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Lewin, Herbert (audio interview #1 of 2)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This interview was conducted in the home of George Badenhausen, Lewin's friend. The audio quality of this interview is fair. It is occasionally difficult to understand Lewin because the sound is not very clear. 9/20/1984
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- 2020-10-27
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- SUBJECT BIO - Herbert Lewin, with the support of other members of the Long Beach Junior Chamber of Commerce, promoted the development of the Long Beach Airport and location of the Douglas Aircraft plant adjacent to it. Lewin moved to Los Angeles after graduating from a military academy in Missouri. He learned to fly in Los Angeles while working on Signal Hill in the oil fields. While working in the oil fields, he joined the Long Beach Junior Chamber of Commerce where he headed the Aviation Committee. His work on that committee led the Long Beach city manager to appoint him manager of the Long Beach Airport. In that position, he he negotiated with a local land owner to sell adjacent land at an attractive price and then offered it to Douglas at that price. Douglas decided to buy and build a plant in Long Beach. In 1943, Lewin joined the Air Corps and was stationed in various places. In this single interview, he also discusses his other activities in the Junior Chamber of Commerce including parades. TOPICS - father; interests and instruction in flying; career; Junior Chamber of Commerce and Aviation Committee; planning, marketing,and development of Long Beach Airport; Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale; Burbank Air
- *** File: cbhlewin1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-2:31)... Brief introduction. Lewin's father worked at an oil refinery on Signal Hill. While attending a military academy in Lexington, Missouri, Lewin visited his father in Long Beach during the summers. After graduating in 1925, he moved to California and lived in Los Angeles and Long Beach. When he retired from the Air Force in 1966, he permanently settled in Long Beach. (2:31-6:53)... When he graduated from high school in 1925, he moved to Los Angeles and received flight instructions from an ex-WWI Navy pilot. Lewin learned how to fly at a private airstrip and at Rogers Airport in Los Angeles. He joined the service in 1943 and was immediately assigned to the Air Corps. Shortly after joining the Air Corps, he was sent to North Carolina to work in flight control. After working in the oil industry, he worked in air space control and as the manager of the Long Beach Airport. (6:53-16:20)... Lewin had 3 careers inhis lifetime. He worked as a roughneck on Signal Hill; he worked in civil aviation for the City of Long Beach, and he had a military career in the Air Corps and Air Force. While working as a roughneck, a friend encouraged him to get involved in community affairs and Lewin joined the Long Beach Junior Chamber of Commerce. As a member of that group, he learned to admire Darrell Neighbors, who was the president of the Junior Chamber when Lewin headed the Junior Chamber's Aviation Committee. In the mid-1930s, the Junior Chamber developed an Airport Improvement Program based on the Regional Master Plan of Airports for Southern California, which was created by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission. (16:20-24:34)... Through cooperation with the Regional Planning Committee, the Junior Chamber of Commerce developed a sales program to market the expansion of the Long Beach Airport as the "focal point for all aviation interests in the Pacific." WPA workers assisted in constructing a model of the airport that the Aviation Committee showcased when marketing the project to various service clubs. The Junior Chamber also developed the "Wings Over the Nation" program, in which flight attendants, pilots, and business interests in the aviation industry were honored with a dinner at the Pacific Coast Club. Eventually, the Aviation Committee was successful in contracting with the Montana Land Company to buy land for $1,000 an acre, the same price at which the company sold land to the Long Beach Water Department. (24:34-31:21)... Lewin discusses the competition that existed between the Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale and the Burbank Airport. The city manager who served in Glendale while the air terminal was being developed eventually replaced the city manager of Long Beach. His interests and experiences in Glendale aviation became key to the development of the Long Beach Airport. The city manager asked Lewin to serve as manager of the Long Beach Airport. Lewin wrote letters to airplane manufacturers around the country in an attempt to market the airport. He discusses the day he met with Tom McMahon and other representatives of Douglas, who agreed to purchase and on what became the north side of the airport for $1,000 an acre. When the city manager heard of Lewin's meeting he quipped, "how often have I told you to do your drinking after hours." End of tape.
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