by Paul R. Spitzzeri
During this America250 year and, with the Homestead’s presentation on how Los Angeles marked the American centennial in 1876 and the sesquicentennial of 1926 this Sunday at 2 p.m., we are continuing with this post about the latter celebration, manifested as a Pageant of Liberty, held at the Coliseum on 5 July, and looking at eleventh hour media coverage as the month dawned.
The Los Angeles Express of the 1st reported,
Taking full advantage of the few days which remain prior to the staging of the “Pageant of Liberty” . . . sponsors of the spectacular civic commemoration of the sesquicentennial of American liberty have taken their work to the Coliseum, where 75 carpenters are making ready for the tableaux and field maneuvers, in which more than 7000 people in costume, including 100 celebrated motion picture stars, are to participate.
Chair Edwards Davis noted that there were to be 34 “distinct acts or tableaux dealing with vital features of American liberty” in the three eras previously mentioned here (Revolutionary, Lincolnian and Evolutionary) tied to musical performances organized by composer Arthur Farwell and including a mixed chorus of 1,000 voices.
After noting that the work of historical reenactment was carried out by commercial companies and movie studios, the paper noted that “the latest addition to the unprecedented assemblage of screen players is Viola Dana, heroine of a hundred screen plays, who will impersonate Betsy Ross. Dana (1897-1987), born Virginia Flugrath in Brooklyn took to the stage as a child working on Broadway and in vaudeville before breaking into the movies (as did her sisters Edna Flugrath and Shirley Mason). She worked consistently through the Roaring Twenties but did not work much beyond that era.
It was previously reported that it was hoped that George Billings, who played Abraham Lincoln on film, would be available to recreate his role as our 16th president, but it looked as if this was not going to happen, though he was listed by the Express as appearing. Notably, the actor portraying Thomas Jefferson was Thomas Lockyer Jefferson, one of a long line of acting Jeffersons. A name not previously mentioned, and playing Father Junipero Serra, founder of many of the California missions, was that of Antonio Moreno, one of a cadre of very popular Latino film starts of the era and who would soon appear in the Clara Bow vehicle, It, released in 1927.
Under the subheading of “Women Assist Sales,” the Express observed that “with the program rapidly approaching completion, a committee of 75 leading clubwomen, under the chairmanship of Mrs. Boyle Workman,” this being Frances Widney, wife of the president of the City Council, “is actively assisting in the sale of pageant tickets.” Not only were these sold at some 1,400 drug stores in the county, but also at the music companies of Wiley B. Allen and George Birkel.
In its edition of the same day, the Los Angeles Times offered, under its headline of “PICTURE STARS TO AID PAGEANT,” that “Antonio Moreno Will Lead Independence Day Fete,” which was an interesting characterization, with the paper noting that the appearance of the star was announced by the Catholic Motion Picture Guild, which oversaw the act in question. It was added that Jack Coogan, Sr. the father of child star Jackie Coogan and an actor, developed the content with two others, including a priest, that was to “depict the life of the State’s earliest missionaries, the Spanish dons and residents of the eighteenth century,” though nothing was said about the indigenous people of California.
A representation of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the event, of course, that is considered that which birthed our country, was developed by the All Parties Reapportionment Committee, political advocacy group for a more equitable representation in state government (there happened to be a proposition for this on the November 1926 election ballot) and a Los Angeles art studio. The paper also recorded that the tableaux featuring Dana as Ross was the last of ten gifted for the event, but from which organizations was not stated.
While it was previously stated that there would be one speaker, Mayor George E. Cryer delivering a ten-minute address prior to a mass naturalization ceremony for hundreds of new citizens, Davis remarked that Col. John C. Quinn, former head of the American Legion, would briefly discourse on “The Spirit of Liberty,” while Billings, as Lincoln, was to provide a short excerpt from one of the Great Emancipator’s speeches. Boyle Workman, great-nephew of Homestead founders William Workman and Nicolasa Urioste, was tapped to lead the 1,000 naturalized citizens in taking the oath of allegiance.
