We don't know when Stella Collins started lying. Maybe it was in 1940,
when she married Stanley. Or maybe it was later. We don't know why she
started lying and we certainly don't know how she continued the act all
those years. We don't even know how she got to Los Angeles. The only
thing we know is that when Stanley finally learned the truth, the meek
little man erupted in rage.
Stanley, 42, Stella , 41, and their two daughters lived with her
parents in Philadelphia. For the last 18 years, they had lived on what
she made as a waitress while banking everything Stanley earned as a
welder. Whenever life was difficult, perhaps they took consolation in
the knowledge that someday there would be enough money to buy a house
of their own.
As far as Stanley knew, their nest egg was growing nicely in two
Philadelphia banks until it reached $18,000 ($127,729.92 USD 2008).
Then one day in the summer of 1958, it came time to buy their dream
house. Stella went to get draw out their money--and vanished.
Police officers found her at 5th and Hill with no idea how she got to Los Angeles.
The Times' Jerry Hulse wrote:
She stared blankly through horn-rim glasses, words trembling on her thin, pale lips.
"I don't know," she answered softly. "I don't know."
She touched her straight, dark blond hair. "I've been trying to figure it out. I don't know how I got to Los Angeles."
"The only thing I remember is a man asking me, 'Are you sick?' I said I was. I was sick. This man called the police."
Could she remember her husband? Or her daughters?
"All I can remember is one daughter. That's all."
Reporters met Stanley at the airport at 2 a.m. Did he need a ride to the city jail? The newsmen happily offered to take him.
During the drive, "he rested his stubbly chin in his hands and sighed in weary bewilderment," The Times said.
"I don't know what happened to the money," he said. "I'd been giving
her my paychecks since we were married. She told me we had $18,000 in
the bank, but she told my mother there was only $10,000.
"She must have been playing the ponies. I can't understand it. It hit
me right between the eyes when I found out the money was missing."
But when the mild little welder from Philadelphia saw his wife, he erupted.
"He flailed out with a suitcase and tried to hit a photographer between the eyes," The Times said.
"Hide! Hide!" he screamed to his wife as she stepped off the jail elevator.
Pulling his coat up over his face, he ran toward her but in his excitement, he went past her.
Stanley Collins of Philadelphia, still shielding himself with his coat,
grabbed Stella by the arm and dragged her outside to catch a taxi to
the airport as he punched and kicked at reporters.
After boarding the plane, "Stanley Collins, exhausted and discouraged, stared numbly out the window," The Times said.
All that was left of the mythical $18,000 was $2.67 ($18.95 USD 2007) that Stella had in her purse when she was picked up.
This postcard now listed on EBay is one of the many souvenirs from the Shriners' 1907 national convention, which was held in Los Angeles. This gathering also generated pins, fans, postcards, plates, cups, goblets and items too numerous to mention, as the auctioneers used to say.
Although the Shriners apparently had a grand time in Los Angeles, the
convention ended tragically when nearly 30 of them died in a horrible train
wreck on the way home.
Capt. Eugene Plummer is featured in a story about Plummer Park in West
Hollywood. According to the caption, the revolver he's holding belonged to Joaquin Murietta.
At left, Mayor Frank Shaw and actor Leo Carrillo help celebrate Los Angeles' 157th birthday. The activities include a 28-mile marathon around the perimeter of the original settlement as well as a national radio broadcast from the Avila Adobe.
Speaking of Frank Shaw, you would never know from The Times that he was facing a recall election. The only mention is on the editorial page: "The recall fight has to stoop to get under the subway."
Take a look at Joaquin Murietta's revolver. It appears to be a 12-shot.
In sports, Times columnist Bill Henry files a report from the 1938 Davis Cup in Philadelphia. Henry writes about the bad luck of Pomona's Joan Bigler, who injured her eye with a curling iron on the eve of her semifinal match with Helen Bernhard ... Ben Hogan and Vic Ghezzi take the Hershey tournament with Paul Runyan and Sam Snead finishing second. It's the first of Hogan's 64 career tournaments.
Aviator Douglas "Wrong Way" Corringan takes an at-bat from Charlie Root during a game between the Cubs and the Reds at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, hits a foul ball--and runs to third base.
Harvard Law Review's first black
president plans a life of public service. His multicultural background
gives him unique perspective.
By Tammerlin Drummond Times Staff Writer
Barack Obama stares silently at a wall of fading black-and-white
photographs in the muggy second-floor offices of the Harvard Law
Review. He lingers over one row of solemn faces, his predecessors of 40
years ago.
