Estelle Lawton Lindsey
Encyclopedia
Estelle Lawton Lindsey was a 20th Century journalist who was also the first female City Council member in Los Angeles, California, (1915–17) 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.
she engaged in china painting
and portrait sketching. She told an interviewer in 1935 that this "genteel pastime" was "far from remunerative," so she decided to become a writer. She gained her first experience in "reporting Chautauquas" (lectures) for the local press. She was at one time a German teacher and taught school in Owensboro, Kentucky
. She also worked for the Internal Revenue Service
in Kentucky, where she met the man she married, Dudley Lindsey. They moved to Los Angeles in 1908, making their home at 2416 Echo Park Avenue, and she wrote for the Los Angeles Tribune and the Los Angeles Express
. After her City Council service, she wrote a syndicated newspaper column and was active in civic and philanthropic work.
Lindsey died at the age of 87 on November 27, 1955, in Glendale, California, after a fall in her home, and she was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
. She was survived by her husband and a sister, Mrs. Charles Hite.
, Lindsey was part of a "well-organized network of socialist women that operated as an influential political tendency within California's radical and women's movements during the Progressive Era
." This group backed Lindsey when she ran unsuccessfully on the Socialist ticket for the California Assembly in 1912 and 1914. In the 1914 race in the 61st District, she came in second among five candidates, with 22.2% of the vote against 31% for the winner, Henry A. Wishard. But she was expelled from what was called the "Red Ticket" wing of the Socialist Party because she had supported non-Socialists in the election.
Between 1909 and 1925, Los Angeles City Council
members were elected in a first-past-the-post at-large voting system: Voters could cast their ballots for up to nine candidates, and the eighteen candidates who received the highest number of votes in a primary election then faced the voters a month later in the final round. The top nine in that contest were declared the winners, taking their seats on July 1 of every odd-numbered year.
In the 1915 final election, Lindsey was one of the nine victors, just four years after women had voted in municipal elections for the first time. The Los Angeles Times commented:
and Council President M.F. Betkouski out of the city, Lindsey became Los Angeles's first woman acting mayor for the day.
When Lindsey entered the mayor's office, she was
The stint had unexpected consequences two weeks later when City Attorney Alfred Lee Stephens discovered that the city could be held liable for a default judgment
because it had not responded to a summons
served in a lawsuit seeking $117,000 in damages by a person who said his property was damaged by the "lowering of the Broadway tunnel
." The summons was found in the papers that Lindsey had with her when she left the mayor's office.
Other activities included:
in July 1944.
Biography
Estelle Lawton was born in South Carolina, and while living in the SouthSouthern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
she engaged in china painting
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
and portrait sketching. She told an interviewer in 1935 that this "genteel pastime" was "far from remunerative," so she decided to become a writer. She gained her first experience in "reporting Chautauquas" (lectures) for the local press. She was at one time a German teacher and taught school in Owensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro is the fourth largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the county seat of Daviess County. It is located on U.S. Route 60 about southeast of Evansville, Indiana, and is the principal city of the Owensboro, Kentucky, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's...
. She also worked for the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
in Kentucky, where she met the man she married, Dudley Lindsey. They moved to Los Angeles in 1908, making their home at 2416 Echo Park Avenue, and she wrote for the Los Angeles Tribune and the Los Angeles Express
Los Angeles Express
The Los Angeles Express was a team in the United States Football League based in Los Angeles, California. Playing at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Express competed in all three of the USFL seasons played, 1983-1985.-Pre-history:...
. After her City Council service, she wrote a syndicated newspaper column and was active in civic and philanthropic work.
Lindsey died at the age of 87 on November 27, 1955, in Glendale, California, after a fall in her home, and she was buried 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:...
. She was survived by her husband and a sister, Mrs. Charles Hite.
Socialism
According to Sherry Katz of the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, Lindsey was part of a "well-organized network of socialist women that operated as an influential political tendency within California's radical and women's movements during the Progressive Era
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
." This group backed Lindsey when she ran unsuccessfully on the Socialist ticket for the California Assembly in 1912 and 1914. In the 1914 race in the 61st District, she came in second among five candidates, with 22.2% of the vote against 31% for the winner, Henry A. Wishard. But she was expelled from what was called the "Red Ticket" wing of the Socialist Party because she had supported non-Socialists in the election.