The Los Angeles Record of the 2nd informed its readers that there were four meetings during the week to finalize arrangements and, among new information revealed by the paper, was that tableaux sponsors included Famous Players-Lasky; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Fine Arts; Western actor Harry Carey and “his Indians”; Crescent Creamery and the United Spanish War Veterans. Davis was quoted as remarking that “the program increased to a total of 37 different events,” three more than previously announced, and that “the ‘Pageant of Liberty’ seems destined to become the outstanding civic event of the year.”
In its number of the 3rd, the Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News mentioned that the massive Liberty Bell replica, touched upon earlier in this post, was installed the prior day and that this meant that “final arrangements . . . were completed.” The same day’s Express went into some detail about the role of Frances Workman and the 75 “leading club and social workers of the city” as it remarked that their efforts went beyond securing admission:
Speaking at various clubs, school and churches of Los Angeles, Hollywood, Pasadena, Long Beach, Santa Monica, and even as far east as Riverside, these women have disposed of a large number of tickets for the pageant, assisted Arthur Farwell in the organization of a chorus of 1000 mixed voices and enlisted the assistance of several hundred women as participants in the pageantry.
Many tickets ended up going to orphanages, charity organizations and schools, involving those who “would not otherwise be able to attend the impressive educational and entertaining pictorial review of the nation’s first 150 years of liberty.” The mayor’s wife was honorary chair and assisting Workman were Mrs. A.S.C. [Harrye] Forbes, the spouses of Davis and film director and organizer Frank Lloyd and of Louis M. Cole, a prominent business figure and important member of the Angel City’s Jewish community.
Other women committee members included the wives of actors and directors George Bancroft, Wallace Beery, Monte Blue, Edwin Carewe, Jean Hersholt, Harold Lloyd, Tom Mix, and Henry B. Walthall, while screenwriter and producer June Mathis and actors Louise Dresser, Frances Hatton, and Colleen Moore were also involved. Prominent Los Angeles club women and social workers included the wives of Los Angeles Herald publisher Frank Barham, Chamber of Commerce President Arthur S. Bent, banker John F. Sartori, and University of Southern California President Rufus B. Von KleinSmid; Los Angeles City School superintendent Susan M. Dorsey; attorney Oda Faulconer; Mary Foy; and Mary Julia Workman, sister of the Council president.
Separately, the Express broadcast the idea that the Fourth was a “triple holiday” or a long weekend covering the third through the fifth and including throngs heading to the beaches or mountains, while a Westlake (now MacArthur) Park event on the fourth and fifth, with Umberto Nobile, designer and builder of a dirigible called the Norge, which flew over the Arctic and North Pole in May, to address a crowd expected to reach 50,000.
On the 4th, a statue of Abraham Lincoln was to be unveiled at his namesake park in his namesake neighborhood of Lincoln Heights, it being a gift of the late Dr. Norman Bridge and designed by Julia Bracken Wendt (whose The Three Graces work at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is a centerpiece of the impressive rotunda). Band concerts on Monday were to be performed at Hollenbeck, Lincoln, South and Westlake parks (fireworks were also to be included at the first two) as well as at Point Fermin near San Pedro.
The Times of the 3rd, under the heading of “PAGEANT TICKET DEMAND BRISK,” noted that the final planning meeting was held the prior night, at which Davis told the assemblage:
The Pageant of Liberty will serve as a test of Los Angeles’ true patriotic spirit. We are bringing a review of American independence to a basis of entertainment as well as enlightenment and as a show, the ‘Pageant’ is already a huge success.
The chair added that the “huge spectacle” as a presentation was not the only measure of this, but so was the fact that “it marks an unusual development in sponsorship,” because the City paid nothing for the mounting of the event, nor was any of the 112 organizations involved and offering nothing “except moral support.” Instead, “one unit has modestly borne the expense,” this left unidentified, while “any surplus that may accrue will go toward making the lives of disabled veterans in our wars a mite happier for having fought for their country.”