All are men. All are dressed in dark-colored suits and ties. All are white.
It is a sobering moment for Obama, 28, who in February became the
first black to be elected president in the 102-year history of the
prestigious student-run law journal.
The post, considered the highest honor a student can attain at Harvard
Law School, almost always leads to a coveted clerkship with the U.S.
Supreme Court after graduation and a lucrative offer from the law firm
of one's choice.
Yet Obama, who has gone deep into debt to meet the $25,000-a-year cost
of a Harvard Law School education, has left many in disbelief by
asserting that he wants neither.
"One of the luxuries of going to Harvard Law School is it means you
can take risks in your life," Obama said recently. "You can try to do
things to improve society and still land on your feet. That's what a
Harvard education should buy-enough confidence and security to pursue
your dreams and give something back."
After graduation next year, Obama says he probably will spend two
years at a corporate law firm, then look for community work. Down the
road, he plans to run for public office.
The son of a Kenyan economist and an American anthropologist, Obama is
a tall man with a quick, boyish smile whose fellow students rib him
about his trademark tattered blue jeans.
"I come from a lot of worlds and I have had the unique opportunity to
move through different circles," Obama said. "I have worked and lived
in poor black communities and I can translate some of their concerns
into words that the larger society can embrace."
His own upbringing is a blending of diverse cultures. Born in Hawaii,
where his parents met in college, Obama was named Barack (blessed in
Arabic) after his father. The elder Obama was among a generation of
young Africans who came to the United States to study engineering,
finance and medicine, skills that could be taken back home to build a
new, strong Africa. In Hawaii, he married Obama's mother, a white
American from Wichita, Kan.
Two years later, Obama's parents separated and he moved to a small
village outside Jakarta, Indonesia, with his mother, an anthropologist.
There, he spent his boyhood playing with the sons and daughters of rice
farmers and rickshaw drivers, attending an Indonesian-speaking school,
where he had little contact with Americans.
Every morning at 5, his mother would wake him to take correspondence classes for fear he would forget his English.
It was in Indonesia, Obama said, where he first became aware of abject poverty and despair.
"It left a very strong mark on me living there because you got a real
sense of just how poor folks can get," he said. "You'd have some army
general with 24 cars and if he drove one once then eight servants would
come around and wash it right away. But on the next block, you'd have
children with distended bellies who just couldn't eat."
After six years in Indonesia, Obama was sent back to the United States
to live with his maternal grandparents in Hawaii in preparation for
college. It was then that he began to correspond with his father, a
senior economist for the Kenyan finance ministry who recounted
intriguing tales of an African heritage that Obama knew little about.
Obama treasured his father's tales of walking miles to school, using a
machete to hack a path through the elephant grass-the legends and
traditions of the Luo tribe, a proud people who inhabited the shores of
Lake Victoria.
He still carries a passbook that belonged to his grandfather, an
herbalist who was the first family member to leave the small Kenyan
village of Alego, move to the city and don Western clothes.
"He was a cook and he used to have to carry this passbook to work for
the English," Obama recalls. "At the age of 46 it had this description
of him that said, `He's a colored boy, he's responsible and he's a good
cook.' "
Two generations later, at the most widely respected legal journal in
the country, the grandson of the cook is giving the orders.
Yet some of Obama's peers question the motives of this second-year law
student. They find it puzzling that despite Obama's openly progressive
views on social issues, he has also won support from staunch
conservatives. Ironically, he has come under the most criticism from
fellow black students for being too conciliatory toward conservatives
and not choosing more blacks to other top positions on the law review.
"He's willing to talk to them (the conservatives) and he has a grasp
of where they are coming from, which is something a lot of blacks don't
have and don't care to have," said Christine Lee, a second-year law
student who is black. "His election was significant at the time, but
now it's meaningless because he's becoming just like all the others (in
the Establishment)."
Although some question what personal goals motivate Obama, his interest in social issues is deeply grounded.
At Occidental College in Los Angeles, Obama studied international
relations and spent much of his time helping to organize anti-apartheid
protests. In his junior year, he transferred to Columbia University,
"more for what (New York City) had to offer than for the education," he
said.
After graduating, Obama landed a job writing manuals for a New
York-based international trade publication. Once his college loans were
paid off, he took a $13,000-a-year job as director for the Developing
Communities Project, a church-based social action group in Chicago.
There, he and a coalition of ministers set out to improve living
conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued by crime and high
unemployment. Obama helped form a tenants' rights group in the housing
projects and established a job training program.
