Society to Feature John Jackson, Owner-Manager of the Culver Ice Arena
The Culver City Historical Society is pleased to announce that John Jackson, the owner and manager of the Culver Ice Arena since 1982, will be the featured speaker at the Society’s general meeting, which will take place on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, at 7 p.m. in the Veterans Memorial Building’s Multi-Purpose Room, 4117 Overland Avenue, Culver City, 90230.
In addition to discussing how the ice arena was created and how hockey and figure skating training developed there, Jackson will share stories about Wayne Gretsky, Scott Hamilton, Dorothy Hamill, Michelle Kwan, and the many local skaters who learned or honed their skills at the facility.
Jackson (pictured, right) is a former Marine Captain and a former football coach at USC, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and the University of Illinois. He is also the owner/promoter of Forum Boxing. In addition, he served as assistant to Jerry Buss, the former owner of the Lakers Basketball team and the Kings Hockey team.
Several former local Olympians and professional skating stars drawn from the teaching staff at the Ice Arena will be on hand and will share their early experiences as skaters in Culver City, including Cathy Machado (first U.S. Latina Olympian, Olympic medalist, World Professional Ice Skating Champion, U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame); Josselyn Baumgartner (Double National Medalist in figure skating); and Crystalrose Guerra (five-time National Showcase Champion).
See videos of Machado (pictured, left) and Guerra below.
There will be a brief discussion of upcoming programs and projects, as well as updates on the activities and exhibits in the Archives & Resource Center (ARC), and the Center will be opened following the meeting.
All members of the Culver City Historical Society and the public are welcome to enjoy this free program and students are encouraged to attend. The entrance to the Multi-Purpose Room is through the back of the building near the parking lot, as well as through the Archive & Resource Center space.
For more information, please call the Society at (310) 253-6941 or e-mail us.
CCHS to Host Brian Taves, Author of Thomas Ince Biography
A “Meet and Greet” with author Brian Taves, film archivist with the Library of Congress since 1990, will be hosted by the Culver City Historical Society on Saturday, December 8, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. in the Archives and Resource Center (ARC).
Taves’ book, Thomas Ince: Hollywood’s Independent Pioneer, the first ever written about Ince’s life, describes how he revolutionized the motion picture industry through developing the role of the producer. Taves will show a DVD of a tour of the former Thomas Ince Studios (now Culver Studios), will describe the writing of this work, and will sign books (which are available in book stores) for those who (more…)
Celebrating CC’s 95th Anniversary
Ms. O’Brien with CC Mayor Andy Weissman
The Culver City Historical Society presented “Meet Me in Culver City,” a celebration to honor Culver City’s 95th Anniversary, on Sunday, September 23, 2012, at the historic Culver Hotel.
Margaret O’Brien, Oscar-winning icon from MGM, served as Honorary Chair of the event and was honored with a commendation from the Culver City Council.
Miss O’Brien was the biggest child star throughout the 1940s and a number one box office attraction. Her unforgettable performance as Tootie Smith in Meet Me in St. Louis (MGM, 1944) with Judy Garland as her co-star, earned her an Academy Award and the position of the highest paid entertainer in the nation.
Visits to the ARC
Culver High Alum Dan Bloom (’63) [left] who built the “visually historic” screen for the Archives & Resource Center (ARC), visible behind, and Ron Crawford (’61) visited the ARC in June and were happy to see the growth.
Danny lives in Dana Point and Ron was visiting from Folsom (the city, not the prison).
News from the Costume Chair
by Louise Coffey-Webb
Costume Committee Chair
A Special Guest Visits the ARC: Deborah Landis
I wanted to let you know about some very interesting visitors we had the pleasure of hosting at the ARC at the end of last year.
Deborah Nadoolman Landis, and her assistant, Natasha Rubin, came to look at some of our MGM costumes. Why? Well, Deborah is the Senior Guest Curator of an exhibition at the prestigious Victoria & Albert Museum in London on film costumes in 2012. Entitled “Style and Seduction: The Art of Hollywood Costume Design,” the exhibit is scheduled to open October 20th, 2012, followed by an international tour. There will also be a catalogue. (more…)
Don’t Miss the General Membership Meeting!
Special Program: “Movie Studios of Culver City”
The Culver City Historical Society’s Spring General Membership Meeting will be held this Wednesday, April 20th at 7:00 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room at the Veterans Memorial Building, 4117 Overland Avenue. Please park and enter from the rear of the building.
Co-authors, Julie Lugo Cerra and Marc Wanamaker will present a Power Point program on their most recent book collaboration, Movie Studios of Culver City, published by Arcadia Publishing in their “Images of America” series. The book includes hundreds of images and descriptions of the motion picture and television studios from 1913, when Harry Culver founded the city and attracted studios to locate there – from the early studios of Thomas Ince and Hal Roach through the huge facilities of MGM, Lorimar, Columbia, DeMille, RKO, Pathe, Desilu and Sony. (more…)
Profile: The Wende Museum
In the early 1990s, the Cold War came to a dramatic end. Since then, historical landmarks have been torn down, statues have been vandalized and documents have been destroyed throughout Eastern Europe.
Founder and Executive Director Justinian Jampol established The Wende Museum and Archive of the Cold War as a non-profit organization in 2002. His mission has been dedicated to acquiring, preserving, and offering access to these materials of Cold War-era Eastern Europe, providing a unique way for students, scholars, journalists and political observers to investigate life and culture under communist rule.
CC High School Senior Creates Film About Culver City History
Katherine Maxwell
Are you interested in the history of Culver City? Do you wonder why our city is called “The Heart of Screenland”?
Come to a special film screening of “History is Gold: An Oral History of Culver City” on Saturday, October 9, in the Culver City Historical Society’s Archive and Resource Center (ARC) in the back of the Veterans Memorial Building at 4117 Overland Avenue in Culver City. (more…)
[UPDATED] Huell Howser visits the ARC
On July 21st, Huell Howser visited Culver City to film a segment on the Culver Hotel and the ARC.
This photo, taken by Mr. Howser’s cameraman Cameron in front of Gene Kelly’s striped jacket from Take Me Out To the Ball Game, features (from left) City Historian Julie Lugo Cerra, Howser, Immediate Past President Cathy Zermeno, Costume Curator Louise Coffey-Webb and photographer Fred Yglesias.
Huell Howser’s Culver City show will air on KCET in September or later. Check back here for more details!
UPDATE: Huell Howser’s episode on Culver City will be televised on KCET on Thursday, September 23, 2010 and again on Friday, October 15, 2010, both at 7:30 PM.
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