{"nrhp_refnum":"84000865","name":"Friday Morning Club","other_names":["Variety Arts Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"938-940 S. Figueroa St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Los Angeles","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.04556019200004,"lon":-118.262941249,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-05-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story reinforced concrete and steel clubhouse and theater at 938-940 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, built in 1924 for the Friday Morning Club and designed by Allison & Allison. It is now used as the Variety Arts Center.","why_significant":"The nomination cites its association with the Friday Morning Club, a major Los Angeles women's club founded in 1891, and with the Golden Age of Radio in the 1930s, when live shows were broadcast from its theater. It also points to the quality of its Italian Renaissance Revival design and interiors, and to the prominent architectural firm Allison & Allison.","narrative":"Built in 1924 on Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, this five-story concrete and steel building was designed by Allison & Allison as the clubhouse of the Friday Morning Club, a women's club founded in 1891 that promoted charitable work, kindergartens, mobile libraries and women's suffrage. A first-floor theater helped pay off the mortgage and became central to the city's cultural life, hosting plays, speakers and live radio broadcasts in the 1930s, including The Burns and Allen Show. The Italian Renaissance Revival exterior features a triple arched entrance on Corinthian columns and a pierced concrete balcony. Inside, hand-painted concrete ceilings are molded to resemble wood beams and coffers, and the library has a Tiffany-designed fireplace of Batchelder tile. The building has remained largely unaltered. Since 1977 it has been owned by the Society for the Preservation of Variety Arts, which uses it for performances, collections and a museum, while the club still occupies the fifth floor.","period_of_significance":"1923-1924","architect_builder":"Allison & Allison, architects","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in excellent condition, virtually unaltered; used as a theater, performing arts center, library and museum, with the Friday Morning Club leasing the fifth floor.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.642082-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/84000865.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000865/2da3c79c60-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000865/2da3c79c60-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Julius Shulman, Photographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Friday_Morning_Club,_938-940_South_Figueroa_Street,_Los_Angeles_(Los_Angeles_County,_California).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Julius Shulman, Photographer</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Friday_Morning_Club,_938-940_South_Figueroa_Street,_Los_Angeles_(Los_Angeles_County,_California).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859127","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_Morning_Club","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5503499"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/friday-morning-club-84000865/"}