Occidental College

Occidental College. Highland Park campus. , Los Angeles’ Oldest Liberal Arts College , Venerable Occidental College is the oldest liberal arts college in Los Angeles. Although a fixture of the Eagle Rock neighborhood for over a century, it was located in Highland Park for a short time. The college was founded in Boyle Heights in 1887, by members of the Presbyterian Church. Its first year tuition was only $50 and the founding class consisted of forty enrolled students. A fire destroyed the original school, leading to a temporary relocation to Downtown Los Angeles in 1896. In 1897, under school president Reverend Guy W. Wadsworth, Occidental relocated to ten acres of land in Highland Park conveniently bisected by the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad, and donated by Sarah Judson, wife of Highland Park developer Albert H. Judson. , Occidental Comes to Highland Park , The Highland Park campus opened in 1898, just three years after Highland Park was annexed by the City of Los Angeles. The first building erected on the property was the Academy Building, followed by the Stimson Library, and the Hall of Arts and Letters building, both of which were completed in 1904. The compact campus was also home to smaller buildings including dormitories and a science lab, as well as an athletic field. Nearby Sycamore Terrace, which was a short walk from campus, was known as "Professors Row," and was home to many of the school's faculty. , Notable Alumni and Guests , During Occidental's Highland Park period, it graduated several famous alumni including poet and environmentalist Robinson Jeffers, who wrote for the school's literary journal and graduated in 1905. Occidental College maintains a large collection of his work. Occidental's first Rhodes Scholar was Clarence Spaulding, noted in 1908. Student athlete Fred Thompson acquired a reputation by running across the tops of trains, which regularly interrupted classes. On one occasion, he famously wrestled control of the locomotive from the conductor and motorman, prompting threats of a lawsuit. Thompson graduated in 1910 and went on to participate in the 1912 Olympics. He then embarked on a film career that was cut short by an early death at age 38 from pneumonia. Furthermore, two U.S. presidents visited the Highland Park campus: Theodore Roosevelt in 1909, and William Howard Taft in 1911. , Occidental Leaves Highland Park , In 1909, it was decided that the campus, barely a decade in Highland Park, would look for a new location. Under new presiden John Willis Baer, the school chose to relocate to Eagle Rock on 75 acres of land donated by developers James G. Garth, W.A. Roberts, and Ralph Rogers, representatives of a land syndicate that aimed to sell residential lots with Occidental as an enticement. Construction of the new campus began in 1912, and classes commenced in the autumn of 1914. , After moving to its new campus, the Highland Park buildings were repurposed. The Academy Building operated as the Occidental Academy, a college-preparatory school. However, with the building of Franklin High School nearby, principal Charles B. Moore and the student body decided to move, vacating the Academy Building. It was then briefly used as a gymnasium, but was soon demolished. The beautiful Beaux Arts-style Stimson Library was dismantled to make way for a car dealership. Of the three major buildings, only the Oliver P. Dennis and Lyman Farwell-designed Hall of Arts and Letters remains, although not unscathed (its top story was removed). This building later found a second life as an apartment building. In 1993, it was designated Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument No. 585.