Some of you may remember when the UCI population was small enough that bicycling was a relatively safe means of transportation around campus. Below are a number of images from Schwinn Bicycle Catalogs from the early 1970s showing bike paths at UCI, some of which now restrict bikes. Do you recognize where these photos were taken?
Images from Schwinn catalogs are from this site: http://www.trfindley.com/pg_schwinn_cats.htm (last viewed 7/30/2010)
Lotte Lenya, the world renowned German actress, came to UCI to perform in the title role of Bertolt Brecht’s play Mother Courage in November 1971. She did the play, with a cast of UCI students, under the direction of her long-time friend, New York director Herbert Machiz (below left, with Lenya and a student actor). This was the first time that she had done the play in America in English. While she was here, Lenya, who was 73 at the time, lived in an apartment near the ocean in Laguna Beach. Early in her career, she married the German composer and song writer Kurt Weil, in 1926. He was best known for his collaborations with playwright Bertold Brecht. Lenya was an overnight sensation in the role of Jenny in the premier of the Brecht-Weil play the Threepenny Opera in 1928. Lenya and Weil moved from Germany to Paris in 1933 and then to New York. All of Weil’s and Brecht’s work was banned in Germany by the Nazis. Lotte Lenya had great success as an actress on the stage and in film throughout her life, but she may have been best known for her performances of Kurt Weil songs, e.g. “Mack the Knife” and “Pirate Jenny” from the Threepenny Opera and “Alabama Song” from Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Lotte Leyna died in New York in 1981. She is buried next to Kurt Weill in Haverstraw, New York.
AS-051. Beth Koch photographs of the University of California, Irvine, 1963-1984 . Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
The UCI School of Fine Arts organized DUCHAMP IS…, the Marcel Duchamp Festival, consisting of a variety of events, lectures, panel discussions, films, happenings, performances, chess games, and magic, held on campus throughout November 1971. The schedule for the festival is below, as printed in the New University. The event was organized by Barbara Rose and Moira Roth, both on the faculty at that time. Among those participating were Richard Hamilton, Robert Hughes, Walter Hopps, Barbara Rose, Moira Roth, Robert Pincus Witten, Alison Knowles, Allen Kaprow, Tony DeLap, Susi Bloch, Annette Michelson and David Antin. An exhibition of some of Duchamp’s work and work from others influenced by Duchamp was held in the UCI Art Gallery. Many other unannounced and unscheduled events occurred as well. Anne d’Harnoncourt (Philadelphia Museum of Art) and Kynaston McShine (Museum of Modern Art), who were working together on the major 1973 Duchamp retrospective, were in the audience. Charlemagne Palestine and Simone Forti collaborated on a performance piece. Tony DeLap (sculptor, faculty member and magician) created a levitation piece titled “A Spatial Occurence.” The invitation for the festival stated: “You are invited to attend the opening of ‘DUCHAMP IS…’ on November the sixth. There will be a 6pm celebration on the grass at the Art Gallery. Perhaps you could bring bread and cheese to share. Opening ceremonies 8pm, Concert Hall.” According to the few first-person accounts available, the festival was a tremendous success.
New University. Vol. 4/No. 11. November 5, 1971. page 7.
The first ASUCI elections took place in February 1967. Below is a photograph of students voting in Gateway Plaza, next to what is now Langson Library. The first elected officers were Jack Lewin (President), Donald Cline (Vice President), and Ross Walker (Secretary).
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Descendants of the Juaneno branch of the Mission Indians, including Chief Lobo, hike past the “Bell Tower” marker at the center of what would become the UCI campus, on the original 1,000 acres donated to The Regents by the Irvine Company. Clarence Lobo, elected chief of the Juaneno, wrote this about the plans for the UCI campus on this land: “Our children shall not know the experience of roaming over these rolling hills and listening to the wild birds as they talk to nature. Here now will be a fountain of knowledge where the cream of our youth shall drink from the rivers of learning…. The future belongs to our youth. Our footprints upon the sands of time shall be history to them.”
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Chancellor Aldrich chats with Chet Huntley, co-anchor of NBC’s national evening news program “The Huntley-Brinkley Report,” before being interviewed about the new UCI campus on camera for the documentary titled “1,000-Acre Campus.” The interview took place on January 12, 1964, on the open land that would soon become UCI.
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
UCI Site Dedication Day was June 20, 1964, and many luminaries attended and spoke at the ceremony. The Site Dedication plaque was unveiled by President Lyndon B. Johnson soon after he gave his address. Only a short 15 months later UC Irvine would open for classes with seven new buildings completed.
Below Chancellor Aldrich views the Site Dedication plaque in September 1965, soon after it was mounted on a wall near Gateway Commons (now the Libraries Gateway Study Center). The Site Dedication plaque is currently located in Special Collections and Archives in Langson Library.
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
At the UCI Site Dedication ceremony on June 20, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson gave the principal speech, with an introduction by U.C. President Clark Kerr and welcoming remarks by Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, U.C. Regents Chairman Edward W. Carter, and UCI Chancellor Daniel Aldrich. Although U.S. Presidents had visited Orange County during political campaigns at least four previous times, this was the first formal “Presidential visit” to Orange County. Johnson addressed the importance of education to California and the nation, and complimented California’s leadership, including Clark Kerr in particular, for their vision in implementing progressive educational programs to meet the forthcoming demands. Below is the text of President Johnson’s speech.
AS-004. Central Records Unit records, 1928-1994. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Eiler Larson, aka the Laguna Beach greeter, was well known for waving to and welcoming motorists as they drove on Pacific Coast Highway into Laguna Beach from the 1940s through the 1960s. A statue of Mr. Larson now stands in front of the Greeter’s Corner Restaurant in his honor, and another statue is in front of the Pottery Shack. Both are on PCH in Laguna. Below is a photo of Mr. Larson attending the UCI Site Dedication ceremony on June 20, 1964. Larsen lived in a room at the Laguna Hotel, and made his living as a gardener. He died at age 84 in a Capistrano Beach nursing home in 1975.
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Tryouts for the first UCI cheerleading squad (aka songleaders) occurred at Gateway Plaza in November 1965. The first UCI varsity basketball game took place on December 1, 1965, at Campus Hall. Wearing their ZOT pins, the new songleaders helped cheer the team on to a 85-71 victory over UC Riverside.
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
