Charles J. Colden
Encyclopedia
Charles J. Colden was a 20th century California politician who served in the Los Angeles City Council and the U.S. Congress.
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, and moved at age 10 with his parents to Nodaway County, Missouri
, in 1880. He attended grade school at the Ireland Schoolhouse near their farm, and later went to
Maryville High School some ten miles distant in Maryville, Missouri
. He attended Stanberry Normal School in Stanberry, Missouri
, and Shenandoah College in Shenandoah, Iowa
.
Colden taught school in Missouri and Iowa from 1889 to 1896. He was the editor and publisher of the Parnell
Sentinel from 1896 to 1900 and the Nodaway Forum (which became the Maryville Daily Forum
, in Maryville, Missouri
, from 1900 to 1908.
He was president of the board of regents
of Northwest Missouri Teachers College from 1905 to 1908. Colden Hall at the school is named for him. From 1908 to 1912 he was in the construction business in Kansas City, Missouri.
Colden took a vacation tour of the West in 1912 and "was attracted to the possibilities" of the Los Angeles harbor
in San Pedro and soon settled there. and continued in the real estate and building business. He was the president of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce
from 1922 to 1924.
He died in Washington, D.C., and was buried in Roosevelt Memorial Park Cemetery in Gardena, California
, but in 1965 his body was reinterred at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, California
. He was survived by his wife, Clara N. Colden; a sister, Mrs. B.C. Hall, two daughters, Mrs. Lester Hawthorne and Abbe Colden; and two sons, John C. Colden and Charles J. Colden Jr.
in 1920, which at that time was composed of 51 people appointed by the City Council "to work out an organized, comprehensive plan of city development." Other notable members were Eugene Biscailuz, Charles A. Holland
, Evan Lewis
and W.H. Workman Jr.
In January 1925, Edgar McKee, former president of the harbor board, filed suit against Colden, charging him with "having conspired . . . to oust McKee as president of the Harbor Board and to have plotted to ruin him." McKee claimed that Colden and others attempted to involve McKee 'in various deals involving the purchase of lands for the Harbor Commission and through which they intended to make a private profit." Colden denied the charge, and the matter was later settled out of court.
Colden was the first resident of the Harbor Area
to serve on the Los Angeles City Council
since the area was annexed to the city in 1909 through a shoestring strip that attached the district to the main part of the city some 20 miles to the north. He ran for the council in an at-large election
in 1923, but placed 10th in a field of eighteen and only the first nine were elected.
In 1925 a new city charter gave the district and 14 others their own representatives on the council. In that year the 15th District stretched north from the Harbor as far as Slauson Avenue
between Inglewood
and Huntington Park
. He ran for this new post and edged James H. Dodson Jr. in the general election, 4,750 votes to 4,599. He was reelected in the May 1927 primary.
Colden did not run in the 1929 election, noting his disappointment that the city had chosen to purchase "an airport and the classification yards at the harbor" when "These projects might have been [better] promoted by the beneficiaries and by private enterprise."
from California's 17th district and served from March 4, 1933, until his death in 1938.
s built by Permanente Metals
Yard No. 2 in Richmond, California
, for the U.S. Maritime Commission from 1941 to 1945.
Biography
Colden was born on a farm in Peoria County, IllinoisPeoria County, Illinois
Peoria County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 186,494, which is an increase of 1.7% from 183,433 in 2000. Its county seat is Peoria....
, and moved at age 10 with his parents to Nodaway County, Missouri
Nodaway County, Missouri
Nodaway County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. The county was organized in 1845 and named for the Nodaway River.As of 2010, the population was 23,370...
, in 1880. He attended grade school at the Ireland Schoolhouse near their farm, and later went to
Maryville High School some ten miles distant in Maryville, Missouri
Maryville, Missouri
Maryville is a city in Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. The population was 10,581 at the 2000 census. The town, organized on February 14, 1845, was named for Mrs. Mary Graham, wife of Amos Graham, then the county clerk. Mary was the first Caucasian woman to have lived within the boundaries...
. He attended Stanberry Normal School in Stanberry, Missouri
Stanberry, Missouri
Stanberry is a city in Gentry County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,243 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Stanberry is located at ....
, and Shenandoah College in Shenandoah, Iowa
Shenandoah, Iowa
Shenandoah is a city in Fremont and Page Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 5,546 at the 2000 census.Once referred to as the "seed and nursery center of the world," Shenandoah is the home to Earl May Seed Company and the radio station KMA, founded by Earl May...
.
Colden taught school in Missouri and Iowa from 1889 to 1896. He was the editor and publisher of the Parnell
Parnell
Parnell may refer to:People* Bobby Parnell, a baseball pitcher for the New York Mets* Charles Stewart Parnell , Irish politician* Chris Parnell, actor and comedian* Lee Roy Parnell, country & western singer...
Sentinel from 1896 to 1900 and the Nodaway Forum (which became the Maryville Daily Forum
Maryville Daily Forum
The Maryville Daily Forum is a daily newspaper in Maryville, Missouri that is owned by GateHouse Media.The paper traces its roots to the Nodaway Democrat published in 1869 by future Missouri Governor Albert P. Morehouse. Morehouse had in 1865 published the Maryville Gazette which was just a list...
, in Maryville, Missouri
Maryville, Missouri
Maryville is a city in Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. The population was 10,581 at the 2000 census. The town, organized on February 14, 1845, was named for Mrs. Mary Graham, wife of Amos Graham, then the county clerk. Mary was the first Caucasian woman to have lived within the boundaries...
, from 1900 to 1908.
