L. A. Continues to Make History

Is history indeed cyclic? As the Historical Society of Southern California celebrates the 100th anniversary of its incorporation this year, consider these parallels between 1891 and 1991:

-- The real-estate boom of the late 1880s spurred subdivision of 80,000 acres in the basin. But by 1891, as the market collapsed, property values plummeted as speculators struggled to make payments. Now, after the 1980s boom, the region’s mortgage delinquency and office vacancy rates are rising.

-- By 1891, the small network of horsecar lines that had served downtown since the 1870s had become the core of a rapidly expanding electric railway system that eventually linked the entire basin. One hundred years later, those same, now long-abandoned rail rights of way will be one link in the region’s 21st-Century transit network.

-- A century ago, an arid California began to construct a system to provide enough water for a thriving economy. Now, after five dry winters, the state is taking major steps to improve water delivery.

During its first century, the Historical Society of Southern California served, among other things, as a sort of historical grave-tender, dutifully commemorating sites where historical buildings once stood or events occurred. But many historians and community leaders are now not only exhuming a richer past but hectoring to redirect the region’s future.

What of that new direction? Will Southern California become the “capital of the Third World,” divided upon itself by class and race, beset by escalating violence and environmental decay? Or can the region embrace a gentler and nobler future? Consider:

-- Where historians once depicted white men fighting to “tame” nature and the peoples here, many now describe a more complex, culturally diverse past.

-- Preservation is starting to yield returns in a city that has recklessly squandered so much of its architectural heritage. Look at the renovation of Hollywood’s El Capitan Theater and the Beverly Hills Waterworks building.

-- Multicultural groups of Los Angeles community leaders are forming. Business and religious leaders, activists and professionals are united by a desire to build bridges between disparate and sometimes hostile segments of the community.

These are hopeful signs for the next 100 years.