| Last Updated: Sep 10, 2011 - 1:41:17 PM |
LOS ANGELES—The marble angels at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery watch over many of Los Angeles’s earliest settlers and later innovators alike, along with politicians, war heroes, more than a few scurrilous entrepreneurs, trendsetters, women’s rights advocates, and a long list of famed entertainers.
Every year, West Adams Heritage Association (WAHA) focuses on some of their life stories by presenting a Living History Tour at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, featuring actor portrayals, graveside, recounting the lives of some of the individuals buried at the cemetery. This year’s tour, the 21st annual Living History Tour, “Pushing the Boundaries: Adventurers, Pioneers and Unconventional Heroes,” is Saturday, September 24, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Angelus Rosedale Cemetery is one of the city's oldest, most historically significant cemeteries. It was founded in 1884, and is now home to many generations of Los Angeles' citizens, representing every race, faith, and creed.
This year’s event commemorates several seminal moments in local and national history: the 150th anniversary of the Civil War; the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in California, and Los Angeles’s 230th birthday. And, along with bold adventurers, this year’s tour includes founding families who have left their mark on L.A.’s history: Glassell, O’Melveny and Dominguez.
This year’s dramatic portrayals include: Lt. William T. Glassell, Confederate Naval officer who commanded the submarine that torpedoed the Union frigate New Ironsides during the Charleston blockade in 1863. Glassell was the co-founder of the City of Orange, Miriam Matthews, California’s first African American credentialed librarian and well-known historian who helped launch “Negro History Week” (now Black History Month) in Los Angeles; Matthews’ research of 200 years of black history in California inspired the depictions in the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building’s murals, just designated as Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument No. 1000, Harvey K. S. O’Melveny, pioneer Los Angeles lawyer, judge, City Council member, and politician who helped bring transcontinental rail service to Los Angeles in 1876, Fanny Stenhouse, famed lecturer and Suffragette who exposed Mormon polygamy to the world in 1872, and who campaigned for women’s rights with Harriett Beecher Stowe and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Nina Vitagliano Torre, Italian-American female racecar driver who raced with fellow women Speederettes during World War I until a fatal crash in 1918 ended her life, and their careers on the track; it was decades before women were again behind the wheel on speedways.
Portus Baxter Weare, whose self-named ship, the P.B. Weare, was the first to sail up the great Yukon River into the Klondike, bringing back great stores of gold and stories that resulted in the Klondike Stampede of 1897, when more than 100,000 people swarmed towards a frozen land they knew nothing about and endured hardships they could never have imagined.
Visitors will be greeted by Francisca Dominguez Alexander, Queen of the Fiesta de Los Angeles of 1897, whose family owned the great Rancho San Pedro beginning in 1784. Her forebear, Juan Jose Dominguez, arrived in California in 1769, serving with Gaspar de Portolà and Juniperro Serra, witnessing the founding of Los Angeles pueblo in September, 1781.
Tours depart approximately every 25 minutes, beginning at 9 a.m., with the last tour at noon. The public is invited. Tickets are by advance reservation only; each tour has a limited number of spaces. The Living History Tour is a three-hour docent-led walk through the cemetery, over uneven terrain; visitors are advised to wear appropriate clothing and walking shoes.
TICKET SALES/TOUR TIMES
Advance Ticket Sales Only -- No Walk-ins!
Tickets are by reservation only. $25 in advance. $30 on day of tour, space available. (Children under 10 attend free.)
Address: 1831 West Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles
To order tickets in advance, log onto WestAdamsHeritage.org or send a check made payable to “WAHA” to: WAHA Living History Tour, 2280 West 21st St. Los Angeles, CA 90018
Please include an e-mail address or phone number for confirmation.
The tour will raise funds for the West Adams Heritage Association, a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1983 to support preservation of the community’s architectural and cultural heritage. WAHA has grown from a small resident support group to a recognized preservation voice with hundreds of members who live in the many neighborhoods of the Historic West Adams District.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, please call the WAHA Reservations Hotline at 323-732-4223, write tours@westadamsheritage.org, or visit WestAdamsHeritage.org.
Additional WAHA tour for 2011: the annual festive Holiday Historic Homes Walking Tour and Progressive Dinner Tour, December 3 and 4.
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