"I took a chance and it paid off," he said. "It was probably the best education that I've ever had."
After four years, Obama decided it was time to move on. He wanted to
learn how to use the political system to effect social change. He set
his sights on Harvard Law School, where he quickly distinguished
himself as a top student. He was soon chosen through the strength of
his writing and grades to serve as one of 80 student editors on the law
review.
Unlike many peer-review professional journals, the law review is run
solely by students. It is widely considered the major forum for current
legal debate and consequently is watched closely by courts around the
country.
In his second year at law school, Obama decided to run for law review president after a conversation with a black friend.
"I said I was not planning to run and he said, `Yes you are because
that is a door that needs to be kicked down and you can take it down.' "
It was a marathon selection process, an arcane throwback to the early
days of the review. The students editors deliberated behind closed
doors from 8:30 a.m. until early the next day. The 19 anxious
candidates took turns cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for the
selection committee, whose members emerged with a historic decision.
"Before I could say a word, another black student who was running just
came up and grabbed me and hugged me real hard," Obama recalled. "It
was then that I knew it was more than just about me. It was about us.
And I am walking through a lot of doors that had already been opened by
others."
But few students at the law review were prepared for the deluge of
interview requests for Obama from newspapers, radio and television
stations. Strange letters of congratulations began arriving.
Shortly after the elections, a package turned up at the law review
office with no return address. Obama said he hesitated to open it
because of the spree of recent mail bombings targeted at civil rights
activists nationwide. When the package was finally opened, inside were
two packages of dim sum, with no explanation. Some students made light
of the media invasion, posting a memo titled "The Barack Obama Story, a
Made for TV Movie, Starring Blair Underwood as Barack Obama."
Yet tensions were building. White students grumbled about the
attention paid to Obama's race. Black students criticized him for not
choosing more blacks for other top positions at the review. Caught in
the cross-fire, Obama, who has a tendency toward understatement,
downplayed his own achievements.
"For every one of me, there are thousands of young black kids with the
same energies, enthusiasm and talent that I have who have not gotten
the opportunity because of crime, drugs and poverty," he said. "I think
my election does symbolize progress but I don't want people to forget
that there is still a lot of work to be done."
Describing Obama, fellow students and professors point to a
self-confidence tempered by modesty as one of his greatest attributes.
"He's very unusual, in the sense that other students who might have
something approximating his degree of insight are very intimidating to
other students or inconsiderate and thoughtless," said Laurence Tribe,
a constitutional law professor. "He's able to build upon what other
students say and see what's valuable in their comments without
belittling them."
But what truly distinguishes Obama from other bright students at
Harvard Law, Tribe said, is his ability to make sense of complex legal
arguments and translate them into current social concerns. For example,
Tribe said, Obama wrote an insightful research article showing how
contrasting views in the abortion debate are a direct result of
cultural and sociological differences.
As law review president, Obama is the last person to edit student
articles, as well as longer pieces by accomplished legal scholars. The
review publishes eight times a year and receives about 600 free-lance
articles each year.
Referring to his fellow students at the review, whom he edits, he
said: "These are the people who will be running the country in some
form or other when they graduate. If I'm talking to a white
conservative who wants to dismantle the welfare state, he has the
respect to listen to me and I to him. That's the biggest value of the
Harvard Law Review. Ideas get fleshed out and there is no party line to
follow."
Obama spends 50 to 60 hours each week on law review business. The
full-time volunteer job leaves little time for an additional 12 hours
of class, plus homework. When it comes to choosing between the two, as
it often does, Obama usually misses class.
One of Obama's most difficult tasks as editor in chief is keeping the peace amid the clashing egos of writers and editors.
"He is very, very diplomatic," said Radhika Rao, 24, a third-year law
student from Lexington, Ind. "He is very outgoing and has a lot of
experience in handling people, which stands him in good stead."
Tina Ulrich, 24, a third-year student, wrote an article for the review
that went through several editors before her final draft landed on
Obama's desk.
"When he sent it back, it had lots of tiny print all over it and I was
just furious," she said. "My heart just sank. But it was accompanied by
specific examples of how parts could be made better. He wound up
getting an enthusiastic response from a very tired writer."
Outside the review, other blacks at Harvard are skeptical that Obama's
appointment will change much at the Ivy League institution, where 180
out of 1,601 law students are black.
"While I applaud Obama's achievement, I guess I am not as hopeful for
what this will mean for other blacks at Harvard," said Derrick Bell,
the school's first black tenured law professor.
