Ed J. Davenport and Harriett Davenport
Encyclopedia
Ed J. Davenport and Harriett Davenport, a married couple, were both members of the Los Angeles, California, City Council, the wife succeeding her husband in the position after he died in 1953. It was the first of two such spousal turnovers in the history of the city. Harriett Davenport was the third woman council member in the city's history and the first to be appointed by the council.
or McKeesport, Pennsylvania
, the son of John Wesley Davenport of Fort Hamilton, New York.
He studied business administration at the University of Pittsburgh
and law at Southwestern University
. In his working life, he was in the advertising
business in Upstate New York
from 1920 to 1926 and then was general manager of a department store in Utica, New York
, from 1926 to 1929. He then became advertising and public relations
manager for Frank Knox
, the general manager of Hearst Publications, from 1929 to 1932, after which he moved to California and started his own agency.
| |}>
Harriett Goodmanson, who was born in Victoria, British Columbia
, was brought to the United States when she was less than a year old and became a U.S. citizen through the citizenship of her father. She attended high school
in Bellingham, Washington
, the University of Washington
and the University of California, Berkeley
. She taught high school for four years in Chehalis, Washington
.
Ed and Harriett were married in August 1935 in Seattle, Washington. They had no children.
Ed Davenport died in his sleep on June 24. 1953, at the age of 54. In addition to his wife, he left his mother, Margaret Davenport of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and five siblings, Annamae Osterman, Alice Clarke, Catherine Bast and Harry Davenport, all of McKeesport, and Sister Mary Catherine, a Catholic nun of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania
. He was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
.
and was also director of War Chests and Community Chest
for city of Glendale
.
Harriett Davenport "took some part" in the Small Property Owners' League, in Pro America and in groups of the Chamber of Commerce
.
Ed Davenport was elected in 1945 to fill the Los Angeles City Council District 12
seat vacated by John W. Baumgartner
, who retired. At that time, the district included Bunker Hill and northwest downtown
, with the east and north boundaries at Glendale Boulevard
and at Sunset Boulevard
. He was reelected in every succeeding primary vote
thereafter, up to and including 1959. He died six days before he was to start his last term.
, restaurant executive, and Geraldine Hadsell, minute clerk
for the State Assembly
, but Mrs. Davenport gained a majority of City Council votes in a closed caucus, and the vote was made unanimous later the same day. It was the first of two times that a wife succeeded her husband to a councilmanic seat, the second occurring in 1975, when Peggy Stevenson took over from Robert Stevenson after his death. Harriett Davenport was the third female council member, after Estelle Lawton Lindsey
(elected 1915) and Rosalind Wiener Wyman
(elected May 1953).
In 1954 she announced she would not run for election the next year because of the ill health of her sister. She was later appointed by Mayor Norris Poulson
to the city's Fire and Police Pension Commission.
program." One of his resolutions would have required "all members of the Communist Party living here" to register with the chief of police. He was "an ardent foe of public housing
and of Communism in any form and was an equally ardent champion of a foreign trade zone
for the Los Angeles Harbor."
Other positions taken:
1945, Bowron. He refused to attend a meeting called by Mayor Fletcher Bowron
with other City Council members because he believed that the press, as well as members of a taxpayers' group, should have been invited. He and the mayor quarreled in public for some ten minutes about the issue.
1945–46, interracial. Davenport originally supported a proposal to establish an interracial committee devoted to the interests of minority groups but finally voted with an 8-6 majority to kill the ordinance, without prejudice. The next year, though, he introduced an ordinance that would make it a misdemeanor
for anyone to "write, print or publish, or in any other way aid in the dissemination of any material 'which exposes any religious or racial group to ridicule, contempt or hatred, or which tends to disturb the public peace or endanger life or property.' " It was sent to a committee for study.
1947, Communism. He introduced a resolution stating that "the Communist press has announced that Los Angeles is a key city for concentration of the Communist party and this is borne out by the candidacy of LaRue McCormick, a Communist Party member running as a Communist against Eleanor B. Allen, member of the Board of Education."
1947, oil. Another resolution called for an end to gasoline and oil shipments from Los Angeles Harbor to the Soviet Union "to stop this Russian drain of American resources so vital to our national defense and domestic economy."
1949, landmark. A resolution by Davenport was instrumental in halting the proposed destruction of the historic Lugo House on the Los Angeles Plaza as planned by the city Board of Public Works
. It was later destroyed anyway.
1953, employment. He opposed the establishment of a Fair Employment Practices Commission
, which, he said, "does nothing except give an extra tool to the Communists."
1953, campaign literature. One of his last resolutions, which was adopted by the City Council, asked the city attorney to research the law on outlawing "election campaign smear sheets."
