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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

UCLA History: Murphy

The photo at the top is of Franklin Murphy, chancellor of UCLA in the 1960s until his resignation in 1968 to become chair of Times-Mirror. At the bottom is Murphy, former President Eisenhower, and UC president Clark Kerr. The two photos are reproduced from Margaret Leslie Davis, The Culture Broker: Franklin D. Murphy and the Transformation of Los Angeles (UC Press, 2007). The opening chapters of the book tell of Murphy's recruitment from the U of Kansas - which he headed - by the downtown business movers and shakers of LA to be chancellor of UCLA. At the time, there was a general drive to enhance the city, not only by building up UCLA but with such ventures as construction of the Music Center and LACMA (in which Murphy was also involved). The smiles in the lower picture belie the ongoing tussle between Murphy and Kerr concerning UCLA autonomy and development.

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