Title supplied by cataloger.; Photograph was edited for publication purposes. The Astronomers Monument is a large outdoor concrete sculpture on the front lawn of Griffith Observatory that pays homage to six of the greatest astronomers: Hipparchus, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and Herschel. Artist Archibald Garner designed the sculpture commissioned by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP). Garner worked with five other artists (each responsible for sculpting one astronomer) including George Stanley responsible for the "Oscar" statuette. The monument was dedicated November 25, 1934, six months before the Observatory opened.; In 1896, Griffith J. Griffith donated over 3000 acres of Rancho Los Felis to the City of Los Angeles to create a public park in his name. In 1912 he offered the city $100,000 for an observatory to be built on the top of Mount Hollywood. Designed by architects John C. Austin and Frederick M. Ashley, Griffith Observatory (2800 East Observatory Road) was completed in 1935. In 1976 the observatory was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #168. In 1997 the Department of Recreation and Parks hired project architect Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (now Pfeiffer Partners, Inc.) and associate architect Levin & Associates Architects to design a major renovation and expansion project for the observatory, which was completed in 2006. Griffith Park was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #942 in 2009. First photograph caption dated May 14, 1935 reads, "Bringing the glories of the heavens down to earth, Los Angeles' 'theater of the universe,' the Griffith Observatory, will be formally dedicated tomorrow night at Griffith Park. Then on Wednesday morning the new observatory and planetarium will be thrown open to the general public. Here is night view of the observatory. Silhouetted against the illuminated facade of the building is the Astronomers' Monument. In the small dome at left is the telescope; in the dome at right, the ceolostat for the study of the sun. Under the large center dome is the planetarium, which will show the movements of the stars and planets."; Second photograph caption dated October 27, 1936 reads,"Griffith Observatory, 'Theater of the Universe'--it brings interpretations of starry lore to Los Angeles."
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
Griffith Observatory Observatories--California--Los Angeles Astronomers--Statues--California--Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Griffith Park (Los Angeles, Calif.) Night photographs Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express photographs Herald-Examiner Collection photographs Garner, Archibald Newell, Gordon(Blair Gordon) Stanley, George Burnham, Roger Noble,1876-1962 Foerester, Arnold Austin, John C. W.(John Corneby Wilson),1870-1963 Ashley, Frederick M
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