Arthur E. Briggs
Encyclopedia
Dr. Arthur Elbert Briggs (1881–1969) was a teacher and law school dean who was a Los Angeles, California, City Council member from 1939 to 1941 and the leader of the Ethical Society of Los Angeles in 1953.
, who was serving a life term in San Quentin Prison for the bombing of a Preparedness Day parade in San Francisco in 1916
.
By 1932 he was dean of the Metropolitan University law college, Briggs was the leader of the Ethical Society of Los Angeles in 1953
.
He died on July 25, 1969, in Los Angeles and was survived by his wife, Leah; a daughter, Mary White of San Francisco; and two sisters, Rena Briggs and Gertrude Pefley, both of Parsons, Kansas
. The remains were sent to Parsons for service and interment.
In 1936, Briggs ran for a Superior Court judgeship again, this time against incumbent Caryl M. Sheldon, office no. 8.
Briggs challenged incumbent Councilman Byron B. Brainard
in the 5th Councilmanic District in 1939 and won in the final vote. Two years later, however, he lost to Ira J. McDonald
. He tried for reelection in 1943, but finished third among three candidates.
In the late 1930s, District 5 was bounded roughly on the east by Western south to Pico, by Hobart south to Washington, by Vermont south to Exposition and on the west by Crenshaw and Rimpau.
Government: Briggs joined Council Member Norris J. Nelson
in proposing a combined city-county government with a borough system for Los Angeles.
Legal ethics: During a council meeting, Briggs engaged in a lengthy and spirited debate with attorney James L. Beebe, president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
over Beebe's neutrality in acting as an agent of the city. Beebe retorted:
Briggs said his students failed to pass examinations because the "lawyer's union" made the requirements so high that "only privileged men can pass them."
Mayor: Briggs was appointed head of a committee of five council members to call on Mayor Fletcher Bowron
to complain about "persistent and erroneous" remarks the mayor made about the council in his radio addresses. The council also adopted Briggs's resolution "to seek channels for publicity to present the true facts to the public."
Rebuke: By a 10-4 vote, the City Council administered an official rebuke to Briggs after it learned of a speech he had made to a meeting of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers in March 1939 in which Briggs made "caustic comments" about his fellow council members. President Robert L. Burns
asked that the members "discontinue personal remarks about their colleagues."
Baker Block: Briggs was chairman of a committee that attempted to raise money for the relocation of the historic Baker Block, a historic 19th Century building, to another location, restore it and "make it a museum of Los Angeles history."
Moral Rearmament: A request by Councilman Carl C. Rasmussen
that the council ask Mayor Bowron to proclaim a Moral Rearmament Week failed. with Briggs declaring that the program was "not a governmental matter, but one of personal interest and entirely outside the sphere" of the council.
Red-baiting: Briggs led the successful fight against a City Council resolution proposed by Roy Hampton
asking Mayor Bowron to remove activist Don Healy from a City Charter Revision Committee on the grounds that he was a Communist.
Civil defense: He fiercely opposed the appointment of retired Army Colonel Halsey E. Yates to be "home defense coordinator" for Los Angeles, decrying the idea as the organization of a special police force to "run the affairs of the city in a secret and high-handed way."
Biography
Briggs was born on April 26, 1881, in Kansas and came to Los Angeles in 1923; In 1925 he was working at the Elliot-Horne Company as an attorney and was hired at Polytechnic High School to teach law at night. In 1929 he was on the executive committee of the Los Angeles Municipal League, and in August of that year he was the chairman of a meeting in Trinity Auditorium that urged the pardoning of Tom MooneyThomas Mooney
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Mooney was an American political activist and labor leader, who was convicted with Warren K. Billings of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916...
, who was serving a life term in San Quentin Prison for the bombing of a Preparedness Day parade in San Francisco in 1916
1916 in the United States
-January:* January 24 – In Browning, Montana, the temperature drops from +6.7°C to −48.8°C in one day, the greatest change ever on record for a 24-hour period.* January 24 – Brushaber v...
.
By 1932 he was dean of the Metropolitan University law college, Briggs was the leader of the Ethical Society of Los Angeles in 1953
1953 in the United States
-Incumbents:*President - Harry S. Truman until January 20, Dwight Eisenhower*Vice President - Alben W. Barkley until January 20, Richard Nixon-January–March:* January 7 – President Harry S...
.
He died on July 25, 1969, in Los Angeles and was survived by his wife, Leah; a daughter, Mary White of San Francisco; and two sisters, Rena Briggs and Gertrude Pefley, both of Parsons, Kansas
Parsons, Kansas
Parsons is a city in the northern part of Labette County, located in Southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,500...
. The remains were sent to Parsons for service and interment.
Judicial offices
Briggs and three other candidates ran against incumbent Superior Court Judge Harry E. Sewell, office no. 16, in 1934. In a talk at the Women's Civic Club, Briggs "took occasion to denounce The [Los Angeles]] Times. He declared that in a radio talk he had been attacked as being a radical and denied the accusation."In 1936, Briggs ran for a Superior Court judgeship again, this time against incumbent Caryl M. Sheldon, office no. 8.
