ANNUAL PUBLICATION OF THE Historical Society OF Southern California Los Angeles 1896 Published by the Society LOS ANGELES, CAL. 1897 Inaugural Address of President Frank J. Polley Old Time Schools and Schoolmasters of Los Angeles-J. M. Guinn HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. LOS ANGELES, 1896. PRESIDENT'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. BY PROF. FRANK J. POLLEY. [Delivered January 7, 1896.] Members of the Historical Society of Southern California: In conformity with custom, I present in my inaugural the outline of work for the year as an incentive to active co-operation among the members of the society. The society has existed and justified itself in the past, in the face of many difficulties. The lack of suitable room prevents its valuable collection from being used to the best advantage. The county's needs deprived us of the large room in the court house and we now occupy a balcony of Judge Van Dyke's court room by a courtesy which the society deeply appreciates, though it regrets the necessity which calls for it. We also suffer from a lack of funds, but have the creditable record of being free from debt and limiting our expenses to the measure of our purse. We need more people in attendance at our monthly meetings. Many of our most earnest members are those who have reached an age where it is an effort to attend an evening meeting with its subsequent discomforts of the return at a late hour. It is hard to secure active workers since those who approach the subject with moderate enthusiasm are appalled at the chaos into which local history has apparently fallen. The lack of a popular accessible state history is severely felt, and since the bulky volumes of Bancroft require an especial |