Roundup: February 11, 2015

Almansor Court – 700 S. Almansor, Alhambra, CA.
Social Hour: 5:00 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM

Speaker: Barbara Schultz
Subject: Flying Carpets, Flying Wings: The Biography of Moye W. Stephens

Join us in February for a fascinating presentation by aviation historian and author, Barbara Schultz, discussing her book, Flying Carpets, Flying Wings, The Biography of Moye W. Stephens.  Come hear the remarkable story of Moye W. Stephens, whose legacy spanned fifty years of aviation history and embraced the early days of flight in Southern California.  Moye is associated with Howard Hughes, Amelia Earhart and many other notable aviators.  Beginning in 1931, he piloted an around the world flight lasting 18 months with famed author, Richard Halliburton, which took them to Timbuktu, Borneo and beyond. Schultz’s book recounts the first factual narrative of this Flying Carpet flight. The program also delves into Stephens’ first commercial run; The Gambler’s Run, to Agua Caliente, Mexico.

Barbara Schultz, herself a pilot, lives with her husband on their own airport, Little Buttes Antique Airpark, north of Lancaster. Their home is part of a hanger that houses several vintage aircraft. Ms. Schultz has written four aviation history books. She travels around the country sharing her love for and knowledge of aviation history. This promises to be an enjoyable presentation so come fly with us in February to learn more about this exciting era of aviation history.

Roundup: January 14, 2015

Almansor Court – 700 S. Almansor, Alhambra, CA.
Social Hour: 5:00 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM

Speaker: Jerry Gordon
Subject: Frank A. Miller: Peace, Beliefs, and Culture

Click here to view photos from the event.

Riverside, California and Frank A. Miller cannot be thought of separately. Miller made a significant impact on the area during his lifetime beginning when he was 17 in 1874. His family moved that year to Riverside from Wisconsin. By the time he died in 1935, he had built a destination hotel that still attracts thousands of visitors to Riverside and to his Mission Inn. During his lifetime, he was a businessperson, a promoter, and a community backer who contributed to local churches, schools, hospitals, performance halls and numerous individuals he considered in need of his support.

Perhaps Miller’s most noteworthy contributions were in areas most people were unaware of and form the focus of this presentation. His religious beliefs were far more liberal than people realize. His support, understanding, and acceptance of cultures different from his own were truly refreshing and certainly different and unique for his time. Above all, his advocacy for peace was perhaps his most outstanding achievement that lingers to the present.

This presentation will uncover some of those projects and people who benefitted from his generosity. He expressed his support for his community through his religious or spiritual beliefs, his recognition and acceptance of people much different from himself, and his unrelenting efforts on behalf of world peace. This talk will not trace the history of the Mission Inn or for that matter the history of Riverside but rather will look at Miller as a caring and compassionate individual. Riverside was fortunate to have Frank A. Miller as a resident of its community.

Roundup: January 14, 2015

Almansor Court – 700 S. Almansor, Alhambra, CA.
Social Hour: 5:00 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM

Speaker: Jerry Gordon
Subject: Frank A. Miller: Peace, Beliefs, and Culture

Riverside, California and Frank A. Miller cannot be thought of separately. Miller made a significant impact on the area during his lifetime beginning when he was 17 in 1874. His family moved that year to Riverside from Wisconsin. By the time he died in 1935, he had built a destination hotel that still attracts thousands of visitors to Riverside and to his Mission Inn. During his lifetime, he was a businessperson, a promoter, and a community backer who contributed to local churches, schools, hospitals, performance halls and numerous individuals he considered in need of his support.

Perhaps Miller’s most noteworthy contributions were in areas most people were unaware of and form the focus of this presentation. His religious beliefs were far more liberal than people realize. His support, understanding, and acceptance of cultures different from his own were truly refreshing and certainly different and unique for his time. Above all, his advocacy for peace was perhaps his most outstanding achievement that lingers to the present.

This presentation will uncover some of those projects and people who benefitted from his generosity. He expressed his support for his community through his religious or spiritual beliefs, his recognition and acceptance of people much different from himself, and his unrelenting efforts on behalf of world peace. This talk will not trace the history of the Mission Inn or for that matter the history of Riverside but rather will look at Miller as a caring and compassionate individual. Riverside was fortunate to have Frank A. Miller as a resident of its community.

Roundup Photos: December 10, 2014

Roundup: December 10, 2014

Almansor Court – 700 S. Almansor, Alhambra, CA.
Social Hour: 5:00 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM

Speaker: Gina Napolitan & Beaux Mingus
Subject: Basques and the Disappearing West

Click here to view photos from the event.

Gina Marie Napolitan and Beaux Gest Mingus, Los Angeles-based filmmakers and arts educators earned Master Degrees in Film/Video from California Institute of the Arts will present a program on the disappearing Basque culture in the American West.

The pair worked closely on this Basque history project with Philippe Duhart, a first-generation Basque-American and PhD candidate in the Sociology program at UCLA, and historian Steve Bass.

The result of that collaboration has been “Disappearing West,” a film that investigates the little-known and largely undocumented history of the Basque-American diaspora. It traces the distinct visual and social landscape: scattered social clubs, idiosyncratic boarding houses, abandoned livestock bridges, and elaborate graffiti carved into the aspen trees along sheep grazing routes by Basque shepherds.

Originally from the Pyrenees Mountains on the border of France and Spain, the Basques played an overlooked but meaningful role in the creation of the American West, shaping it both physically and economically through their dominance of the sheep herding industry in the early 20th century.

However, Basque-American culture is slowly disappearing: the first-generation immigrant population is aging and virtually no new immigrants have arrived since the 1980s; historic buildings are being torn down; traditional sheep herding and the open lands associated with it are increasingly rare.

The Los Angeles Corral’s own venerable Froy Tiscareño recommended this interesting program.