"There is a strange character to this black achievement. When you have
someone that reaches this high level, you find that he is just deemed
exceptional and it does not change society's view of all of the rest."
Democratic Atty. Gen. Pat Brown announces that he will run for governor of California. His first promise is to ensure equal job opportunities. Brown also denounces Proposition 18, a right to work measure. Brown rejects Republican Sen. William F. Knowland's challenge to a debate.
In sports, baseball Commissioner Ford Frick is asking club owners to approve expansion of the National and American leagues to 10 teams.
The Dodgers beat the Giants 5-3 with a two-run homer by Duke Snider. Sandy Koufax (10-9) says it's his best game since being injured July 5 in a collision at first base with the Cubs' Jim Bolger.
The Times publishes the city's annual report. Above, the City Council, 1958
Ratio of police to population is lowest since WWII. Major crimes are up 15%.
The Hall of Fame guard with the Boston Celtics tried pro football during 1958 but apparently decided to stay a one-sport athlete. Jones played defensive halfback and apparently had a shot at the NFL. The Times' Cal Whorton wrote that Jones "in the minds of many camp followers stood an excellent chance of being among the 35 players to make the squad."
Jones was an all-city high school football player in San Francisco and had been drafted in the 30th round by the Rams. He attended the University of San Francisco and played with his future Boston teammate, Bill Russell, on NCAA championship basketball teams in 1955 and '56. He also won a gold medal with Russell on the U.S. basketball team in 1956.
"Jones' decision was entirely his own," Rams general manager Pete Rozelle told Whorton. "We're still keeping him on our reserve list in case he doesn't make the grade with the Celtics and decides he wants to rejoin us next season."
Looks like Jones made the right call, having won NBA titles as a player and a coach. He also was an assistant coach for another former Celtic, Bill Sharman, on the Lakers' 1971-72 championship team.
A panel from Al Capp's "Li'l Abner," April 25, 1943.
During a visit to Los Angeles, "Li'l Abner" cartoonist Al Capp says he once again has the freedom to satirize American institutions "lovingly and savagely," after being limited during what The Times calls the "postwar period of international jitters."
All Jews who moved to Italy since World War I (or the World War, as it was then known) have six months to leave Italy and many of its colonies, including Libya and the Aegean Isles--but not Ethiopia, Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. The order affects about 10,000 of the 44,000 Jews living in Italy, the AP story says.
In sports, the Hollywood Legion Stadium opens with a bout between Quentin "Baby" Breese and Georgie Hansford. The stadium was the site of countless prizefights and wrestling matches until it was gutted in 1959 and turned into a bowling alley.
Babe Ruth gets a single in an exhibition game between the Mid-Atlantic League's Dayton Ducks the Brooklyn Dodgers. Ruth played first base for five innings ... Sports columnist Bill Henry discusses the switch from the field judge's stopwatch to the electric clock, which was the standard at the Big Ten.
Larry Harnisch. The leading Black Dahlia expert and a collaborator in the 1947project, Harnisch has been a copy editor at The Times since 1988. He has appeared on many TV shows discussing the Dahlia case, notably "James Ellroy's Feast of Death."
Join him for a spin through old Los Angeles in the Mirror's radio car. Keep your eyes open for Mickey Cohen and Tempest Storm. It's quite a ride.
The reporter's badge belonged to Sid Hughes (1908-1958), legendary reporter who worked at nearly every newspaper in Los Angeles.
Keith Thursby. Keith has been an editor at The Times in news, sports and design since 1986. The Rams moved to St. Louis on his first day as assistant sports editor of the paper's Orange County edition. He grew up in Norwalk and lives in Irvine.
The Shorb home after extensive remodeling.
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Larry Harnisch. The leading Black Dahlia expert and a collaborator in the 1947project, Harnisch has been a copy editor at The Times since 1988. He has appeared on many TV shows discussing the Dahlia case, notably "James Ellroy's Feast of Death."
Join him for a spin through old Los Angeles in the Mirror's radio car. Keep your eyes open for Mickey Cohen and Tempest Storm. It's quite a ride.
The reporter's badge belonged to Sid Hughes (1908-1958), legendary reporter who worked at nearly every newspaper in Los Angeles.
Keith Thursby. Keith has been an editor at The Times in news, sports and design since 1986. The Rams moved to St. Louis on his first day as assistant sports editor of the paper's Orange County edition. He grew up in Norwalk and lives in Irvine.