1955, salaries. She urged passage of a charter amendment raising council pay, stating that the then-current salary of $600 a month was "nowhere near adequate, equitable or reasonable" and that "The pressure on the councilman never ends. His days consist of tensions, stormy sessions and forced decisions."
Biographies
Ed Davenport was born February 9, 1899, in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
or McKeesport, Pennsylvania
McKeesport, Pennsylvania
McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the United States; it is located at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 19,731 at the 2010 census...
, the son of John Wesley Davenport of Fort Hamilton, New York.
He studied business administration at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
and law at Southwestern University
Southwestern University
Southwestern University is a private, four-year, undergraduate, liberal arts college located in Georgetown, Texas, USA. Founded in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest university in Texas. The school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church although the curriculum is nonsectarian...
. In his working life, he was in the advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
business in Upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
from 1920 to 1926 and then was general manager of a department store in Utica, New York
Utica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....
, from 1926 to 1929. He then became advertising and public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
manager for Frank Knox
Frank Knox
-External links:...
, the general manager of Hearst Publications, from 1929 to 1932, after which he moved to California and started his own agency.
Harriett Goodmanson, who was born in Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, was brought to the United States when she was less than a year old and became a U.S. citizen through the citizenship of her father. She attended high school
Bellingham High School
Bellingham High School is a public high school in the Bellingham School District located in Bellingham, Washington. The school serves students primarily from the Whatcom Middle School and Kulshan Middle School attendance areas.-History:...
in Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...
, the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
and the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. She taught high school for four years in Chehalis, Washington
Chehalis, Washington
Chehalis is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 7,259 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Lewis County.-History:...
.
Ed and Harriett were married in August 1935 in Seattle, Washington. They had no children.
Ed Davenport died in his sleep on June 24. 1953, at the age of 54. In addition to his wife, he left his mother, Margaret Davenport of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and five siblings, Annamae Osterman, Alice Clarke, Catherine Bast and Harry Davenport, all of McKeesport, and Sister Mary Catherine, a Catholic nun of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania
Ebensburg, Pennsylvania
Ebensburg is a borough located in, and is the seat of, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, west of Altoona and surrounded by Cambria Township. It is situated in the Alleghenies about 2025 feet above sea level. Ebensburg is located in a rich bituminous coal region. In the past, saw mills, tanneries,...
. He was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately owned cemetery in Glendale, California. It is the original location of Forest Lawn, a chain of cemeteries in Southern California. The land was formerly part of Providencia Ranch.-History:...
.
Civic activities
Ed Davenport was a member of the American Council on Public Relations and the Elks. He was a Catholic and, for most of his life, a Democrat, until he switched to the Republicans in 1948. During World War II he was coordinator of the War Production Fund of the National Safety CouncilNational Safety Council
The National Safety Council is a 501 nonprofit, nongovernmental public service organization dedicated to protecting life and promoting health. Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, NSC is a member organization, founded in 1913 and granted a congressional charter in 1953...
and was also director of War Chests and Community Chest
Community Chest
Community Chest may refer to any of the following:*The Community Chest of Hong Kong*The Community Chest of Singapore*Community Chest , a forerunner of the United Way of America...
for city of Glendale
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
.
Harriett Davenport "took some part" in the Small Property Owners' League, in Pro America and in groups of the 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...
.
Elections
See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returns, 1945–59Ed Davenport was elected in 1945 to fill the Los Angeles City Council District 12
Los Angeles City Council District 12
Los Angeles City Council District 12 is one of the 15 districts of the Los Angeles City Council. It encompasses the far northwestern section of the city in the San Fernando Valley. Mitchell Englander is the current officeholder....
seat vacated by John W. Baumgartner
John W. Baumgartner
John Walter Baumgartner was a civil engineer who was a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from 1933 to 1945.-Biography:...
, who retired. At that time, the district included Bunker Hill and northwest downtown
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
, with the east and north boundaries at Glendale Boulevard
Glendale Boulevard
Glendale Boulevard is a north–south street in Los Angeles that starts off as Lucas Avenue at 7th Street west of Downtown LA. The name changes at Beverly Boulevard. Echo Park is located north of the 101 at Bellevue Avenue. State Route 2 runs from Alvarado Street until the freeway entrance...
and at Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
. He was reelected in every succeeding primary vote
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
thereafter, up to and including 1959. He died six days before he was to start his last term.
Appointment
In a unanimous vote by the City Council, Harriett Davenport was appointed to the 6th District seat on September 1, 1953, two months after her husband's death, the term to last until June 30, 1955. There were two other leading contenders for the council vacancy, Ransom M. CallicottRansom M. Callicott
Ransom M. Callicott was president of the National Restaurant Association, co-founder of Meals for Millions and a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from 1955 until his death...
