LACC: A Rich History
From Farmland to Normal School
One of nine college campuses of the Los Angeles Community College District, what is now Los Angeles City College was originally a farm outside of Los Angeles. When the Pacific Electric Interurban Railroad connected downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood in 1909, the area began to develop rapidly. In 1914, the Los Angeles Board of Education moved the California State Normal School, a school to train teachers, from downtown Los Angeles to Vermont Avenue in Hollywood.
The University of California, Southern Branch
In 1917, UC Regent Edward A. Dickson and Ernest Carroll Moore, Director of the Normal School, began working together to lobby the State for the second University of California campus. On May 23, 1919, their efforts were rewarded when Governor William D. Stephens signed Assembly Bill 626 into law, which turned the school facilities into the Southern Branch of the University of California and added its general undergraduate program, the College of Letters and Science. The Southern Branch campus opened on September 15 of that year, offering two-year undergraduate programs to 250 Letters and Science students and 1,250 students in the Teachers College, under Moore's continued direction.
From UCLA, to Junior College, to The City's College
In need of more space, the Southern Branch of the University of California, what is today UCLA, moved to its present location in 1929 and the LA Board of Education bought the Vermont site for $700,000. On September 9, 1929, Los Angeles Junior College opened its doors for the first time with over 1,300 students and 54 teachers. It later changed its name in 1938 to Los Angeles City College.
Governance
Governance of LACC has changed through the years. Until 1931, it was a division of the Los Angeles Secondary School District. In 1931, the electorate voted to establish a separate Los Angeles Junior College District. In 1938, the Board of Education changed the name to Los Angeles City College. In July 1969, the California State Legislature enacted legislation allowing the separation of the nine-campus Los Angeles Community College District from the Los Angeles Unified School District. A seven-member Board of Trustees was elected and formally assumed governance.
(The other eight colleges in the LACCD are: East Los Angeles College; Los Angeles Harbor College; Los Angeles Mission College; Los Angeles Pierce College; Los Angeles Trade-Technical College; Los Angeles Valley College; Southwest College; and West Los Angeles College.)
LACC Leadership
- 1929 - 1934: Dr. William H. Snyder, Director
- 1934 - 1945: Dr. Rosco C. Ingalls, Director
- 1946 - 1948: Dr. Einar W. Jacobsen, President
- 1949 - 1955: Dr. Howard S. McDonald, President
- 1955 - 1966: Dr. John Lombardi, President
- 1966 - 1970: Dr. Glenn G. Gooder, President
- 1970 - 1973: Dr. Louis Kaufman, President
- 1973 - 1977: Dr. John H. Anthony, President
- 1978 - 1989: Dr. Stelle Feuers, President
- 1989 - 1991: Dr. Edwin Young, President
- 1991 - 1997: Mr. Jose L. Robledo, President
- 1997 - 2003: Dr. Mary Spangler, President
- 2003 - 2005: Dr. Doris Givens, President
- 2005 - 2007: Dr. Steve Maradian, President
- 2007 - 2012: Dr. Jamillah Moore, President
- 2012 - 2018 : Mrs. Reneé Martinez, President
- 2018 - 2023: Dr. Mary Gallagher, President
- 2023 - Present: Dr. Amanuel Gebru, President
