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| GOLDEN STATE MUTUAL BUILDING |
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On June 1, the Los Angeles City Council officially declared the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company Building (Paul R. Williams, 1949) at 1999 West Adams Boulevard a City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM). Thank you to everyone who supported the Conservancy in our efforts to designate this important landmark. With the recent closure of the company and the continued threat of the removal of the site-specific lobby murals, the Conservancy has been working together with the building's new owners, as well as West Adams Heritage Association and other community advocates to ensure that this architecturally and culturally significant building and its integrated murals remain intact as a cultural asset to the community.
About the Building Rarely does a single place have so many associations with African American heritage and layers of significance as does the former home office of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company. From the architect, to the business, to the artists and their integral artwork, the building tells a fascinating story of African Americans in Los Angeles, throughout California, and nationally.
Completed in 1949, the Golden State Mutual home office was designed by preeminent African American architect Paul Revere Williams. A native Angeleno, Williams became the first black architect admitted to the American Institute of Architects and one of Los Angeles’ most prominent architects of the twentieth century, with his office responsible for approximately 3,000 built projects. His Late Moderne office tower for Golden State Mutual is prominently sited, with the front façade facing the corner. Golden State Mutual Life Insurance became the largest black-owned insurance company in the western United States. It was one of the first companies to offer life insurance to African Americans in Los Angeles and by 1978 was described as a “symbol of black enterprise and of loyal service to many thousands.” Golden State Mutual operated for sixty years at its home office in the West Adams district until closing in 2009. Site-Specific Lobby Murals Noted African American artists Charles Alston and Hale Woodruff painted two site-specific murals in the lobby of the Golden State Mutual building. As conceived by Williams, the murals, painted on canvas, are part of the building’s original design. Titled The Negro in California History, they depict black history in California from 1527 to 1949. The murals are highly significant examples of integrated art in Los Angeles celebrating black history, and they are believed to be Alston’s and Hale’s only public art in the city.
After the business closed in 2009, Golden State Mutual’s remaining assets began to be prepared for sale by the State's Conservation and Liquidation Office, leaving the building and its future very much in question. The building has been purchased by Community Impact Development, a nonprofit social services group from South Los Angeles that supports the HCM nomination. Yet the interior murals have become the subject of a highly publicized legal dispute. The two murals are proposed to be sold and removed from the building. Until recently, the Smithsonian Institution was in the running to purchase the murals and reinstall them at a new museum of African American heritage and art being planned for the national mall in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian withdrew its bid in March, citing community opposition over the murals’ removal from the building and Los Angeles. Community Impact Development contends that the murals are an integral part of the building it purchased. The Conservancy supports the company’s legal efforts to prevent the sale of the murals. |
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