Conservancy News

The Tucker House

Edit: On February 10th, 2025, the Tucker House nomination was passed for Santa Monica landmark designation, in a unanimous vote, by the Landmarks Commission.

The Santa Monica Conservancy and Quinn Research Center have nominated the home of Dr. Marcus O. Tucker, the city’s first Black physician, as a Santa Monica Landmark. The nomination of 1958 20th Street, the Tucker House, will be heard at Landmarks Commission on Monday, February 10th at 7 p.m., Item 6A. We are happy to share that City staff and its historic resource consultant have also recommended landmarking the residence, acknowledging its architectural, cultural, and historical significance associated with Santa Monica’s African American community.

Designed by Paul Revere Williams, a distinguished architect and first Black member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), built in 1937 by prominent African American general contractor Wince V. King.

The house at 1958 20th Street is architecturally notable as a distinguished example of the American Colonial Revival style applied to a single-family residence.

Meet the Tuckers

The Tuckers (left to right) – Dr. Marcus O. Tucker Sr., Marcus O. Tucker Jr., and Essie McLendon Tucker | Source: History Makers

In recognizing the historical and architectural significance of the Tucker House, the nomination raises awareness of the community impact of Dr. Tucker and his family, including his wife Essie McLendon Tucker, his son Marcus O. Tucker Jr., and his son’s wife, Indira Hale Tucker.

Dr. Tucker began his medical schooling in Missouri, but since Black people weren’t allowed to work in that state’s hospitals, Marcus finished his training at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, where he met Essie.

Tucker Medical Office Building at 424 Pico Boulevard was designed in the Mid-century Modern style. Source: Photograph by Jason Abraham Belmar History + Art – Public Art Archive

They moved to Santa Monica in 1931 and Dr. Tucker soon opened a practice in the Murrell building at 402-404 Pico Boulevard. In 1940, he built his own medical office building up the street at 424 Pico Boulevard about a mile west of the Tucker’s home.

Dr. Marcus O. Tucker served on the staffs of Santa Monica, Culver City, and St. John’s Hospitals, where he treated patients until his passing in 1944. In addition to his substantial medical practice, Dr. Tucker engaged in civic and community projects to make life better for African Americans in Santa Monica and the region.

Essie McLendon Tucker
Source: Quinn Research Center

Essie McLendon Tucker was an elementary school teacher, businesswoman, and property developer. After earning her teaching credentials at UCLA, she taught in Los Angeles while running the family real estate business, including the development of two apartment buildings at the corner of 20th Street and Virginia Avenue.

Essie also owned the Shore Hotel in Downtown Santa Monica from 1957 until she sold it in 1986. As her husband did, Essie sought to improve the lives of Black people. In the 1940s, she served as president of the NAACP Santa Monica-Venice branch. Her work housing visiting African students at UCLA earned her an invitation to Nigeria’s independence celebrations in 1960.

Judge Marcus O. Tucker with his daughter Angelique Stephens and wife Indira Hale Tucker.
Source: Santa Monica Public Library

The Tuckers’ son, Marcus Jr., became the first Black deputy city attorney in Santa Monica (1963-1965) and the first Black judge appointed to the Long Beach Municipal Court (1976). His wife, Indira, was a community activist and historian who later co-founded the African-American Heritage Society in Long Beach and established the Marcus O. Tucker Jr. Collection at Santa Monica’s Main Library.

Learn More

• Visit the Bel Mar + Art commemoration at the corner of Pico and 4th Street to experience the heritage of Santa Monica’s African American community.
• Discover more about Black History in Santa Monica, by reading Reconstruction and Reclamation by Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson.
• See more projects by architect Paul Wiliams at the Paul Revere Williams Project, dedicated to expanding public knowledge about his extraordinary accomplishments.

Reaching Out to Recognize Others for Exemplary Work in Preservation

Since 2004, the Conservancy has presented its annual Preservation Awards to honor community members for outstanding contributions to heritage conservation and advocacy. The 2024 Awards were presented to our esteemed winners as a highlight of the gathering. The awards were presented with heartfelt gratitude from the Conservancy for all the work these winners have done for our community.

2024 Preservation Awardees

Community preservation takes a village and the extraordinary work of this year’s impressive Preservation Award winners is a vital part of the ongoing effort. Here’s a review of the 2024 honorees and their important contributions to the conservation of our heritage:

The David Cameron Award: Peyton Hall, FAIA

Photograph of Peyton Hall

As a historic preservation architect and a principal in Historic Resources Group for over 40 years. Mr. Hall has been involved in many of Santa Monica’s major preservation projects and was the principal resource for the Shotgun House, the Conservancy’s headquarters. His dedication, experience, and ability to find solutions have guided and strengthened the Santa Monica Conservancy for many years.