He was president of the board of regents
Board of Regents
In the United States, a board often governs public institutions of higher education, which include both state universities and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual colleges and universities, or both. In general they operate as...
of Northwest Missouri Teachers College from 1905 to 1908. Colden Hall at the school is named for him. From 1908 to 1912 he was in the construction business in Kansas City, Missouri.
Colden took a vacation tour of the West in 1912 and "was attracted to the possibilities" of the Los Angeles harbor
Port of Los Angeles
The Port of Los Angeles, also called Los Angeles Harbor and WORLDPORT L.A, is a port complex that occupies of land and water along of waterfront. The port is located on San Pedro Bay in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, approximately south of downtown...
in San Pedro and soon settled there. and continued in the real estate and building business. He was the president of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
from 1922 to 1924.
He died in Washington, D.C., and was buried in Roosevelt Memorial Park Cemetery in Gardena, California
Gardena, California
Gardena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 58,829 at the 2010 census, up from 57,746 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Gardena is located at ....
, but in 1965 his body was reinterred at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, California
Rancho Palos Verdes, California
Rancho Palos Verdes is a city in Los Angeles County, California that was incorporated on September 7, 1973. The population was 41,643 at the 2010 census...
. He was survived by his wife, Clara N. Colden; a sister, Mrs. B.C. Hall, two daughters, Mrs. Lester Hawthorne and Abbe Colden; and two sons, John C. Colden and Charles J. Colden Jr.
Planning
He was a member of the city's first planning commissionUrban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
in 1920, which at that time was composed of 51 people appointed by the City Council "to work out an organized, comprehensive plan of city development." Other notable members were Eugene Biscailuz, Charles A. Holland
Charles A. Holland
Charles Alfred Holland , who went by Charles A. Holland, was a University of Southern California football captain, a businessman and a Los Angeles, California, City Council member between 1929 and 1931.-Biography:...
, Evan Lewis
Evan Lewis (politician)
Evan Lewis was a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council between 1925 and 1941.-Biography:Lewis was born in Wales on July 2, 1869, and was taken to Iowa when young. He became a U.S. citizen in 1890, two years after moving to California. He was at various times a deputy sheriff, a...
and W.H. Workman Jr.
Boyle-Workman family
The Boyle-Workman family relates to the pioneer interconnected Boyle and Workman families that were prominent in: the history of colonial Pueblo de Los Angeles and American Los Angeles; the Los Angeles Basin and San Gabriel Valley regions; and Southern California — from 1830 to 1930 in Mexican Alta...
Harbor
Colden was president of the Los Angeles Harbor commission from 1923 to 1925. While on the commission, he worked vigorously for the Harbor Belt Line that linked all the port facilities via rail. He also led a fight to give the Santa Fe Railroad access to the waterfront.In January 1925, Edgar McKee, former president of the harbor board, filed suit against Colden, charging him with "having conspired . . . to oust McKee as president of the Harbor Board and to have plotted to ruin him." McKee claimed that Colden and others attempted to involve McKee 'in various deals involving the purchase of lands for the Harbor Commission and through which they intended to make a private profit." Colden denied the charge, and the matter was later settled out of court.
City Council
See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returnsColden was the first resident of the Harbor Area
Harbor Area
The Harbor Area is the area along the Port of Los Angeles. It contains neighborhoods of Los Angeles .-Standalone cities in the Harbor Area:*Carson*Long Beach-Los Angeles city neighborhoods in the Harbor Area:...
to serve on the Los Angeles City Council
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles.The Council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the Council at the first regular meeting after...
since the area was annexed to the city in 1909 through a shoestring strip that attached the district to the main part of the city some 20 miles to the north. He ran for the council in an at-large election
Plurality-at-large voting
Plurality-at-large voting is a non-proportional voting system for electing several representatives from a single multimember electoral district using a series of check boxes and tallying votes similar to a plurality election...
in 1923, but placed 10th in a field of eighteen and only the first nine were elected.
In 1925 a new city charter gave the district and 14 others their own representatives on the council. In that year the 15th District stretched north from the Harbor as far as Slauson Avenue
Slauson Avenue
Slauson Avenue is a major east-west thoroughfare for southern Los Angeles County, California, named for the land developer and Los Angeles Board of Education member J. S. Slauson. It passes through Culver City, Ladera Heights, View Park-Windsor Hills, Baldwin Hills, Inglewood, South Los Angeles,...
between Inglewood
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
and Huntington Park
Huntington Park
-In the United States:* Huntington Park, California* Huntington Park , a park in Newport News, Virginia* Huntington Park , a minor league baseball stadium in Columbus, Ohio...
. He ran for this new post and edged James H. Dodson Jr. in the general election, 4,750 votes to 4,599. He was reelected in the May 1927 primary.
Colden did not run in the 1929 election, noting his disappointment that the city had chosen to purchase "an airport and the classification yards at the harbor" when "These projects might have been [better] promoted by the beneficiaries and by private enterprise."
Congress
Colden was elected to Congress as a DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
from California's 17th district and served from March 4, 1933, until his death in 1938.
Liberty Ship
The Charles J. Colden (hull number 2691) was one of the type EC2-S-C1 Liberty shipLiberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
s built by Permanente Metals
Permanente Metals
Permanente Metals Company managed the Richmond Shipyards, owned by Henry J. Kaiser. These four of the Kaiser Shipyards were known for the construction of Liberty ships.The company was also a major producer of magnesium during World War II...
Yard No. 2 in Richmond, California
Richmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...
, for the U.S. Maritime Commission from 1941 to 1945.
Other references
- Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials: 1850—1938, compiled under the direction of the Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles, March 1938 (reprinted 1966)