Dreamers and Schemers: How an Improbable Bid for the 1932 Olympics Transformed Los Angeles from Dusty Outpost to Global Metropolis

How one man brought the Olympics to Los Angeles, fueling the city's urban transformation. 

Dreamers and Schemers chronicles how Los Angeless pursuit and staging of the 1932 Olympic Games during the depths of the Great Depression helped fuel the citys transformation from a seedy frontier village to a world-famous metropolis. Leading that pursuit was the Prince of Realtors, William May (Billy) Garland, a prominent figure in early Los Angeles. In important respects, the story of Billy Garland is the story of Los Angeles. After arriving in Southern California in 1890, he and his allies drove much of the citys historic expansion in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Then, from 1920 to 1932, he directed the citys bid for the 1932 Olympic Games. Garlands quest to host the Olympics provides an unusually revealing window onto a particular time, place, and way of life. Reconstructing the narrative from Garlands visionary notion to its consequential aftermath, Barry Siegel shows how one mans grit and imagination made California history. See more