Peyton Hall presents his work to a classroom, reminiscent of the many years he’s spent training young preservation professionals at USC.

Cultural Heritage Award: Kuruvungna Springs, Gabrielino-Tongva Springs Foundation

Tribal elder Angie Behrns (left) alongside members of the Tongva tribe in traditional wear at Kuruvungna Springs.

A Mexican cypress planted more than 150 years ago at the Kuruvungna Sacred Springs | Photo: Lesly Hall       

The Foundation led an amazing community effort to restore, revitalize and preserve this vestige of an original indigenous Tongva village located on the campus of University High School in West Los Angeles.  Their dedication and hard work serve as an inspiration to us all!

Rehabilitation Award: Bay Cities Guaranty Building

Working on the Clock Tower Building at Bay Cities Guaranty Building

The restoration of this 12-story Santa Monica landmark — the city’s first true skyscraper — spanned nearly four years. Throughout the project, the awardees prioritized the historic significance and historic elements of the building.

Adaptive Reuse Award: Barker Hangar

Owner/Proprietor: Judi Barker

Barkar Hangar in 1960 hosting aircrafts

Under the careful stewardship of Judi Baker, this 1954 structure has been adaptively reused since 1986 as one of the largest and most versatile venues in Los Angeles, uniquely suited for a variety of entertainment productions and special charitable, artistic and commercial events.

Barker Hanger adapted for modern use as an event venue

Stewardship Award: Philomathean Charity Club

The Founding Sisters of Philomathean Charity Club gathering in 1921

Outside Philomathean Charity Club on Broadway

The Philomathean Club has played a significant role in the Broadway Community for over 100 years, supporting education, art, culture and charitable work.  This Award also recognizes the club’s effort to preserve Philomathean Hall, which embodies this significant African American cultural heritage.

Rehabilitation Award: Marion Davies Guest House at the Annenberg Community Beach House

Owner: City of Santa Monica

After careful consideration and study, City staff and their historic preservation team successfully replaced the original wood floors in this 1929 Julia Morgan-designed structure. The finished product is a beautiful replication of the original worn, deteriorated wood floors.

The floors of the Annenberg Community Beach House prior to rehabilitation

The floors of the Annenberg Community Beach House restored

Volunteer Award:  Michael Burton

Mr. Burton epitomizes everything one can ask for in a volunteer. He began serving the Conservancy in 2013 as a docent at the Annenberg Beach House, and shortly thereafter, started leading the Conservancy’s Downtown Walking Tours. He is a member of the Docent Council and he enthusiastically helps to bring history to life in many ways for the community, including playing the role of William Randolph Hearst at the City’s Annual Happy Birthday Marion celebration.

Volunteer Michael Burton giving a speech at Marion Davies Birthday celebration

Donate Before the New Year!

We have an ambitious goal to raise $20,000 by December 31, with a challenge grant from generous donors, including Mary Ann Hays, John de Neufville and several Board members.

Help preserve our history.

This is more than a fundraising appeal — it’s an invitation to be part of our shared mission to conserve our local heritage.

Support the Conservancy.

Fielden Harper in her art studio.

As we continue our year-end fundraising campaign, we are encouraged how many stories from our community we can include in One City: Many Stories, the Santa Monica Conservancy highlights Fielden Harper, whose art journey began while raising her son.

Fielden Harper’s son was diagnosed with autism, and she was looking for ways to connect with him effectively and doctors at the time had limited understanding of neurodiversity. She started using stick-figure drawings to show her son what happened on the day to day. As he grew up, so did her skill and love for visual arts.

Fielden raised four kids and once her youngest was in kindergarten, well, her eldest son didn’t need her to make drawings for him anymore.

A print of Fielden Harper’s painting depicting Santa Monica High School

As her son grew more independent and her youngest child entered kindergarten, Fielden pursued art school! She earned her B.F.A. from Otis Art Institute in 1982 and went on to complete her M.F.A. from CalState Los Angeles in 1987. For three decades (1988-2018), she shared her love of art as an Art and Art History teacher at St. Matthew’s Parish School in the Pacific Palisades.

Fielden has an affinity for architecture and considers her work an informal documentation of Los Angeles. Her work, prominently featuring Santa Monica’s iconic buildings, has been recognized by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Milken Institute, the Santa Monica Unified School Board and United Way.

Donate and enter our year-end giveaway.

A print of Fielden Harper’s painting, depicting Main Street in Santa Monica during the 1984 Olympics

We have 5 prints of Fielden Harper’s depiction of Main Street, Santa Monica in 1984. Winners of the Main Street print giveaway are invited to meet Fielden Harper and visit her studio at the Santa Monica Airport site to get a signing of the print.

