Lummis Day Proclamation

From Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa

Whereas, Lummis Day takes its name from author/adventurer/anthropologist Charles Fletcher Lummis, one of Los Angeles' great historical figures, the first city editor of the Los Angeles Times, one of the city's first librarians and founder of the Southwest Museum, the first museum in the city of Los Angeles, who trekked on foot from Ohio to Los Angeles in 1885, resided in Northeast Los Angeles until his death in 1928 and helped establish the Arroyo area as the first artist's colony and cultural center in the city's history. Lummis championed Native American rights, immersed himself in the culture of the early Californios and Mexican-Americans and, in his writings and his extensive civic work, helped introduce the concept of multi-culturalism to Southern California art and discourse; and

Whereas, Lummis Day: The Festival of Northeast Los Angeles has brought together a community coalition consisting of the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council, the Glassell Park Neighborhood Council, the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council, the North Figueroa Association, Occidental College, the Historical Society of Southern California, the Autry National Center, the Heritage Square Museum, the Tongva Band of Gabrielino Indians, NELA Bikes, the Highland Park Heritage Trust, the Mount Washington Association, the Mount Washington Homeowners Alliance, the Arroyo Seco Foundation, the Arroyo Arts Collective and the Northeast Democratic Club; and

Whereas, the organizers' objectives for the event are the celebration of the diverse culture and history of the Northeast Los Angeles neighborhoods, the strengthening of linkages among cultural, commercial and community resources and the creation of a framework for future civic, creative and commercial growth in Northeast Los Angeles; and,

Whereas, Lummis Day will be preceded by an educational program aimed at teaching young people about Charles Lummis' legacy and the historical roots of the Arroyo neighborhood, to be implemented in Los Angeles Unified School Districts; and,

Now, therefore, I, Antonio R. Villaraigosa, mayor of the City of Los Angeles, on behalf of its residents, do hereby congratulate and commend the organizers of Lummis Day on the their outstanding dedication and commitment to the people of the City of Los Angeles.