toured state fairs in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri, the Philadelphia exhibit will be of a similar design to the latter.
This move to continue with that theme was based, the paper reported, on feedback from the midwest fairs that it “did more to stimulate tourist travel to the Coast than any other single factor. It was added that the powerful Chamber’s publicity department was preparing newspaper and magazine articles, photos, motion picture footage, posters and other material for the exhibit’s development.
In its coverage, the Los Angeles Times of the same day remarked that the exhibit effort was designed “in order to stimulate the movement,” which seemed to mean relocation as well as tourist, “of easterners to California” and that construction of the Mission-style display was to begin tout suite. It was added that “between the giant arches will be seen glimpses of the Los Angeles county of today, teeming with industry, commerce and agricultural activity” and that 1.4 million people saw the version that toured those state fairs.
The paper’s edition of the 17th remarked that Chamber field secretary Charles P. Bayer left for Philadelphia as part of the organization’s method of “a personal contact campaign . . . to keep prospective tourists [and potential settlers] informed of the advantages of Southern California.” Bayer’s mission was to look at other state fair possibilities, including the four states in which displays were placed in 1925 and four others contemplated, as well as the opportunity for “permanent displays in other eastern and middle western cities,” this part of a quarter-million expenditure for “year-round boosting” of greater Los Angeles.
A Hollywood connection was announced three days later when the Citizen of that Angel City film community stated that “one of Hollywood’s fair daughters, Laura La Plante, now a star at Universal City,” with her 1927 Universal Studios picture, The Cat and the Canary, being her best-known film, “will be a guest of honor at numerous functions in Philadelphia” as part of the “Sesqui” expo. It was added the La Plante portrayed a “Quaker girl of ’76” for photos promoting the appearance in Los Angeles of a replica of the Liberty Bell traveling the county to promote the 150th anniversary.
In its number of the 26th, the Los Angeles Express issued an editorial expressing its views to “Celebrate the Country’s Birthday” It noted the importance of the centennial exposition at Philadelphia, while adding “the real observance was in patriotic celebrations throughout the country, when the spirit of ’76 flamed again in the joyous ceremonies in which the whole American people took part.” The paper continued,
And that celebration ought to be repeated on the Fourth of July this year. It is important that appropriate steps be taken at once, in Los Angeles and elsewhere, for a celebration of the 150th birthday of our country in such a manner that the great event will be impressed on every mind. This ought to be made a patriotic year.
Observing that such festivities should be of a character “as never before have been held,” the Express asserted that “there never has been a time when there was more to celebrate, or greater need for arousing the people” to better appreciate what the founders bequeathed to the nation,” so that “there is need for a patriotic revival.”
The contemporary reason enunciated in 1926 sounds very similar to what some espouse in 2026:
Subtle influences seek to undermine the foundations built by the fathers. They are at work in Los Angeles and all large centers of population. They seek to stifle patriotism. They belittle our national heroes and degrade the flag. They come from abroad to corrupt our people, preaching seditious doctrines, and unfortunately find followers, amongst the flighty and mentally weak in most cases, those that lack power to resist anything that promises novelty and excitement. But these are enough to create a menace.
To counteract these supposed forces, which were not identified (presumably, this was communism and/or socialism, all too often lumped together in a vague way) nor was any evidence given about them and their alleged nefarious activities, the editorial proclaimed that the tonic to treat the disease was to “give vent to the true American spirit of patriotism.” This meant the celebration of the establishment of “a free government in which all men are equal” and which would then be a powerful antidote “to counteract the baneful influences of the foreign poison spread for the purpose of destroying that government and the liberty and equality it guarantees to all men.”
Based on this assertion, the Express went on, “the Fourth of July this year should be observed with renewed enthusiasm” and it concluded,
Los Angeles should take steps at once for such a fitting observance of our country’s natal day. Let us have a renaissance, a rebirth, a revival of the old-fashioned American patriotism. Let us recall the spirit of ’76, and celebrate the anniversary of that glorious event of that year. Let us make July 4, 1926, memorable for the outpouring of loyalty and patriotism.
In its number of 4 February, the paper reported that “a colossal American pageant to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the nation’s birth is being planned jointly by the various patriotic societies of California” with “the monster tableau” scheduled for the first three days of July and to be “a state-wide affair.” It was reported that the site was to be the Hollywood Bowl and that “the cast will include a thousand persons, being made up of schools, colleges and organizations.”
