WALTER L. GORDON COLLECTION TO BE HOUSED AT USC'S DOHENY LIBRARY August 2, 2004 Los Angeles --- The Walter L. Gordon photo collection, representing one of the largest privately-held collections of photographs depicting life in the African-American community of Los Angeles from the 1920s through the 1950s, is now being preserved and made available for scholarly and public access through the Edward L. Doheny, Jr. Memorial Library, at the University of Southern California. "The Walter Gordon photo collection is an important body of primary materials and will provide an invaluable resource for the study of Los Angeles history," said Guy DeFazio, president and chairman of the Center for Jazz Arts. "Since the time that our local research first discovered its existence, we've worked closely with Judge William Beverly, the collection's trustee, to assist in securing the most appropriate local repository for it. We are incredibly pleased to now see the Doheny Library become its permanent home." As a member of the California State Bar for more than fifty years, Walter L. Gordon has been a part of numerous, landmark legal decisions throughout Los Angeles history, and has had a distinguished career of service to the local community. Growing-up during a period when African-Americans in the United States were faced with racial challenges inconceivable by today's standards, Walter Gordon's overwhelming passion for personal achievement can be traced from the early days of his ambitious, cross-town newspaper route in 1910s Los Angeles, to his successful studies at the USC Preparatory School, and finally to his academic studies at Ohio State University. Returning to California upon completion of his university studies, in 1936, Walter Gordon's legal practice would itself soon become an inseparable part of the history of downtown Los Angeles. Since the opening of his first office in L.A.'s Central Avenue district (Central Ave. and 41st St.), his long list of legal representations has spanned nearly every field of twentieth-century public service, from Elementary School Teachers to Pullman Porters, as well as brought him together with numerous, leading figures from the earliest years of American popular music, sports, and entertainment. More important to the field of cultural heritage preservation, it was Walter Gordon's deep, personal understanding of the accomplishments and challenges that faced the African-American artists and community members around him that would lead to his collecting of such a rich body of images and memories. Of the entertainment- and music-themed images in the Walter Gordon Collection, rare photographs of leading, male entertainers such as Louis Armstrong, Nat "King" Cole, Noble Sissle, Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Cab Calloway, and Lionel Hampton are included, as are equally important personal and public moments involving such pioneering female entertainers as Dorothy Dandridge, Billie Holiday, Pearl Bailey, Valaida Snow, and others. Also included are photos and memories from a wide variety of local venues, including Club Alabam, Lovejoy's, The Plantation Club, and The Cotton Club, as well as other, more informal, event-related venues from both Central Avenue and Los Angeles history. The setting of USC's Doheny Memorial Library, and its equally enriching legacy in Southern California, is an especially fitting home for Walter Gordon's memories of Los Angeles. Founded in 1932, and situated in an area of downtown not far from the very neighborhoods and streets that have served as the backdrop for his lifetime, the opening of Doheny Library was itself a defining moment in local history. Made possible through the generous gift of Carrie Estelle Doheny, to honor her son Edward L. Doheny, Jr., it served as the first, freestanding library on the USC campus. With its grand facade, stained-glass windows, ornate entranceways, ceilings, and murals, it was a centerpiece of downtown architecture and continues to be one of the most beautiful structures in Los Angeles. Originally designed to support a university population of 14000, its American Literature Collection, Lion Feuchtwanger Memorial Library (where Walter Gordon's photographs are being preserved), USC Regional History Collection, and other important archives, have continued to secure its place as the flagship facility of a USC library system now serving more than 30000 students and faculty. In his continued commitment to sharing the vast amount of historical experience represented in his collection, and with it now being made accessible through the Doheny Library, Walter Gordon has also offered to work with interested students, faculty, or professional documentarians, in the creation of a companion visual testimony. For additional information on how to help support this initiative, or to possibly participate in its production and filming, please contact Judge William Beverly or the USC Feuchtwanger Library (in the Doheny Memorial Library). To contact William Beverly: William C. Beverly, Jr. Eighth & Wall, Inc. (310) 541-1690 eighthandwall@aol.com To contact the USC Feuchtwanger Library: Marje Schuetze-Coburn Assoc. Exec. Director, Specialized Libraries Feuchtwanger Librarian (213) 740-7119 schuetze@usc.edu About the CJA: Established in 2004, the Center for Jazz Arts is an international institution devoted to the study and advancement of American jazz culture throughout the visual, literary, and classical arts, around the world. Through its primary operations in Los Angeles, it is building a prominent new platform of engagement for students, artists, educators, and the broader public, from every generation. To contact the CJA: Public Relations Center for Jazz Arts (866) 950-5200 info@centerforjazzarts.com [ back to top ]