Los Angeles Athletic Club
| Genre |
athletic club social club |
|---|---|
| Founded | September 8, 1880 |
| Headquarters |
431 West Seventh Street |
| Website | |
| Designated | September 16, 1970 |
Los Angeles Athletic Club − LAAC is an athletic club and social club in Los Angeles, California. It awards the John R. Wooden Award to the outstanding men's and women's college basketball player of each year.
History
The LAAC was founded on September 8, 1880, and used several locations over three decades. In 1912 it moved into its own new Los Angeles Athletic Club Building at 431 West Seventh Street in Downtown Los Angeles. The twelve-story Beaux-Arts style clubhouse was designed for the LAAC by John Parkinson and George Bergstrom, and is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. The building was notable for being the first in Southern California to have an interior swimming pool built on an upper floor.
Due to its position in the growth and development of Los Angeles, the LAAC had significant success during its first 60 years, with membership reflecting its position in Los Angeles society and early Hollywood culture. The club faced significant financial burdens due to World War II and the subsequent growth of suburbs.
During its heyday, the LAAC founded a number of other institutions, including the California Yacht Club (1922) and Riviera Country Club (1926). They are now separate entities.
Athletes from the LAAC have earned numerous medals in the Summer Olympics, with a particularly high number during the 1932 Los Angeles Olympiad. The total Olympic medal tally for the LAAC is 97 medals, including 47 gold.[1]
Notable members
- Arthur Alber, Los Angeles City Council member, 1927–29
- L. Frank Baum
- Charlie Chaplin
- George P. Cronk, Los Angeles City Council member, 1945–52
- Edward L. Doheny
- Mayor Fred Eaton
- Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
- Robert Frederick Foster
- Louis F. Gottschalk
- A.E. Henning, Los Angeles City Council member, 1929–33
- Henry Huntington
- Duke Kahanamoku, member of LAAC swimming and water polo teams, also club's lifeguard
- Harold Lloyd
- Parry O'Brien
- Colonel Harrison Otis
- Mary Pickford
- William Desmond Taylor, movie director[2]
- Moses Sherman
- Rudolph Valentino
- Johnny Weissmuller
- Senator Stephen White
- Esther Williams
See also
- List of American gentlemen's clubs
- List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Downtown Los Angeles
- Yule marble
References
- ↑ "L.A.A.C. History: 1951-1969". Los Angeles Athletic Club web site. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
- ↑