Armand Hammer Family Mausoleum Overview
- At September 12, 2014
- By mausoleum
- In Mausoleumpedia
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The American-born entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political power player, Armand Hammer (May 21, 1898 – December 10, 1990), is best known for founding Occidental Petroleum, a company he helmed for several decades.
Education and Early Fortune
Hammer was born in the borough of Manhattan in New York City to Russian-Jewish emigrant parents. After attending Morris High School, he matriculated to Columbia University, first earning a Bachelor of Arts degree and later a Doctorate in Medicine.
Just after entering the medical school at Columbia, Hammer and his brothers took over his father’s business, Allied Drug, bringing record profits by selling off overvalued equipment originally purchased at very low costs at the end of World War I. Additionally, the brothers Hammer marketed a wildly successful ginger extract that contained the highest legal alcohol content allowed. The start of prohibition ensured wide sales of the tonic, responsible for revenue in excess of $1M in the first year. Adjusted for inflation, that amount is equal to $13,777,052.02 today.
Rather than putting his newly earned medical degree to use, Hammer returned to the land of his parent’s birth, the newly formed Soviet Union, for what was supposed to have been a brief visit that ultimately lasted the better part of nine years. This long-term visit, during which he made several contacts with high-ranking officials of the new Communist Party, including Vladimir Lenin, began a long personal and business relationship with the fledgling nation. It also drew suspicion from the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation that continued for the remainder of his life.
Armand Hammer: The Political Powerhouse
A life-long professed Republican, Hammer was a prominent figure in the halls of power in the United States. Despite the protracted cold war with the U.S.S.R., Hammer’s ties to the communist nation positioned him well to be a citizen diplomat, smoothing tensions and helping to cut red tape for humanitarian causes he found important, including aid to the region affected by the Cherynobyl disaster.
In figures that seem quaint by today’s political donation standards, Hammer provided $54,000 to the presidential campaign of Richard Nixon. One of these donations landed him in legal hot water, for which he pled guilty, received a probationary sentence, and paid a fine of $3000. The guilty verdict was later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush.
Business and politics were not mutually exclusive in Hammer’s world. Armand Hammer found no discord between his conservative politics and his political patronage of the Democratic Gore family of Tennessee. His energy company had significant business dealings in Tennessee. Albert Gore, Sr., after serving as the state’s long-time Senator, found a second career as head of one of Occidental Petroleum’s subsidiary companies, the Tennessee-based Island Creek Coal Company. Hammer, a life long friend of Gore, Sr. once remarked to the once senior statesman that he would ensure Al Gore, his son and the former Vice-President, would one day be elected President.
Armand Hammer: Philanthropist and Supporter of the Arts
Recognizing his immense success in the field of business, Hammer was committed to giving back to several causes he found personally important. His work in the fields of medicine, the arts, and education resulted in the establishment of the United World College of the American West and recognition through high honors from many nations around the globe.
His eye for art turned to works painted by the Impressionists and post-Impressionists. While some critics commented Hammer loved the worst works by the best artists, his amassed collection was impressive. The donated collection is currently on permanent display at the UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, CA.
The Armand Hammer Family Mausoleum
Armand Hammer’s legacy, like his life, is unorthodox. The Hammer Family Mausoleum resides in a setting as unique as the man interred within.
The building itself employs an understated design with very simple lines and modest landscaping. The metal gated and glass doors open into a simple square structure. The polished granite construction is accented with two ornamental carved inlays at the entrance along with two slightly larger, but thematically identical, carvings on the outside walls of the monument. The placement of the mausoleum is interesting as well.
Westwood Memorial Park
The Westwood Memorial Park is located immediately adjacent to the headquarters of Armand Hammer’s signature business accomplishment in his life, Occidental Petroleum. The Armand Hammer Family Mausoleum is the only family monument contained within the Westwood Memorial Park.
While many envision a mausoleum in a quiet, pastoral setting, Armand Hammer’s legacy will forever reside amidst the hustle and bustle of the Los Angeles-area business community, a community forever altered by his life’s work.
