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Society tells the tales of aviation in Westchester/Playa del Rey
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available on their website. “Aviation has really shaped this particular community,” Cruz said. “When World War II broke out, the defense workers were given their housing in Westchester so some of them could walk to work. That is how this community really grew. Since then, of course, with the Los Angeles airport becoming an international airport, it grew through that. This exhibition will take everybody through the history from the beginning.” One of the things Cruz finds interesting is how many street names in the community are aviation related. They have a full list of all the streets and their connections to aviation. “I think people who may live on these streets and don’t know the history will enjoy learning how these street names came about,” Cruz said. The exhibition surrounds visitors from top to bottom. They are flying handmade airplane models from the ceiling. Models include ones of The Spirit of Saint Louis, the Lockheed 5B Vega airplane that Amelia Earhart flew, the Graf Zeppelin that stopped over on its 1929 flight around the world, and many others.
The exhibit touches upon the many historical events and people that contributed to the historic growth of the aviation industry and includes archival photos, uniforms, historical clips and family-friendly activities. PAGE 16 THE ARGONAUT FEBRUARY 3, 2022
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE WESTCHESTER/PLAYA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
By Bridgette M. Redman he Westchester/Playa Historical Society has taken to the skies with its first themed exhibition at its Discovery Center. In an exhibit called “AVIATION” that opened in January and runs through March 6, the society is celebrating the area’s rich history of flight, dating back 110 years to 1912. Marcelo Cruz, the exhibition’s curator and vice chair of the Westchester/Playa Historical Society, said it touches upon the many historical events and people that contributed to the historic growth of the industry. “We’ve had a lot of famous aviators at the air races here since 1928,” Cruz said, citing Howard Hughes as one and the aircraft he kept in the community for many years. As a historical society that relies on donations, they were able to create this exhibition because of the financial support of a local IHOP owner, who is a longtime supporter of the society. It is, Cruz said, the only way they were able to move forward with everything they are doing. The exhibition is open every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pictures from the exhibition are
The Westchester/Playa Historical Society’s current exhibition “AVIATION” runs through March 6 and celebrates the area’s rich history of flight dating back 110 years. “We’re flying these and people can see the handmade models,” Cruz said. “They’re made out of balsa wood and painted and carefully crafted to be a replica of the planes.” The Discovery Center also has two mannequins. One displays an American Airlines stewardess outfit from 1969 and the other a United Airlines pilot uniform from 1972. The exhibit shares who designed them and the factors that went into it—such as the stewardess uniform needing to match the colors of the airline itself. The Historical Society pulls photos from its archives along with art deco-style posters that were designed for the air races from 1928, 1933 and 1936. “Those were all art deco style and really cool-looking,” Cruz said. “We have a historical timeline series with photos of LA Airport to LAX.” Another part of the exhibition focuses on people who passed through the region. There is a biographical series on Wiley Post, the first person to fly around the world solo. He helped develop early pressure suits and discovered the jet stream. In August of 1935, he died taking off from a lagoon in Alaska. The humorist Will Rogers, who was an avid aviation supporter, was on board with him and also died.
Another movie is a 13-minute historical clip on Bessie Colman, an African-American aviatrix. She was the first African-American and first Native American to hold a pilot’s license and the first Black person to hold an international pilot’s license. However, she to go to France to learn how to fly because pilots in America refused to teach her due to her race and gender. Coleman flew in some of the most dangerous air shows in the United States, a daredevil pilot who always sought out increasingly difficult tricks, earning her the nickname Queen Bess and Brave Bessie. While she hoped to start a school for AfricanAmerican fliers, she died at age 34 in 1926 when she was thrown out of a plane researching a landing spot for her parachute jump. The pilot crashed into a tree and died. William J. Powell established the Bessie Coleman Aero Club and the Bessie Coleman Flying School in Los Angeles, both of which were focused on giving more flight opportunities to African Americans. On Labor Day in 1931, he would host the first ever all-Black air show in U.S. history in the city. The Discovery Center is open every Sunday in conjunction with the Farmer’s Market and they have several activities designed to attract children and
families. One of the society’s board members teaches at the Otis College of Art and Design. She has created a large cut-out of parts of a plane—one that takes up a 10-foot by 10-foot footprint. Kids are invited to come and paint the different parts. There will also be a spot for kids to make and color their own paper airplanes. “We’ll be addressing the subject of aviation from both an educational standpoint and a fun standpoint,” Cruz said. “With the California mandate that fourth graders and ninth graters all have to study local history, we are providing activities to do that.” Finally, there are laptops in the exhibition area where people can log in and take a look at the Society’s collection of more than 12,000 images. “Our goal is to provide a place where (guests) are comfortable to look at history but also to have fun,” Cruz said. “As we know, history can be extremely boring—I say that as a graduate with a degree in history. But if you make it fun, you make it interesting, I think people can learn that way.” Westchester/Playa Historical Society 6207 W. 87th Street, Westchester wphistoricalsociety.org