We have an ambitious goal to raise $20,000 as 2024 comes to a close. We have until December 31 to unlock a challenge grant from generous donors, including Mary Ann Hays, John de Neufville, and select board members.

Donate for a chance to win.

Every donation will get you a chance to win the following items:

Incentives include signed Fielden Harper prints, Santa Monica History Museum passes, and a book about Santa Monica’s Pleasure Pier.

Donations above $250 constitute 2 entries. Donations above $1000 constitute 3 entries.

Support the conservancy.

Alec Nedelman (left) and Libby Pachares (right) in matching blue t-shirts.

One City: Many Stories, our 2024 Year-End Review, celebrates the inspiring leadership of Libby Pachares and Alec Nedelman at the Santa Monica Conservancy. Their dedication to preserving our city’s heritage has strengthened the organization and deepened their community engagement.

Alec and Libby were living in the pleasant West Los Angeles neighborhood of Cheviot Hills. With one child and another on the way, it was time to consider a more accommodating environment for their growing family and found it in Santa Monica.

Not only were Alec and Libby drawn to the benefits of living near the beach, with its stunning coastline and eclectic culture, the couple also valued Santa Monica’s strong public education system.

After retiring from a career in entertainment law and a decade of volunteer work at the Los Angeles Music Center, Libby was eager to learn more about Southern California’s cultural history.

Libby (left) and Alec (right) advertising Conservancy tours at the Santa Monica Fourth of July parade.

“I have always been a student of history,” she says, noting her particular fascination with the Hollywood lore at the heart of the Annenberg Community Beach House (ACBH).

Driven by a keen interest in Santa Monica’s colorful past, Libby joined the Conservancy. After serving on its Board, leading tours, and working on the Program Committee, she inspired Alec to get involved. After attending events and participating in strategic planning retreats as a volunteer, Alec became a Conservancy Board member.

Through their engagement with the community, Alec and Libby have forged meaningful connections with others who share their passion for history and preservation.

Libby Pachares at the Annenberg Community Beach House for Marion Davies’ birthday celebration.

As a docent, Libby is thrilled when a visitor has some link to the historic site she is hosting. “I just really love the continuation of learning and [forming] connections,” she says.

Libby treasures the reciprocity of receiving new information from guests, even as she enlightens them with local history. “Being surrounded by people who have so much to offer, know so much about history and preservation, has added [great value] to my life,” she says. “It’s been fun just being an ambassador for the city.”

Alec recognizes how the Conservancy has evolved into a more formalized organization with a strong executive staff. Given his experience in real estate law, he sees the Conservancy’s potential as a local asset, leading in heritage conservation and community engagement.

Alec and Libby have seen firsthand how homeowners seek guidance from the Conservancy on preserving their historic neighborhoods, citing the South Beach District as an example of the organization’s role as a valuable community resource.

One of the Conservancy’s most significant impacts is its focus on preservation education and adaptive reuse – an essential approach for sustainable urban development. As the Conservancy seeks to activate the next generation of preservationists, Alec is curious about how students concerned about climate change might consider adaptive reuse as an opportunity for sustainable solutions to environmental concerns.

Alec on a visit to a historic site, sitting on a rocking chair with a Santa Monica Conservancy hat.

Alec’s message to volunteers and community members is clear: “The Conservancy [invites] continued involvement, where you can learn about the history and the stories [of Santa Monica], like with Philomathean Hall and Kuruvungna Springs. These are [local histories] people should know about. Find something that resonates with you and get involved.”

As we continue our membership drive One City: Many Stories, we invite you to join Libby and Alec in our vital mission.

Like Libby and Alec, we’re looking for members and volunteers who want to invest in leadership and mentoring the next generation of preservationists.

Together, let’s encourage new preservationists to celebrate our shared heritage. Your commitment to preserving our past, through your leadership, helps steward our future.

Contact Alissa: [email protected] for more volunteer details.

Community members entering Ocean Park Library at the start of the listening session.

As part of a community-wide effort to explore the development of a Great Park at the Santa Monica Airport site, the Santa Monica Conservancy hosted a public listening session focusing on the century-old airport’s rich historic and cultural significance.

Funded by a City microgrant, the Oct. 30 session at the Ocean Park Library was attended by over 40 community members – mostly city residents – who heard live presentations in a hybrid format covering key elements of the history and legacy of the airport, which is set to close at the end of 2028. The majority of participants joined in person, with additional attendees contributing via Zoom. The program was divided into two parts:

Session One: Historical and Cultural Narratives

Conservancy Board President Mario Fonda-Bonardi and Executive Director Kaitlin Drisko introduced the session, followed by a land acknowledgement honoring the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe.

