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A DIFFERENT KIND OF EDEN:
GAY MEN, MODERNISM, AND THE REBIRTH OF PALM SPRINGS
by
John Paul LoCascio
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION
August 2013
Copyright 2013 John Paul LoCascio
Object Description
| Title | A different kind of Eden: gay men, modernism, and the rebirth of Palm Springs |
| Author | LoCascio, John Paul |
| Author email | jlocasci@usc.edu;jpl-arch@earthlink.net |
| Degree | Master of Historic Preservation |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Historic Preservation |
| School | School of Architecture |
| Date defended/completed | 2013-07-03 |
| Date submitted | 2013-07-03 |
| Date approved | 2013-07-03 |
| Restricted until | 2013-07-03 |
| Date published | 2013-07-03 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Breisch, Kenneth A. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Platt, Jay Starr, Kevin |
| Abstract | The contribution of the gay community - and gay men in particular - to the cause of historic preservation in the United States has long been tacitly accepted, but seldom documented. This thesis fills part of that gap by documenting, as a singular case study, the role played by gay men in rediscovering, rehabilitating, and reviving the faded resort city of Palm Springs, California. ❧ Over the course of the 20th century, Palm Springs developed from a modest spa town into an exclusive winter resort, and, after World War II, into a popular vacation destination for the growing middle class. The city’s popularity, and its period of greatest development, peaked in the two decades after World War II, coinciding with the rise of Modernism in the United States, before declining dramatically in the 1970s, leaving Palm Springs a virtual ghost town that yet boasted the largest and finest concentration of mid-20th century Modern architecture in the country. ❧ This thesis documents how, at its popular and economic nadir, Palm Springs was rediscovered largely by gay men - many in the fields of architecture, design, and publishing - who built a community, rehabilitated neglected Modern houses, led the effort to recognize and preserve the city’s unique architectural heritage and, in so doing, fostered the city’s economic, cultural, and political renaissance. |
| Keyword | gay; Palm Springs; modernism |
| Language | English |
| Format (imt) | application/pdf |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | LoCascio, John Paul |
| Physical access | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@dots.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-LoCascioJo-1739.pdf |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume7/etd-LoCascioJo-1739.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@dots.usc.edu |
| Full text | A DIFFERENT KIND OF EDEN: GAY MEN, MODERNISM, AND THE REBIRTH OF PALM SPRINGS by John Paul LoCascio A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION August 2013 Copyright 2013 John Paul LoCascio |
