Far more than many older Eastern seaboard cities, the history of Los Angeles reflects the dynamic trends that reshaped America over the past century.
It’s also a history that has directly governed its philanthropy.
The rapid expansion of railway and highway systems, the overnight exploration of oil deposits, the rise of mass media, the ascension of corporate America.
All these profound socio-economic influences created vast riches and a cast of philanthropic characters whose monuments to their vision and wealth are still with us today.
Los Angeles was founded in 1850 but its modern philanthropic history really began at the turn of the century with the establishment of the Pacific Electric Railway in 1901 by Henry Huntington, who ultimately strung together a 1,100-mile light-rail system that connected Los Angeles with outlying cities.
The system made Huntington one of the richest men in Southern California and he used his wealth to build a fantastic mansion, private library and museum in San Marino that was opened to the public in 1928.
But even as Huntington was accumulating his wealth, developments were occurring that would date him. The 1920s saw the rapid growth of two Los Angeles phenomena: the film industry and the automobile.
Hollywood’s early moguls saw themselves as scrappy entrepreneurs rather than pillars of society. And it wasn’t until decades later that they started namesake foundations such as the Jules Stein Eye Institute and the Walt Disney Family Foundation.
Meanwhile, the automobile created fortunes for oil pioneers J. Paul Getty and Edward Doheny major donors in subsequent decades but it also encouraged Southern California’s familiar sprawl and disturbed the traditional order of urban elite philanthropy.
Thus modern philanthropy was born as formal organizations with professional social workers tried to solve problems previously handled by wealthy benefactors or churches.
In 1917, the War Revenue Act was the first law to allow a federal income tax deduction for charitable gifts, giving the affluent an added incentive to support the philanthropy of their choice.
In Los Angeles, the Haynes Foundation exemplified the new professionalism and progressive social thinking. Established in 1926 by doctor John Randolph Haynes and his wife Dora, the foundation sought to renew democracy, improve living and working conditions for the poor, champion Prohibition, and advocate for Native American and First Amendment rights.
Of course, World War II wrought huge changes in Los Angeles culture. The freeway system sprung up, immigrants from throughout the country swarmed into the area. Later, a huge defense industry solidified its economic hold as the Cold War kept defense spending high.
But the era also saw the establishment of a corporate elite who ruled the civic and political life of the city.
The new order evolved into the so-called Committee of 25, a group of corporate managers, attorneys and doctors led by Asa Call, chief executive of Pacific Mutual Insurance Co.
While the committee focused most of its attention on local politics and land-use issues, the group channeled money to philanthropic projects. Their backing proved crucial for the period’s two major achievements: the opening of the Music Center in 1964 and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art the following year.
Dorothy Chandler, wife of Los Angeles Times publisher Norman Chandler, headed fundraising for the music center. Beyond the immediate goal of providing a home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chandler wanted the center to validate L.A.’s stature as a culture capital.
She raised $20 million in private donations plus $14 million in mortgage bonds to complete construction of the center. The Museum project raised $12 million from large donors in the media, oil and banking industries (William Randolph Heart, the Getty family, and Howard Ahmanson, respectively).
Corporate philanthropy by the Committee of 25 fueled the growth of “community chests,” centralized fundraising operations for local human-service agencies and charities. In 1963, a number of Los Angeles-area chests further combined their operations and called the operation United Way the first time that name was used.
And thanks to the G.I. Bill, enrollment in higher education skyrocketed after World War II. Not surprisingly, the rise of the university accompanied a rise in giving to the schools such as UCLA, USC and Caltech.
Later, new philanthropic and advocacy groups sprung up to deal with the new problems. They included the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Foundation and the 100 Black Men of Los Angeles.
Then in 1973, Mayor Sam Yorty was voted out of office and replaced by Tom Bradley, the first African American to lead the city. The election ended the last remnants of the Committee of 25.
At the same time, corporate headquarters which had spearheaded much of the philanthropy in Los Angeles, started disappearing as the region changed to a more entrepreneurial and middle-market economy.