A city’s philanthropists

They may not have been the first couple of Costa Mesa, but you’d be hard pressed to find a pair more involved in the city’s early days than Fanny Bixby Spencer and Carl Spencer.

The Spencers, who donated money to beautifying streets and helped less fortunate children, were at the heart of many social causes in Costa Mesa.

Fanny Bixby Spencer, who died of cancer in 1930, was the youngest of nine siblings. Her father, Jotham Bixby, owned much of Long Beach. The family’s money allowed Fanny Bixby Spencer to donate money at will.

She championed causes such as women’s suffrage and child hunger. She was a self-proclaimed socialist and pacifist -- a woman who, according to written reports, wouldn’t back down from controversy.

For instance, she refused to salute the American flag during well publicized World War I protests.

Her writings included titles such as “How I Became a Socialist” and “The Repudiation of War.”

“She was not just a radical,” Ellen Lee, who has written extensively on the Spencers, told the Daily Pilot in 1982. “She was rather outrageous.”

Carl Spencer, who died in 1950 at the age of 77, was anything but wealthy growing up. He was a Long Beach dock worker who shared Fanny Bixby Spencer’s socialist convictions. The couple married in 1918 and moved to Costa Mesa the next year.

Developing a main business district between 18th and 19th streets on Newport Boulevard was one of Carl Spencer’s notable accomplishments. He oversaw street improvement projects and saw to it that palm trees were planted for aesthetics.

The Spencers started an endowment that led to the formation of the first Costa Mesa library. They also provided the money for the city to open Lion’s Park.

Without children of their own, the Spencers supported foster children and let them play on their ranch. Fanny Bixby Spencer also owned property on Balboa Island.

The hot lunch program at local schools was a product of the Spencers’ donations. And they sponsored a $25 contest in which the city was renamed Costa Mesa, from Harper.

“She was a one-person social service,” Lee told the Daily Pilot. “She was the library, the PTA, the women’s club and the welfare department.”

* THE GOOD OLD DAYS runs Sundays. Do you know of a person, place or event that deserves a look back? Let us know. Contact us by fax at (714) 966-4679; by e-mail at dailypilot@latimes.com; or by mail at Daily Pilot, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.

20060108isqyjfncCOSTA MESA HISTORICAL SOCIETY(LA)Carl Spencer and wife Fanny Bixby Spencer adopted a number of children.