The head of the organizing committee, the Angel City chapter president of the Sons of the American Revolution, was paraphrased as telling the Express “the purpose of the celebration is to impress upon the American people the benefits they enjoy as free citizens of a great republic.” Edwin E. Cox was then quoted as proclaiming, and mirroring what the paper recently propounded,
It is important that the patriotic impulse of the nation be aroused at a time when vicious foreign influences are at work to destroy respect for and confidence in our government. This great national birthday—the one hundred and fiftieth—affords an especially fine opportunity to emphasize the wonderful advantages of our country. A patriotic celebration will act as a spur to the lagging spirit of the American people. Too many of us have become indifferent to the dangers and menace of radical propaganda.
After observing that northern representatives of the Sons as well as the Daughters of the American Revolution were in favor of the event and its statewide import, the article concluded with the note that “the patriotic spectacle, which is to be called ‘The Pageant of America,’ is expected to attract nation-wide interest and attract thousands of persons to Los Angeles.”
Meanwhile, early planning continued for the Angel City’s own sesquicentennial extravaganza, slated for September 1931, with the Express of 1 February devoting a full page to an essay by Rockwell D. Hunt, dean of the University of Southern California graduate school and president of the Historical Society of Southern California, who urged that efforts be ramped up for “the most momentous and meaningful festival” in the metropolis’ history. His text was accompanied by historic photos, including one of the Temple Block, a section of several commercial buildings erected by the brothers Jonathan and F.P.F. Temple, but which was being razed and redeveloped for a new City Hall, completed in April 1928.
Other news in February regarding the Philadelphia expo included the report in the Times of the 7th that the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce signed contracts for exhibits in state fairs in Indiana and Michigan, following one previously inked for Ohio, in addition to the national event. Joseph Bayer was then off to Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri to investigate possibilities and this planned doubling of displays from what was done in 1925 was based on “the immensity of this response” to the idea, while current exhibits at a Chicago office of the Chamber was some 10 times anticipated. Chamber general manager and secretary Arthur G. Arnoll enthused about the interest and the resulting uptick in investment in the midwestern state fairs.
The Pasadena Star-News of the 10th ran an article by Charles W. Paddock, a Crown City resident married to the daughter of the paper’s proprietor, and a star sprinter at the University of Southern California who completed in the Olympic Games of 1920 and 1924 and would repeat in 1928 (he won a gold and two silvers in his Olympic career). Paddock observed that, “along with our own best track and field champions, Philadelphia is planning upon being host to the greatest stars of all nations at the Sesquicentennial Games to be held the last week of June.”
By “all nations,” this meant Europe as Paddock mentioned eight such athletes from the Old World, including the renowned Paavo Nurmi of Finland, whose 1925 invitational track meet held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was the subject of a prior post on this blog. The article concluded with Paddock averring that “if all these men enter the Philadelphia field of competition on the same day, there will be such a sport crowd as never before witnessed athletic contests,” given that the new stadium, which became John F. Kennedy Stadium, was to have room for 150,000 (100,000 seated and the rest standing).
In its edition of the 19th, the Times relayed the news that the United States Senate voted to support of joint resolution, passed by the House of Representatives, “authorizing participation by the government” in the Philadelphia exposition. The short article noted that “the measure appropriates $2,186,500″ for the government’s part in the celebration, $1,000,000 being for buildings, and $1,186,500 for its direct participation.”
The Illustrated Daily News of the 11th offered an editorial in which it began by remarking that “the thoughts of good Americans will go to Philadelphia on June 1 when the expedition . . . opens” and it commented,
Thousands [organizers planned for 40 million] will attend this great show and the Pacific Coast will be well represented. It will be a national exposition, not sectional, and while it is in progress Americans will have their memories refreshed regarding the great document on which American liberty was founded.
It is a bit strange that the paper then turned to discussing John Hancock, whose signature dwarfed those of all the other 55 delegates who placed their names on our foundational document—in fairness to Hancock, he was president of the Second Continental Congress, so his name had greater meaning, although a story developed that he wrote so large and impressively as a direct act of defiance to England, though a National Archives article states that his signature “was for his fellow delegated and future generations of Americans.”
The piece observed that Hancock “has aspersions cast on his patriotic integrity simply because of the gorgeousness of his attire” which were far finer than the rather modest clothing of most of his colonial contemporaries. It was added that “the prejudice was ill-founded” when Hancock gave a resounding oration at a memorial service for those killed in the Boston Massacre of 1770, an event that helped birth the Revolution and which put a price on his head from the Massachusetts royal governor and his supporters.
The takeaway from this apparently, at least in the mind of whoever wrote the Illustrated Daily News editorial was that,
Prejudice is un-American and this incident is one of the lessons of the sesquicentennial.
This seems an apt place to pause so we can return tomorrow with part three taking us into the early spring of 1926 and more material about both the Los Angeles and Philadelphia sesquicentennial events—be sure to check back with us then.