City Council
See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returns, 1939–43Briggs challenged incumbent Councilman Byron B. Brainard
Byron B. Brainard
Byron B. Brainard was an electrician, auto mechanic, auto salesman, real estate broker and community newspaper editor who was also a Los Angeles City Council member between 1933 and 1939.-Biography:Byron B...
in the 5th Councilmanic District in 1939 and won in the final vote. Two years later, however, he lost to Ira J. McDonald
Ira J. McDonald
Ira J. McDonald was a Downey, California, attorney and City Council member in Los Angeles, California, between 1941 and 1945.-Biography:...
. He tried for reelection in 1943, but finished third among three candidates.
In the late 1930s, District 5 was bounded roughly on the east by Western south to Pico, by Hobart south to Washington, by Vermont south to Exposition and on the west by Crenshaw and Rimpau.
Controversies
Briggs's service on the City Council between 1939 and 1941 saw these controversies:Government: Briggs joined Council Member Norris J. Nelson
Norris J. Nelson
Norris J. Nelson was a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from 1939 to 1943, after which he served in Europe with the U.S. Army.-Biography:...
in proposing a combined city-county government with a borough system for Los Angeles.
Legal ethics: During a council meeting, Briggs engaged in a lengthy and spirited debate with attorney James L. Beebe, president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce is southern California's largest not-for-profit business federation, representing the interests of more than 235,000 businesses in L.A...
over Beebe's neutrality in acting as an agent of the city. Beebe retorted:
I do not propose to be lectured by a dean of a law school, of which a State Bar publication reports that only one of 25 students passes the examinations.
Briggs said his students failed to pass examinations because the "lawyer's union" made the requirements so high that "only privileged men can pass them."
Mayor: Briggs was appointed head of a committee of five council members to call on Mayor Fletcher Bowron
Fletcher Bowron
Fletcher Bowron was the 35th Mayor of Los Angeles, California from September 26, 1938 until June 30, 1953. Until Thomas Bradley passed his length of service during the 1980s, Bowron held the distinction of having the longest tenure in that position in city history.Bowron was born in Poway,...
to complain about "persistent and erroneous" remarks the mayor made about the council in his radio addresses. The council also adopted Briggs's resolution "to seek channels for publicity to present the true facts to the public."
Rebuke: By a 10-4 vote, the City Council administered an official rebuke to Briggs after it learned of a speech he had made to a meeting of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers in March 1939 in which Briggs made "caustic comments" about his fellow council members. President Robert L. Burns
Robert L. Burns
Robert L. Burns was a Los Angeles school board member between 1923 and 1929 and Los Angeles City Council member between 1929 and 1945. He previously was on the school board in Hutchinson, Kansas. At his death in 1955, he was described as Los Angeles's "elder statesman."Robert L...
asked that the members "discontinue personal remarks about their colleagues."
Baker Block: Briggs was chairman of a committee that attempted to raise money for the relocation of the historic Baker Block, a historic 19th Century building, to another location, restore it and "make it a museum of Los Angeles history."
Moral Rearmament: A request by Councilman Carl C. Rasmussen
Carl C. Rasmussen
Carl Christian Rasmussen was a Lutheran minister who was also a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council between 1939 and 1947.-Biography:...
that the council ask Mayor Bowron to proclaim a Moral Rearmament Week failed. with Briggs declaring that the program was "not a governmental matter, but one of personal interest and entirely outside the sphere" of the council.
Red-baiting: Briggs led the successful fight against a City Council resolution proposed by Roy Hampton
Roy Hampton
Roy Hampton was an attorney, ex-Marine and former journalist who was a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from 1939 to 1943...
asking Mayor Bowron to remove activist Don Healy from a City Charter Revision Committee on the grounds that he was a Communist.
"It is a dirty and contemptible procedure, all too common in this community," Briggs charged, referring to the resolution. for which he roundly condemned Hampton, although stating that he, Briggs, had never agreed with the doctrine of the Communists. Briggs reviewed similar accusations of Communism that he said had been made against him, and which he declared had been disproved in court. . . . Hampton retorted that such an action could be expected from "a former self-confessed ward-heeler of the Pendergast political machineTom PendergastThomas Joseph Pendergast controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri as a political boss. "Boss Tom" Pendergast gave workers jobs and helped elect politicians during the Great Depression, becoming wealthy in the process.-Early years:Thomas Joseph Pendergast, also known to close friends as...
in Kansas City."
Civil defense: He fiercely opposed the appointment of retired Army Colonel Halsey E. Yates to be "home defense coordinator" for Los Angeles, decrying the idea as the organization of a special police force to "run the affairs of the city in a secret and high-handed way."
Published works
- Walt Whitman, Thinker and Artist (New York: 1952), Philosophical Library http://lccn.loc.gov/52013025
- Pioneers of American Freedom: Origin of Liberal and Radical Thought in America, by Rudolf Rocker, 1949 (translated by Briggs) http://lccn.loc.gov/a50002924