, restaurant executive, and Geraldine Hadsell, minute clerk
Minutes
Minutes, also known as protocols, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. They typically describe the events of the meeting, starting with a list of attendees, a statement of the issues considered by the participants, and related responses or decisions for the issues.Minutes may be...
for the State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
, but Mrs. Davenport gained a majority of City Council votes in a closed caucus, and the vote was made unanimous later the same day. It was the first of two times that a wife succeeded her husband to a councilmanic seat, the second occurring in 1975, when Peggy Stevenson took over from Robert Stevenson after his death. Harriett Davenport was the third female council member, after Estelle Lawton Lindsey
Estelle Lawton Lindsey
Estelle Lawton Lindsey was a 20th Century journalist who was also the first female City Council member in Los Angeles, California, the first woman to preside over the City Council there and the first woman to act as mayor in any American city of comparable size.-Biography:Estelle Lawton was...
(elected 1915) and Rosalind Wiener Wyman
Rosalind Wiener Wyman
Rosalind Wiener Wyman is a California political figure who was the youngest person ever elected to the Los Angeles City Council and the second woman to serve there. She was influential in bringing the baseball Dodgers from Brooklyn, New York, to their new home in Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles...
(elected May 1953).
In 1954 she announced she would not run for election the next year because of the ill health of her sister. She was later appointed by Mayor Norris Poulson
Norris Poulson
C. Norris Poulson served as the 36th Mayor of Los Angeles, California from 1953 to 1961, after having been a California State Assemblyman and then a member of the United States Congress for eight years...
to the city's Fire and Police Pension Commission.
Ed Davenport
Ed Davenport was known as a "stormy petrel" of Los Angeles politics and was called "one of the most colorful figures in city legislative history and an active participant in every controversial issue brought before the Council." He was said to have introduced more resolutions, often controversial, than any other council member. He "took a prominent part in enactment of the city employees' loyalty oathLoyalty oath
A loyalty oath is an oath of loyalty to an organization, institution, or state of which an individual is a member.In this context, a loyalty oath is distinct from pledge or oath of allegiance...
program." One of his resolutions would have required "all members of the Communist Party living here" to register with the chief of police. He was "an ardent foe of public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
and of Communism in any form and was an equally ardent champion of a foreign trade zone
Foreign trade zone
A foreign-trade zone in the United States is a geographical area, in United States Ports of Entry Ports of Entry, where commercial merchandise, both domestic and foreign receives the same Customs treatment it would if it were outside the commerce of the United States...
for the Los Angeles Harbor."
Other positions taken:
1945, Bowron. He refused to attend a meeting called by 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,...
with other City Council members because he believed that the press, as well as members of a taxpayers' group, should have been invited. He and the mayor quarreled in public for some ten minutes about the issue.
1945–46, interracial. Davenport originally supported a proposal to establish an interracial committee devoted to the interests of minority groups but finally voted with an 8-6 majority to kill the ordinance, without prejudice. The next year, though, he introduced an ordinance that would make it a misdemeanor
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
for anyone to "write, print or publish, or in any other way aid in the dissemination of any material 'which exposes any religious or racial group to ridicule, contempt or hatred, or which tends to disturb the public peace or endanger life or property.' " It was sent to a committee for study.
1947, Communism. He introduced a resolution stating that "the Communist press has announced that Los Angeles is a key city for concentration of the Communist party and this is borne out by the candidacy of LaRue McCormick, a Communist Party member running as a Communist against Eleanor B. Allen, member of the Board of Education."
1947, oil. Another resolution called for an end to gasoline and oil shipments from Los Angeles Harbor to the Soviet Union "to stop this Russian drain of American resources so vital to our national defense and domestic economy."
1949, landmark. A resolution by Davenport was instrumental in halting the proposed destruction of the historic Lugo House on the Los Angeles Plaza as planned by the city Board of Public Works
Public works
Public works are a broad category of projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community...
. It was later destroyed anyway.
1953, employment. He opposed the establishment of a Fair Employment Practices Commission
Fair Employment Practices Commission
The Fair Employment Practices Commission implemented US Executive Order 8802, requiring that companies with government contracts not to discriminate on the basis of race or religion. It was intended to help African Americans and other minorities obtain jobs in the homefront industry...
, which, he said, "does nothing except give an extra tool to the Communists."
1953, campaign literature. One of his last resolutions, which was adopted by the City Council, asked the city attorney to research the law on outlawing "election campaign smear sheets."
Harriett Davenport
1953, policies. Asked by a reporter after her election what her stand on policies would be, she replied, "I stand where my husband stood, and I will check his voting record as a guide."1955, salaries. She urged passage of a charter amendment raising council pay, stating that the then-current salary of $600 a month was "nowhere near adequate, equitable or reasonable" and that "The pressure on the councilman never ends. His days consist of tensions, stormy sessions and forced decisions."