Los Angeles has no shortage of stunning libraries. From Glendale’s strikingly Moorish Brand Library to the handsome wood-paneled Ella Strong Denison Library at Scripps College in Claremont to USC’s cathedral-like Hoose Library of Philosophy, the list seems to go on and on! But there is one gorgeous athenaeum that has somehow managed to fly largely under the radar. A true hidden gem, mention the Philosophical Research Society to most Angelinos and they likely won’t have any idea what you’re talking about. However, location managers have certainly managed to take note of the place over the years!
Located on a bustling Los Feliz corner about half a mile west of the 5 Freeway at 3910 Los Feliz Blvd., the metaphysical research facility was the brainchild of Manly Palmer Hall, a Canadian-born mystic, author, free thinker and purveyor of all things spiritual. His interest in ancient religions was piqued upon migrating to Los Angeles at the age of 18 in 1919 and befriending phrenologist Sydney Brownson who introduced him to Hinduism, Greek philosophy and mysticism. An avid reader and researcher with photographic recall, Hall, as the Los Angeles Times notes, “Furthered his studies of ancient religions and soon was speaking at the Church of the People downtown. By 1920, only 19 years old, he was running the church and delivering Sunday lectures about Rosicrucianism and Theosophy, the mystical philosophical system founded by Madame Helena Blavatsky, as well as the teachings of Pythagoras, Confucius and Plato.”
Manly eventually became an author himself, publishing an incredible 200 books throughout his lifetime, including “An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy,” aka “The Secret Teachings of All Ages,” a 1928 tome that L.A. Weekly deemed “the definitive guide to spiritual thinking.”
He, of course, also acquired legions of followers along the way, including such luminaries as John Denver and Bela Lugosi, and raked up scores of accolades. The Times reported, “For his writings alone he was made an honorary 33rd-degree Freemason (the highest honor), and even Elvis was a fan, sending Priscilla Presley to one of the world-renowned orator’s lectures because he was afraid of getting mobbed himself.”
Though considered an icon, Hall did not seek adulation, unlike so many spiritual gurus both past and present. In a 1942 essay, he instead cautioned against such idolatry, writing, “All followers who offer to adorn and deify their teachers set up a false condition. Human beings, experience has proved, make better humans than they do gods.”
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Image Credit: Philosophical Research Society His most lasting legacy, though, is the Philosophical Research Society. Of his motivation in establishing it, Hall is quoted in “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” as saying, “I could see what was happening right before my eyes. I could see, even as far back as the ‘20s, that Hollywood would supplant Madison Avenue as the main shaper of public consciousness. I wanted to try to use that tool for good instead of evil. I wanted to spread certain esoteric truths into the mass media in the form of fiction. I had already done so to some extent with some pulp fiction stories I had published.”
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Image Credit: Philosophical Research Society He purchased the plot of land where the educational facility now stands in 1934 for a paltry $10 (which is only about $200 today) and commissioned Robert Stacy-Judd to design a campus where spiritual knowledge could be shared with the masses. The London-born architect, who was also responsible for the Aztec Hotel in Monrovia as well as the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club in San Diego, fashioned the complex in the style of the early Mayans, a culture he studied fastidiously and published several books on, many of which can be found in the Society’s current collection.
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Image Credit: Philosophical Research Society Ground was broken on the site on October 17, 1935, with more than 100 people in attendance to celebrate the occasion. When completed, the facility consisted of an office, a print shop, a bindery and a library. The latter, a two-story space capped by dramatic geometric lighting, is the crown jewel of Stacy-Judd’s design and houses the mass collection of spiritual tomes accumulated by Hall throughout his lifetime.
The Philosophical Research Society’s official website details, “Generous donations from philanthropists and supporters enabled Mr. Hall to visit great auction houses of Europe to purchase rare manuscripts and sourcebooks printed prior to 1800, which added to the growing collection of the wisdom library. It is a collection so impressive that during World War II, The Library of Congress requested permission to make microfilm copies of unique items for permanent record, in case the library should be damaged by bombardment.”
When the campus was expanded in 1950, a library vault was added to house the most precious of books in the collection. Additional office space was built, as well, as was an auditorium and a classroom.
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Image Credit: Philosophical Research Society Hall was also a collector of religious art, much of which is on permanent display on the campus today, including two original decorative tiles from Glastonbury Abbey in England, where King Arthur is purported to have been buried, and a Japanese wood carving of Amida Buddha dating back to the Tokugawa Period (pictured above). The library doors are also works of art, in and of themselves, hand-carved by actor/famed woodworker Stuart Holmes.
Years ahead of its time, the Philosophical Research Society began offering a virtual master’s degree program in consciousness studies in 2002 and became an accredited university in 2008. Dedicated to the principle that “everyone should have access to the world’s wisdom,” the facility is open to the public each Friday from 12 to 6 p.m. Appointments can also be made to visit the site Tuesday through Thursday and numerous special events and lectures are hosted on the premises each year.
Today, more than 50,000 books are housed in the grand library space and visitors are invited to pursue them all. As librarian Maja D’Aoust told the Los Angeles Times in 2008, “There are very interesting synchronicities surrounding the research that happens in this building. Just pick a book, any book. Even if you don’t know what you’re looking for, it will probably find you.” Not inclined to do any research while there? The locale is worth a visit just to glean a peek at the gorgeous interior alone. With its glass-enclosed shelving holding a multitude of thin-leafed volumes, the site, which is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, looks more like an ethereal set created for a movie than a spot that exists in real life. So it is no surprise that it found its way to the screen.
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Image Credit: 20th Television -
Image Credit: Philosophical Research Society It is at the Philosophical Research Society that Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) hosts – and ultimately walks out of – a signing for her 1971 book “My Way of Life” (which, as described by Amazon, is “part memoir, part self-help book, part guide to being fabulous”) in the final episode of “Feud: Bette and Joan” titled “You Mean All This Time We Could Have Been Friends?”
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Image Credit: USA Network The space also portrays the supposed Harvard University law library where a young Dan Broderick (Chris Mason) studies – and refuses to join a study group because he’s “used to working alone” – in the episode of “Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story” titled “Marriage Encounter.”