Elections
See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returns, 1915–17Between 1909 and 1925, 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...
members were elected in a first-past-the-post at-large voting system: Voters could cast their ballots for up to nine candidates, and the eighteen candidates who received the highest number of votes in a primary election then faced the voters a month later in the final round. The top nine in that contest were declared the winners, taking their seats on July 1 of every odd-numbered year.
In the 1915 final election, Lindsey was one of the nine victors, just four years after women had voted in municipal elections for the first time. The Los Angeles Times commented:
The race of Estelle Lawton Lindsey was the one remarkable feature of the Council fight. She landed in sixth place with 41,437 votes. Mrs. Lindsey bears the distinction of being the first woman to serve on the Council in Los Angeles and one of the few women in public life ever given so important a commission.
Acting mayor
Lindsey was chosen as acting council president, and on July 17 she took the chair in a session that impelled the Times to headline its story "Woman Presides Over Council; Mrs. Lindsey Wields Gavel for Day's Session." On September 11, 1915, with both Mayor Charles E. SebastianCharles E. Sebastian
Charles Edward Sebastian was the 30th mayor of Los Angeles, California, serving from 1915 to 1916.-Biography:He was born in Farmington, Missouri on March 30, 1873....
and Council President M.F. Betkouski out of the city, Lindsey became Los Angeles's first woman acting mayor for the day.
When Lindsey entered the mayor's office, she was
greeted with a salute of seventeen flashlight guns . . . and began the day's work. Later in the day, a battery of rapid-fire movie cameras was also turned on her. Through it all, Mrs. Lindsey carried the weight of office with smiling dignity, receiving scores of callers whose business ranged from bearing greetings of the Governor of Pennsylvania to seeking the loan of a quarter.
The stint had unexpected consequences two weeks later when City Attorney Alfred Lee Stephens discovered that the city could be held liable for a default judgment
Default judgment
Default judgment is a binding judgment in favor of either party based on some failure to take action by the other party. Most often, it is a judgment in favor of a plaintiff when the defendant has not responded to a summons or has failed to appear before a court of law...
because it had not responded to a summons
Summons
Legally, a summons is a legal document issued by a court or by an administrative agency of government for various purposes.-Judicial summons:...
served in a lawsuit seeking $117,000 in damages by a person who said his property was damaged by the "lowering of the Broadway tunnel
Broadway Tunnel (Los Angeles)
The Broadway Tunnel was a tunnel that ran under Fort Moore Hill in Los Angeles, California, downtown, extending North Broadway , at Sand Street , one block north of Temple Street, northeast to the intersection of Bellevue Avenue , to Buena Vista Street .The proposal for...
." The summons was found in the papers that Lindsey had with her when she left the mayor's office.
Activities
Lindsey "championed public health measures, pressed enforcement of the state's anti-prostitution law, fought for greater city services for impoverished women and secured the appointment of several female deputies assigned to investigate crimes against women and children." She opposed the policy of the city's employment bureau to furnish strikebreakers to employers.Other activities included:
- A campaign for better facilities for women prisoners, "and within a few weeks it is proposed to establish quarters for them on the City Inebriate Farm" where they "may be employed out of doors."
- Urging the council to adopt an ordinance forbidding any person with a connection with the motion picture business from serving on the Board of Motion Picture Censors. She later advocated the establishment of separate motion-picture theaters for children under age 15.
- Several initiatives to improve public health, including regulations "to compel the public bath-houses of the city to observe sanitary precautions which will prevent infection of patients" and the abolition of shared public drinking cups.
- An unsuccessful attempt to require buildings, apartments, hotels and saloons to have the name and address of the owner placed above the front door.
Billboards
Lindsey was vehemently attacked by Los Angeles newspapers for her stand in opposition to a proposed—and very controversial—ordinance that would limit the placement, size and number of advertising billboards in the city. Before the ordinance was adopted, she read into the record a lengthy article published in the June 10, 1917, issue of the New York Tribune "in which the newspapers and other big institutions of Los Angeles were assailed." She said she planned to wage a campaign against the local papers. The next week, at the last meeting before Lindsey's term was to expire, the council voted 5-3 to expunge the remarks from the written record because, as Councilman James Simpson Conwell said, he did not think it "proper or just that such a falsehood should creep into the official minutes of the council."Post-Council
She was appointed to the city Humane Commission by Mayor Fletcher BowronFletcher 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,...
in July 1944.