A separate gathering of technical advisors, 400 in all, met at the Hollywood Masonic Temple and it was reported that “a skeleton rehearsal” was to take place the next morning at the Coliseum, followed by a fuller dress rehearsal on Monday morning hours before the event was to begin. That evening, moreover, Farwell and the five choirs were taking part in an ensemble rehearsal at the Shrine Auditorium.
As noted before, the Pageant was held on the 5th because Independence Day fell on a Sunday, so the Times of the 4th remarked that “carpenters, technicians, decorators, players and directors will gather at the amphitheater [Coliseum] today to complete all technical arrangements for the show.” The paper commented that “a field radio communication system has been installed, also army field telephones,” while “a field staff of 300 men has been drilled in handling the large number of participants expeditiously.”
For costume changes, there were 70 staff (it was stated that the largest costume order ever placed with a local company, probably Western Costume) and another 50 to provide lunch, with nearly 150 trucks to ferry material and horses to the venue. Another item of note was that “assistance in the form of troops and music is being sent from Fort MacArthur through the courtesy of the War Department” and the fort’s commanding officer.
There were three changes in performers, with Francis X. Bushman as the Marquis de Lafayette, Claude Gillingwater as Robert E. Lee and Moreno as Serra being replaced by lesser-known actors. As for bands, these included ensembles from the Boy Scouts, Los Angeles Fire Department, the U.S. Coast Artillery, the 233 Club, the Hollywood Post of the American Legion, and the fife and drum corps of the United Spanish War Veterans.
A Times cartoon by Edmund “Ted” Gale contrasted the “seeing stars” when someone got too close to a firecracker in days of yore, with “Seeing Stars out at the Coliseum ‘Pageant of Liberty’ tomorrow,” reflecting a continued push by the paper for readers to attend the extravaganza. On the morning of the 5th, the Los Angeles Record, which published at that time of the day, previewed the event for its readers by remarking,
Climaxing a day filled with American enthusiasm and firecrackers, the Pageant of Liberty, something new in Fourth of July celebrations and a complete panorama of 150 years of national history, was unfolded before the eyes of Los Angeles at the Coliseum at 2 o’clock today.
While young Los Angeles, apparently gripped by the “safe and sane” policy of the city, made its individual celebration of the greatest date in American history in the streets, side alleys and back yards, old Los Angeles centered its attention long before the hour of starting at the Coliseum.
The Pageant of Liberty has taken the place of the old-time “blow up the town” activities and completely supplanted the “gang spirit” prevalent in previous years, it was indicated by the crowd of children and grown folks of all ages which congregated early . . .
Not evidently getting the news of the late added speakers, the paper observed that Mayor Cryer’s address was on “The Meaning of Americanism,” and it then went on to note other events of the day. This included one by the Hollenbeck Heights Improvement Association, an organization that worked assiduously to have that name replace that of Boyle Heights, assigned when the eastside neighborhood was founded a half-century prior, at Hollenbeck Park, featuring sports, “timpani effects,” and fireworks, along with a roster of orators.
The Record noted that “celebrating began early today at Lincoln park, and was expected to last late into the night, when fireworks and sky displays will be set off.” It was added that “the program was arranged around the new Lincoln statue” of Julia Wendt and which remains in the park today a century later. A pair of speakers included a student presenting an essay about the Constitution. It concluded by remarking that beach cities like Venice were holding Independence Day events, with that community offering “an elaborate night display” with adjacent Ocean Park and Santa Monica presenting fireworks shows.
Another morning sheet, the Illustrated Daily News, informed readers that the Pageant “will be presented on a scale never before attempted in the West” while affirming that Superior Court Judge Carlos Hardy would administer the oath of allegiance to the new naturalized citizens and not Council President Workman. As for the prior day’s observances, the paper commented that “the beaches and mountain resorts were packed” and “the ocean front was lined with parked cars, as were the mountain roads” to the point that “traffic was congested on all important highways and trains were jammed.” The only injury known to the paper was a four-year-old girl who suffered burns from a firecracker.
We’ll return tomorrow with part seven looking at summaries of the Pageant and some other post-event coverage, so check back with us then!