Our History

Classes in Spanish were first offered at the Los Angeles State Normal School in 1917. For the first five years after the school became the Southern Branch of the University, both Spanish and French were taught by the Department of Romanic Languages. In 1924, the two language departments were separated, and Leonard D. Bailiff became chairman of the Department of Spanish. He held this position until 1942 when a combined Department of Spanish and Italian was established under the chairmanship of Marion A. Zeitlin, with courses offered in these two languages and their respective literatures and also in Portuguese, which had been taught in the department since 1938. Seven years later, the department was divided and the Spanish department, with John A. Crow as chairman, was officially designated the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.

When the first Bachelor of Arts degrees were awarded by the Southern Branch in 1925, eight students received the degree with a major in Spanish. Graduate courses were instituted in 1934, and three Master of Arts degrees in Spanish were granted in June of 1935. The first doctoral degree in romance languages and literatures with a specialization in Spanish was awarded in 1950, and five years later the first doctoral degree in the field of Hispanic languages and literatures was granted. In the year 1964, 40 students received the A.B. degree in Spanish, 12 received the M.A. degree, and 6 the Ph.D. in Hispanic languages and literatures.

In 1965, the department, under the chairmanship of Jose R. Barcia, had a staff of 26 members and offered some 80 courses in Spanish and 12 in Portuguese, ranging in both instances from elementary language instruction through graduate seminars in literature and linguistics. Total enrollment in Spanish courses was 2,300, including 313 undergraduates majoring in Spanish.

The Spanish and Portuguese language laboratory, incorporating the latest in electronic equipment for the teaching of foreign languages, was opened in 1964. Plans for further expansion of departmental offerings included the establishment of instruction in methodology for teachers at the elementary school level, a major program in Portuguese, and undergraduate courses in Hispanic folklore.

(courtesy of Professor Shirley L. Arora)