This past week, I had lunch with a friend of a friend who is currently President of the Symphonians, a volunteer docent organization affiliated with the L.A. Music Center. Their primary responsibility is to give free tours of all four Music Center venues–the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Ahmanson Theater, the Mark Taper Forum, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The group also participates in other events at the Music Center, including providing support for some of the other resident volunteer organizations.
In addition to enjoying a lovely lunch, Suzi offered to introduce me to Hutton Wilkinson, a native Angeleno and prolific designer who would one day work with the Music Center’s official interior designer, Tony Duquette. Wilkinson began working for Duquette in the early 1970s and eventually became his business partner. Wilkinson has since had a long and storied career, including designing jewelry.
I’m in the midst of trying to set up a meeting with Wilkinson, but I’m already super excited about what he might have to say. He knew many of the people I write about in my dissertation, and I love the idea of hearing them come to life through his memories, especially the ever elusive Dorothy Chandler. Chandler is a figure who plays a significant role in many of the events I discuss in my dissertation, “Culture as Urban Renewal.” I can’t wait to hear what Wilkinson has to say.
I’ve spent over 8 years in libraries and archives researching primary sources, but nothing matches the experience of interviewing someone who knows the subject intimately and can offer a firsthand account. It’s more than just research; it’s revelation.
For more on the Symphonians: http://www.musiccenter.org/visit/Exploring-the-Center/Symphonians-Tours/Symphonians/
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Published by Andrea Thabet, Ph.D.
Dr. Andrea Thabet is a historian, writer, researcher, and historic preservation consultant specializing in Los Angeles, urban, and public history. She is currently a Lecturer in American History at Caltech, where she teaches courses on the Civil Rights Movement, and America in the 20th century. She also co-coordinates an urban history seminar series, the LA History & Metro Studies Group, for the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West. Dr. Thabet holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in U.S. History from UC Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in History with an Art History minor from Loyola Marymount University. Prior to earning her PhD, she worked as a Curatorial Assistant at the Skirball Cultural Center and Museum in Los Angeles and at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. She has consulted on a number of historic preservation projects, which include a successful Historic-Cultural Monument nomination for the Hawk House designed by Harwell Hamilton Harris (2019), and research and writing about Civic Center Branch Administrative Centers for Survey LA, a city-wide project conducted by L.A.’s Office of Historic Resources.
Dr. Thabet’s published works on Los Angeles and urban history have appeared in both academic and popular journals, in print and digital formats. Her article, “‘From Sagebrush to Symphony’: Negotiating the Hollywood Bowl and the Future of Los Angeles, 1918-1926,” appeared in the Pacific Historical Review in Fall 2020. She also authored the report “Space to Lead: A Century of Civic Leadership in Los Angeles” for Future of Cities: Los Angeles, with Shawn Landres and William Deverell. In June 2020, Dr. Thabet was awarded a fellowship by Friends of Residential Treasures: Los Angeles (FORT:LA) for an interdisciplinary research collaboration with Jenna Snow, titled: “A Women’s Project: Mary Louise Schmidt and the 1936 California House and Garden Exhibition.” The FORT Trail Map launches in March 2023 and will be featured for women’s history month in a number of venues. She is also completing a book manuscript, “Culture as Urban Renewal: Remaking Public Space in Postwar Los Angeles” which examines the critical role cultural and leisure spaces played in shaping the built environment and urban economy of Los Angeles through federal and local urban renewal policy after World War II.
View all posts by Andrea Thabet, Ph.D.
Remaking Los Angeles 
I love it. “It’s revelation”. Very exciting.