Nothing says summer in Los Angeles like the Hollywood Bowl. As the most recent advertising campaign puts it, it is “where summer plays.” As the summer–and the 2014 Bowl season–draw to a close, I thought it fitting to feature one of the most entertaining finds from the Music Center archives. This photograph shows Hollywood Bowl savior Dorothy Buffum Chandler onstage with Vice-President Richard Nixon. The photo was taken in 1955 at the Festival of the Americas.
Dorothy Chandler and Vice-President Richard Nixon on the Hollywood Bowl stage, opening night of Festival of the Americas, 17 August 1955. Photo courtesy of The Music Center Archives / Otto Rothschild Collection.
The Festival of the Americas was a five-day concert series designed to draw in a diverse audience, add prestige to L.A.’s cultural image, and celebrate music and musicians from the entire western hemisphere. Chandler brought national attention to the Hollywood Bowl by personally convincing Nixon—a staunch Cold Warrior and native Southern Californian—to preside over the Festival opening. Nixon’s participation in the Festival built on his recent goodwill tour of ten Latin American and Caribbean nations.[1] As you can see from the photo, Chandler cultivated an aura of glamour surrounding special events like the Festival by attracting a formally attired, “star-studded audience.”[2] I found this image striking not only because of the formality of their dress, but also because of the expression on Chandler’s face, her stance, and the fact that Nixon is holding her arm. My take is that Chandler did not particularly like Nixon touching her, or perhaps she was skeptical of something he said–but it seems like she is pulling away from him slightly but allowing his touch because they were standing in front of a crowd of thousands. What’s your take on the photo?
[1] In Chandler’s view, the Festival was also an opportunity to connect culture to Cold War tensions in a tangible way, by “paying tribute to our neighbors,” because “we need our neighbors and they need us in these times when we must guard against the inroads of communism.” (Koopal, Grace G., Miracle of Music, 239–241, 243.)
Dr. Andrea Thabet is a historian specializing in Los Angeles, urban, and public history, with a focus on urban renewal policy and cultural policy in the United States. Dr. Thabet has worked as a Curatorial Assistant at the Skirball Cultural Center and Museum in Los Angeles as well as at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. She has taught college level courses in her areas of expertise, including a course on the U.S. Civil Rights Movement at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and America in the 1960s at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Thabet 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. Presently, she serves as Co-Coordinator for the L.A. History & Metro Studies Group, based at the Huntington Library. Dr. Thabet holds a Ph.D and an M.A. in U.S. History from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in History with an Art History minor from Loyola Marymount University. She has presented her research at a number of academic conferences and public events. Dr. Thabet’s forthcoming 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. Her published works on Los Angeles and urban history have appeared in both academic and popular journals, in both print and digital formats. 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: “The House that Mary Built: The 1936 California House and Garden Exposition.” Dr. Thabet is currently working on a book manuscript based on her dissertation, "Culture as Urban Renewal: Remaking Public Space in Postwar Los Angeles."
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2 thoughts on “‘Where Summer Plays’…”
She totally looks uncomfortable with him grabbing her arm, but she definitely put on a brave face, like a classy lady would do in a crowd of thousands. Perhaps he called her on stage to pay recognition for putting on the festival.
Leslie, I love hearing your take. Definitely possible he called her up on stage–I don’t have any records about that, but it would be worth looking into.
Remaking Los Angeles 
She totally looks uncomfortable with him grabbing her arm, but she definitely put on a brave face, like a classy lady would do in a crowd of thousands. Perhaps he called her on stage to pay recognition for putting on the festival.
Leslie, I love hearing your take. Definitely possible he called her up on stage–I don’t have any records about that, but it would be worth looking into.