Happy 100 Years to Us!
In 1923, Los Angeles resident Adolph Larson, a Norwegian emigrant, envisioned a “cozy Christian home for aged Norwegians” and, with the backing of his men’s church group, he founded Solheim Lutheran Home in Eagle Rock, California. In the 100 years since, Solheim has provided a safe, comfortable and caring haven for senior men and women of diverse nationalities, races and religions.
What was happening in the world 100 years ago? Let’s refresh.
In Europe, civil war ended in Ireland and Mt. Etna erupted in Italy. King Tut’s tomb was opened in Egypt and from Canada, the world greeted the invention of insulin for treating diabetes.
In the United States, the first issue of Time magazine hit the newsstands. Nationwide, women had recently won the vote. Clarence Birdseye invented frozen food. For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than they did in villages or farms. The life expectancy of American women now reached 58.5 years; for American men, it was 56.1 years. (It’s now 80.2 and 74.5 years, respectively.)
In forward-thinking California (where women won the vote in 1911!) both the population and the economy were booming—especially in Los Angeles, which now surpassed San Francisco as California’s most populous city.
The Los Angeles Times pinpoints 1923 as a “civic Big Bang” for the City of Angels, a year when many iconic LA institutions were born.
Motion pictures were taking off. In 1923, Warner Brothers Pictures incorporated in Hollywood and the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio was founded in Burbank.
The 450-foot long, 45-foot high “Hollywoodland” sign was erected to promote a residential subdivision in Beachwood Canyon. The sign still stands as a legendary marker, minus the ending “land.”
The year 1923 also witnessed the opening of the LA Memorial Coliseum in Exposition Park, a sports venue which quickly became one of the world’s greatest. In downtown Los Angeles, the newly opened Biltmore Hotel became the largest hotel west of Chicago. Evangelical preacher Aimee Semple McPherson opened the Angelus Temple in Echo Park. El Cholo Spanish Café brought Mexican food to the city. And in west LA, the starry community of Bel-Air was founded.
As the population of Los Angeles neared one million, cars became a way of life. The Automobile Club of Southern California set up shop at the corner of Figueroa and Adams, where it remains today.
Yes, the twenties roared, but mostly for the wealthy. The United States didn’t yet provide the safety nets of Social Security and Medicare. If you were aged or infirm and lacked substantial savings or independent wealth, you fell on hard times.
One hundred years ago, Solheim Lutheran Home stepped into the breach. Today, the renamed Solheim Senior Community fills a larger need for over 150 residents, providing comfortable apartments for Independent and Assisted Living as well as on-campus Skilled Nursing. This breadth of on-campus services allows our residents to keep their home base even as their needs change. For our friends and family experiencing memory loss, Solheim provides a safely enclosed and emotionally comforting Memory Care campus.
Solheim remains a not-for-profit entity, a status which is increasingly unusual among retirement communities. Thanks to your generous donations, we are still able—and happy!—to provide charitable care.
In 1923, Solheim Lutheran Home provided safe haven for a half-dozen men in need. One hundred years later, Solheim Senior Community is home to many more seniors, all of whom find dignity, comfort and love within our community.
We’ll be celebrating our centennial all year long, and we hope to see you at some (or many!) of our events. Happy 100 Years to us, and long live Solheim Senior Community! Visit our Centennial website for more history, upcoming events, and information about our Centennial Masquerade Ball to be held later this year at www.solheimsenior.org/100 .