The Southern California Grotto (usually shortened to SoCal Grotto) is a
chapter of the
National Speleological Society (NSS) based in the
Greater Los Angeles area.
Founded in 1948, the Southern California Grotto, is one of the oldest chapters of the NSS and is one of the largest grottos in the western United States. The Southern California Grotto has a long history of active caving and cave related projects throughout California and other states, and extending to other areas of the world. Members of the Grotto endorse the goals of the National Speleological Society – the study, exploration, and conservation of caves. The motto: "Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time." summarizes the ideals practiced by Southern California Grotto cavers while exploring the underground world.
History
William Halliday organized the first meeting of the Southern California Grotto on September 29, 1948,
at
Huntington Memorial Hospital, where he was working as an intern. Twenty prospective members attended the first meeting and of these, five were members of the National Speleological Society: Denny Constantine worked at the
Los Angeles County Museum and is now known for his expertise in bat species. Karl Heinize was an
astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
who died on a climbing expedition to
Mount Everest. Richard Logan was a professor of
geography at the
University of California. George Neuerburg was an expert in
hard rock mining
Underground hard-rock mining refers to various underground mining techniques used to excavate "hard" minerals, usually those containing metals, such as ore containing gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, tin, and lead. It also involves the ...
.
[
]
On December 10, 1948, the Southern California Grotto was chartered as the sixteenth grotto of the NSS and the first grotto in California. However, the official charter was not issued until July 1, 1958, and it listed the Southern California Grotto as being active since January 31, 1949. Bill Halliday was the first grotto chair and meetings at the
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
Public Library Auditorium started in November 1948. During the first year, grotto membership increased from 8 to 34. Also in that first year, the grotto had 13 official trips to caves in California, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. The first grotto trip was to
Lilburn Cave on October 2–3, 1948.
Kokoweef Cave was the second grotto trip in November 1948.
Cave conservation
Members of the SoCal Grotto volunteer on conservation projects each year. Work is done California, the western United States, and in international projects. In California, the grotto assists state and federal agencies such as
Providence Mountains State Recreation Area
The Providence Mountains State Recreation Area is located in the Providence Mountains, within the Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, California. It is also home to the Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve.
Geography
The Recreation ...
,
Sequoia,
Kings Canyon,
Death Valley National Parks, and the
Mojave National Preserve.
[
]
Cave research
Members of the grotto participate in a number of research projects as both principal investigators, and as field assistants.
[
] Current projects include the Earth-Mars Cave Detection Expedition, in the
Mojave Desert, several projects at Cathedral and other caves in
Arizona, and the XMET project in
Belize.
Media
The SoCal Grotto has assisted media companies in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
, as it is the closest caving organization and members have consulted on a number of
feature films
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
,
documentaries,
TV shows, news programs, and
newspapers.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Southern California Grotto Web Page
NSS Web PageCathedral Cave Preserve
Caving organizations in the United States
1948 establishments in California