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CC - CONSENT ITEM: Appointment of Hope Parrish as Honorary City Historian
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Meeting Date: October 14, 2024
Contact Person/Dept.: Jesse Mays, Assistant City Manager
Phone Number: City Manager’s Office (310) 253-6000
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [x] General Fund: Yes [] No [x]
Attachments: Yes [] No [x]
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (10/09/2024)
Department Approval: John Nachbar, City Manager, (10/07/2024) _____________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council appoint Hope Parrish as honorary City Historian.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
At the City Council meeting on September 23, 2024, the City Council directed the City Manager to ask Hope Parrish if she would be willing to serve as honorary City Historian, and if Ms. Parrish was willing to serve, to return to City Council with an item to appoint her as honorary City Historian.
Staff has spoken to Ms. Parrish, and she indicated she is willing to serve as the honorary City Historian.
Ms. Parrish is a retired property master who worked in the entertainment industry for many years. Just a few of the films and television shows where she served as property master are Jerry Maguire, Air Force One, Thirteen Days, Deadwood, Django Unchained, and Nebraska. When she retired in 2017, she became President of the Culver City Historical Society (CCHS).
Ms. Parrish loves history, research and her hometown, Culver City. Her work has been to continue to grow the CCHS and carry-on the work of those that came before her in the organization. She hopes that the CCHS will continue to be a place where Culver City can deposit items that tell the City’s story and history, and that history’s lessons continue to educate the city.
Ms. Parrish’s activities and achievements as President of CCHS include the following:
• Working with a team of volunteers to create a museum space at the Veteran’s Memorial Building.
• Working with the CCHS’s Programs Chair and volunteers on presenting interesting stories and researching the history of people, places and events in Culver City.
• With the assistance of Cameraman Mark Morris, recording CCHS presentations and uploading them to the CCHS YouTube channel. Directing Mr. Morris to digitize all VHS, cassettes, and CDs in the CCHS archive to preserve these various films, living histories and audio recordings from decay.
• Archiving dozens of boxes of personal donations, gifts, documents, and photographs. CCHS is the caretaker of historic items for the Chamber of Commerce, Culver City Women’s Club, and Culver City Sister City Committee’s (CCSCC) valued assets.
• Working with Cultural Affairs staff to provide historic documentation and photo images for projects including the Bill Botts Fields/Veterans Memorial Park Feasibility Study and the Historical Context Study.
• Attending Cultural Affairs Commission meetings to stay current on City issues involving the Art in Public Places Ordinance and Historic Preservation.
• Assisting Economic Development Staff with displays for the LA28 Olympics community meeting held in 2023.
• Writing articles for 28 months for the Culver City Neighbors Magazine, highlighting pieces of history and seasonal stories.
• Expanding and improving the CCHS newsletter.
• Starting a Friday workshop for Culver City High School students, allowing them to earn community service hours. This involves collaborating with Culver City High School’s Career Counselor and allows high school students to contribute to the CCHS museum.
• Developing a history of the Kaizuka Garden at the Culver City Library, including creation of a display for the garden revitalization event in the spring of 2024.
• Serving as the volunteer historian for the CCSCC.
• Working with CCHS volunteers to answer two to three questions a week regarding local history. These include questions from families that had businesses in Culver City or people who grew-up in Culver City. Answering these questions often requires significant research.
• Working with the Culver Hotel on tours for guests. Along with Jack Bommarito, CCHS’s Vice President of Development, she has updated the Culver City downtown tours. Many variations of the tours are presented depending on the size of the group, available time, and interests.
• Monitoring local businesses websites for historic accuracy.
• In memory of past CCHS President Julie Lugo Cerra, who mentored Ms. Parrish, implementing a JLC Scholarship Fund, which awarded a student with a $1,000 scholarship in 2023. Donations were provided by Ms. Parrish and Michele Cerra Lachoff.
• Serving as an advisor on the Culver City Arts foundation board.
• Participating in the first Culver City Leadership class.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
There is no fiscal impact from appointment of Ms. Parrish as honorary City Historian.
ATTACHMENTS
None
RECOMMENDED MOTIONS
That the City Council appoint Hope Parrish as honorary City Historian.