Pillar of Achievement - 2014

Observers who recall the Los Angeles sports climate of the 1950s insist the Dodgers would not have been able to build Dodgers Stadium if not for the persistence and political savvy of Westside City Councilperson Rosalind Wyman.

The youngest person and second woman ever elected to the L.A. City Council (she was just 23 in 1953), Wyman was the pivotal public official who influenced historic negotiations that ceded the residential area known as Chavez Ravine to the Dodgers as site for the team’s new home stadium.

Said Councilperson Wyman: “It was always my belief that a major league city needed major league sports teams, to provide jobs, attract tourism and give our community a tangible example of the wonderful spirit of our city—a team that represented us to the nation and the world.”

The first resolution Roz Wyman introduced in the City Council called on the L.A. Coliseum Commission to permit a baseball game to be played in the dedicated football and track & field venue, to demonstrate that it would be a proper place to stage Major League Baseball. The approved resolution served as the prelude to the Dodgers East-to-West Coast move, allowing the National League team to play home games at Coliseum for four seasons (1958-61) while Dodger Stadium was being built.

While her efforts to bring L.A. the Dodgers have long been admired, few Angelinos are aware is that she also played an important role in bringing the Lakers to Los Angeles from Minneapolis in 1960.