The Downtown Shopping News Factory/National Guard Building/East library is located at 3440 South Hope Street in downtown Los Angeles. This large, four-story, concrete warehouse structure is rectangular in plan and located on the northeast corner of the intersection of S. Hope and W. 35th Streets. The building was designed in a simple Art Deco style, with elements of Spanish Colonial Revival and Beaux Arts Classicism. The west and south elevations (the primary facades) are notable for thin vertical bays of steel-framed, multi-light, awning windows alternating with projecting rectilinear pilasters that span from the second floor to the cornice.
Wider bays emphasize the corners. The main facade faces west and has a scored concrete finish. Molded stringcourses are located above the first story and at the roofllna. The main entrance is located at the northwest corner of the building, recessed from view and supported by a squared concrete pier. The south side of the building faces W. 35th Street and features five loading doors at the first story and two sets of metal fire stairs at the upper stories. A four-bay wide structure, most likely an elevator tower, extends above the parapet of the south elevation.
Alterations·
The building was constructed in 1927. A one-story abutting building was built by 1950, since demolished. Over the decades numerous alterations have been made to the building's interior. Stone grillwork and Churrigueresque ornamentation at the building's corners were removed and at least one loading bay (south facade) has been infilled (dates unknown).
Significance
The East Library is an excellent example of a downtown Los Angeles Industrial Art Deco building designed by the pre-eminent Los Angeles architectural firm of Morgan, Walls & Clements. The building is also significant for its role as an Armory and the part it played in the growth of the California National Guard. The designers of the building; Morgan, Walls and Clements, were a prolific local architectural firm known for their theater designs and commercial work from the 1910s to the early 1930s. Prior to the construction of the current building, the site was in the E.E.Thomas Home Tract No. 2. It contained two vacant lots and a Single-family dwelling (Sanborn Map Company, 1922). According to building permit information, the current structure was built in 1927 as a printing factory for the Los Angeles Downtown Shopping News. Morgan, Walls & Clements were the architects, and P.J. Walker was the contractor. The Los Angeles Downtown Shopping News specialized in producing advertising for businesses ("About the Armory", 2009) and occupied the building through at least 1940. By 1947 the building housed the Pacific Press Inc. (Bldg. permit
1947LS15848).
By 1950 the building was home to the California National Guard Armory, and the abutting onestory building to the northeast (since demolished) housed the Army Ordinance Warehouse Depot (Sanborn Map Company, 1950). The acquisition of the property was made during a period of expansion for the National Guard. According to Major General O'Sullivan, the Adjutant General of California at the time, a significantly larger California force and armories to house them was needed. "For national defense, for the benefit of the youth ofthe State and for the development of community assets, California will need 218 armories to house and train 43,000 men, which is the ultimate goal of the State's National Guard"(Los Angeles Times, 4/1/1947, Al}. When the Korean War started, the California National Guard was federalized, and the 40th Infantry Division moved to Camp Cooke and later Japan for advanced training ("The History of the California National Guard", 2009). In response, the California National Guard Reserves (formerly the California Defense and Security Corps) became the states' defense force (Los Angeles Times, 9/7/19S2). To fillthis role, the california National Guard Reserves was rapidly expanded as prescribed by Gov. Warren and the State legislature. The purpose of the corps was to fulfillthe former functions of the National Guard such as assisting rnunlctpaI or county peace officers in the event of any emergency such as air raids, riots, sabotage, or natural disaster and in the protection of war installations.
From the late 1970s to the mid 1980s, the building housed local California Conservation Corps administrative offices. The program, created in 1976, promoted the employment and training of youth in the development and maintenance of the state's natural resources and environment ("About the Armory", 2009).
The University of Southern California (USC) purchased the property in mid 1980's and remodeled the building to become the East library. The building is currently labeled the "East Library" on campus maps. The building is home to the library's bindery and preservation office, university archives, and provides access for researchers to USC's regional history collection and the AIDS social policy archives.
The designers of the building, Morgan, Walls, and Clements, were a prolific local architectural firm known for their theater designs and commercial work from the 1910s to the early 1930s (Pitt, 332). The firm's principals were Octavius Morgan, 1.A.Walls, and Stile o. Clements. Octavius Morgan was born and studied architecture in England and immigrated to the United States in 1870. He was employed in Los Angeles by E.P. Kysor as a draughtsman and practiced with Kysor until 1888. Their most famous collaboration is St. Viblanna's Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles. in, 1889 Morgan joined John A. Walls and opened Morgan and Walls. Morgan brought his son O.W. Morgan aboard in 1910. Stiles Clements was born in Centerville, Maryland in 1883 and trained at both Drexel in Philadelphia and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He came to Los Angeles in 1911 and worked for Morgan and Walls. He became a partner in the firm in 1923. Some of the firms most notable buildings are: McKinley Building (1923), Adamson House (1928), The Belasco Theatre (1926), The EI Capitan Theatre (1926), Samson Tyre/Uniroyal Building in Commerce (1929), Security First National Bank of Los Angeles (1929), Dominquez-Wilshire Building (1930), Los Angeles Pacific Telephone Building (1911 & 1930). The Toberman/Hollywood Storage Warehouse built in 1925 by the firm has similar stylistic elements to The Los Angeles Down Town Shopping News Factory building. On both structures the Churrigueresque detailing has been removed.
Architectural Styles:
Beaux Arts Classicism refers to a style named after the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris where many American architects received their training. The style favored Greek and Roman building typologies stressing their monumentality, formality and symmetry. In the case of 3440 South Hope, the influence of Beaux Arts Classlcism is evident in its solidity and monumentality of the structure Beaux Arts classicism found its form throughout the United States in post offices, courthouses, libraries, and in this case-a factory.
Conclusion
The building at 3440 Hope Street is significant for Its representation of the expansion of the California National Guard and California National Guard Reserves during the Korean War in the early 1950s. The building is also significant as being a rare, intact example of downtown Los Angeles industrial Art Deco architecture designed by the preeminent Los Angeles architecture firm Morgan, Walls and Clements.
It was identified .as potentially eligible for local designation as part of the environmental review for the USC 2030 Master Plan that was approved in 2012. This Historic Cultural-Monument application is part of the identified Mitigation Measures for the Master Plan.