Angie Behrns, founder of the Gabrielino-Tongva Springs Foundation and an elder of the Gabrielino Tongva tribe, spoke passionately about the fight to preserve Kuruvungna Springs. She detailed the tribe’s ongoing efforts to protect its cultural heritage, including potential installations at the Great Park.

Learn more about Kuruvungna Springs.

Olivia White, an architectural historian and historic preservation consultant with Chattel Associates, presented a detailed history of the airport’s famed Compass Rose. She explained the artistic navigational aid painted on the airport’s tarmac was designed in 1939 by Wilma Fritschke, a member of the Los Angeles chapter of the legendary women’s flying club, The Ninety-Nines. White shared fascinating historical context about the Compass Rose and its enduring connection to the Ninety-Nines, including evidence of an earlier Compass Rose at the 1929 Women’s Air Derby in Santa Monica. White noted that in 1985, the Ninety-Nines published official guidance on painting Compass Roses at other airports – a standard still used today.

Watch Olivia’s Presentation:

Michael Brodsky, professor emeritus at Loyola Marymount University, provided a detailed historical overview of the airport land’s transformation. He traced the site’s history from the Tongva people through Spanish colonial settlement, subsequent American subdivision and eventual land transfers. In the 1920s, as Santa Monica was expanding, civic leaders saw both economic and recreational opportunities in the site and Clover Field was established. It featured a golf course and tennis courts, as well as an airport that would host one of the world’s largest aviation companies.

Watch Michael’s Presentation: 

Session Two: Site Redevelopment

 Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson provided valuable insights into early aviation history in Los Angeles, with an emphasis on the contributions of people of color and women in Southern California’s aviation industry.

Watch Alison’s Presentation:

The Conservancy then presented the City’s inventory of existing buildings and potential uses for the Great Park, along with examples of interpretive signage. This sparked a lively discussion where participants identified additional ways to present and transmit the site’s historical and cultural narratives.

The meeting concluded with robust input from community members about Great Park development. Suggestions included:

• Ensure transparency throughout the project, especially as it pertains to impact on nearby communities.
• Preserve the site’s current artist community.
• Provide equitable access for all residents.
• Recognize indigenous peoples’ culture and history.
• Utilize abandoned tarmac similar to Tempelhofer Feld in Germany.
• Recognize Clover Field Park and the start of the Santa Monica park system.
• Plan for the continued use and/or adaptive reuse of existing aviation buildings at the site.
• Explore our ecological, cultural and historical relationships to the airport land through rewilding and native plantings. This would include sustainable practices learned from the Gabrielino-Tongva at Kuruvungna Springs.
• Include spaces for farming, agriculture and mycology.
• Seek opportunities for water sustainability on the site.
• Incorporate interpretive panels at transportation hubs and other key areas of the park.
• Incorporate interpretive walks in the park.
• Consider how narrative history might be integrated throughout the Great Park, as opposed to isolating it in a small parcel.
• Illustrate airport history with markers on the ground, including outlines of previous aviation facilities such as the Douglas Aircraft complex.
• Recognize the contributions of Donald Douglas and the DC line of airplanes produced in Santa Monica.
• Expand detail on aviation history at the Museum of Flying.
• Consider how alternative transportation might be used on the site to reduce dependence on cars.

Continuing the Outreach

There was also discussion at the meeting about how the City and Conservancy might continue and expand its airport outreach campaign to collect as broad a base of input as possible about park development. Suggestions included:

• Ask grade schoolers what they’d like to see at the Great Park.
• Incorporate curriculum about park planning in schools.
• Collect comment from original participants like inhabitants, Douglas employees, private pilots, golfers, etc.
• Repeat a listening session when more park study and planning information is available from the City.
• Consider including the City in future listening sessions as a non-participatory observer so they can answer questions.

Summary

In alignment with Phase 2 of the City’s multi-stage airport redevelopment project, our Oct. 30 session focused specifically on preserving historical perspectives. It was one component of a broader community engagement strategy that includes public events and pop-ups, online surveys, virtual education sessions, and updates to the project engagement website. It will build on Phase 1’s analysis and assessments to generate an existing conditions summary and identify project opportunities and constraints, while exploring financial considerations and funding strategies.

The Conservancy submitted the results of our listening session to the City on Nov. 4. These findings, along with other community input, will help shape the draft guiding principles that will steer planning and design decisions throughout the project.

The City will share the comprehensive survey results at a community event on Dec. 7 at Memorial Park Gym, before moving into Phase 3. That stage will involve presenting and utilizing community feedback on preferred scenarios at the airport site.