[img]1792|right|Jim Clarke||no_popup[/img]Three weeks from Saturday will mark the 67th anniversary of the death of Harry H. Culver, Culver City’s birth father, meaning hardly any of the community’s residents have a recollection of him.
Born in Nebraska in January 1880, he lived what was regarded as a full life in those days, dying at 66 years old.
With the incomparable aid of Julie Lugo Cerra, the city’s historian, City Councilman Jim Clarke – already a passable likeness – has splendidly reprised Mr. Culver’s most famous speech twice, on Saturday before the California Club, downtown Los Angeles, and last evening in Council Chambers, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of his speech at the exclusive California Club.
Even though Mr. Culver was 33, half of Mr. Clarke’s age, when he made his grand I Have a Dream-type oration, the handsome Mr. Clarke’s appearance sparked echoes of the founder.
Their hairstyle and facial compositions are similar, and Mr. Clarke imaginatively put together a three-piece ensemble that approximated what the well-dressed Westside real estate salesman would have worn to address his influential audience.
The Clarke portion of the story began to unfold four months ago in this history-minded community when he came across Mr. Culver’s seminal speech.
His first stops were Ms. Lugo Cerra and the Culver City Historical Society.
Through his day job at Los Angeles City Hall in new Mayor Eric Garcetti’s administration, Mr. Clarke encountered one Judith Kieffer of the Los Angeles Parks Foundation.
He mentioned that he would like to reprise Mr. Culver’s vision for the new Westside settlement at the California Club on or near the 100th anniversary.
Mrs. Kieffer and her husband George are members of the California Club. “My husband would be happy to sponsor you,” she told Mr. Clarke since one must be a member or be sponsored by a member before staging an event at the club.
The Irony of Location
Mr. Clarke’s idea germinated when he was strolling through Downtown when he came to the Culver Hotel. Deciding to rest for a moment, he sat down on the bench out front that bears the sculpted likeness of Harry Culver as a newspaper reader. “I noticed the date for the speech, saw the speech that was there, and I said ‘Great! We should do this!’ That is how it began.
Mr. Clarke rehearsed the speech seriously 25 times before his two dramatic renderings – that should be repeated as Culver City’s centennial approaches.
Were there aspects of the Culver personality Mr. Clarke expressly sought to emulate?
“We tried to get the look,” he said. “There are no recordings of him, though, so we don’t know what he sounded like. He was from the Midwest, so his tone may have been flat. He was a real estate salesman, and I put myself in – you are a salesman, addressing a group of investors. How would you go about delivering such a speech.”
Unable to duplicate the 1913 collarless shirt-style with a separate cardboard-like collar, he settled for a talented seamstress designing a shirt with an unusually high collar.
For both deliveries, he appeared to almost be wearing a dark three-piece suit. Would you believe two?
It was intended to be the traditional three pieces.
“I had a vest with a tuxedo,” Mr. Clarke said with a laugh, “but when I tried it on, it didn’t fit me anymore.
“I went over to Goodwill, thinking I could find one. But they were out. So I scrambled and found a black sweater.”
From a distance, it resembled a vest as closely as Mr. Clarke did Mr. Culver.
