RonnieAdventures: RonnieAdventure #0346

Early Native Americans living in southern California when the Spanish arrived were called Tongvas ("People of the Earth"); but after establishing Mission San Gabriel Arcangel in 1542 to "civilize" the Tongvas, the Natives became known as "Gabrielenos." The town that developed around the Mission became known as El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncule. When the Europeans arrived in the area they could not pronounce or remember the town's name, so they shortened it to Los Angeles.

Starting in the early 1900s, there was a large in-migration of people to Southern California, which created an increased demand for dairy and poultry products. So, a desolate area of land away from the Los Angeles population center was chosen to be used for dairy and chicken farms. Due to the preponderance of dairy and chicken farms constructed, the area became known as Dairy Valley. At one time there were about 400 dairies with 100,000 milk cows and about 106,300 chickens raised on various chicken farms. The area's population was reported to be 29 cows and 30 chickens for each person.

Over the years, the Los Angeles population expanded outward and forced closure of the dairies and chicken farms; so in 1967 the town's name was changed to "Cerritos" (Spanish for "Little Hills") after the nearby historic large Spanish Land Grant Rancho Las Cerritos.

Thelma Catherina Ryan was born in Ely, Nevada, to the parent of William and Katherine Ryan; but moved to Cerritos when she was 2-years old. Thelma was the youngest of five children - she had two older brothers, an older half-brother and half-sister from her Mother's first marriage. (Katherine's first husband died in a South Dakota flash flood.)

Ryan's lived on a small truck farm in Cerritos and when Thelma was 12-years old, her mother died; so she had to assume all household duties in addition to working in the fields. When Thelma was 17 her father died; and she was left to support herself through high school by working as a bank janitor, bookkeeper, and various odd jobs. (In high school Thelma's nickname was "Buddy" and her ambition after graduation was to run a boarding house, which never happened.)

After graduating from high school, Thelma moved to New York City and worked as a secretary and radiographer; but after two years she moved back to California to attend college. She put herself through college by working as a driver, pharmacy manager, telephone operator, typist, miscellaneous part-time campus jobs, sales clerk at Bullock's-Wilshires, taught high school students touch typing and shorthand, and had bit parts in movies, including Becky Sharp, The Great Ziegfeld, and Small Town Girl. In 1937 Thelma graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California (USC) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Merchandising and what USC deemed equivalent to a Master's degree in teaching. One of her professors said that Thelma "stood out from the empty-headed, overdressed little sorority girls of that era like a good piece of literature on a shelf of cheap paperbacks." Although Thelma never legally changed her first name, she always went by Pat because she was born the day before St. Patrick's Day. In 1940, she married Richard Nixon and went on to become First Lady of the United States.

On August 31, 1986, Aeromexico Flight 498, while on final Approach to Los Angeles International Airport, collided with a small plane that had wandered into the commercial air-path over Cerritos. Killed were all 64 people on the DC-9 Airliner, 3 people in the small private plane, and 15 people on the ground. The small plane fell into an unoccupied elementary schoolyard; but the DC-9 airliner crashed upside-down into a residential neighborhood, destroying 12 houses. The people of Cerritos had a sculpture placed in the Cerritos Sculpture Gardens in memory of those who perished in the disaster.

The Cerritos web site states that the memorial sculpture was designed by artist Kathleen Caricof and "features three elements representative of the three groups of people that perished. The piece is created with three different materials including white and dark gray marbles and black granite. The materials have been sculpted into two free-form shapes in the likeness of abstracted wings, which are symbolic of flying, weightlessness and release. The wing-like pieces are approximately 10 feet tall and 14 feet tall, including the pedestals. A third element is placed horizontally and serves as a bench for visitors to rest on and reflect."

Other notable pieces of art located in the Sculpture Garden include the “Statue of Freedom,” which is a downsized replica of the original bronze figure that stands atop the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Provided information states "The 'Statue of Freedom' depicts a female figure in flowing draped clothing with her right hand resting on the hilt of a sword and her left hand holding a laurel wreath of victory and the shield of the United States with 13 stripes. The 'Statue of Freedom' stands on a base encircled with 'E Pluribus Unum,' a Latin phrase meaning 'Out of Many, One,' which was adopted as the motto of the Great Seal of the United States, and refers to the original 13 colonies united as one. The base is carved in granite in the likeness of the original cast-iron globe."

"Mirage" is described by the artist as a sculpture "about those ethereal phenomena, which are impossible to actually touch. I was inspired by a desert mirage where a distant mountain range appeared to float in the sky, and this is my attempt to represent it in permanent sculpture form."

"Infinity," is a "stainless steel art piece that appears to change formation from different viewing angles. During the day, the lights and shadows from the garden environment interplay with and reflect upon the stainless steel structure. At night, dramatic colors and hues are projected on the sculpture and are visible throughout the garden and from the Civic Center campus."

“Dancer” is a bronze sculpture created by Lyle London of Tempe, Arizona.

“Joker” and "Flame" are part of a temporary two-year sculpture display.

There were several other beautiful sculptures and fountains in the Sculpture Gardens.

And, in front of the Cerritos Civic Center was "Dolphins," "Amaryllis," and "Tsunami," which depicts a seismic sea wave.

A tour map is available of the many art works located around the City (over 50 sites); but it was late in the afternoons, so we had to limit our tour to the Cerritos Civic Center campus.

Located in City Hall were three paintings entitled "Skowhegen," "Red-Black," and "Blink" and located outside of City Hall is "Illuminations."

The Cerritos Library is located in the Civic Center campus and contains a large 15,000 gallon aquarium that is built to represent the great barrier reefs found in the Pacific Ocean. The viewing area is 10 feet high and 25 feet wide.

"Stan," a replica of the 65 million-year-old Tyrannosaurs Rex skeleton found in 1987, is on display in the dinosaur section of the Children's Library. The original specimen, discovered by Stan Sacrison, is on display at the Black Hills Institute of Geology Research in Hill City, South Dakota. Stan's skull is the most intact Tyrannosaurs Rex specimen ever located.