Fletcher Bowron
Encyclopedia
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, California
, the youngest of three children. His parents, who had migrated from the Midwest, sent him to Los Angeles High School
, where he graduated in 1904. In 1907, he began studies at UC Berkeley, where his two brothers had graduated, then enrolled in the University of Southern California Law School
two years later. However, because of financial difficulties, he paid for law school by becoming a reporter for San Francisco, Oakland
and Los Angeles newspapers, working the City Hall and court beats in the latter city. He was finally admitted to the bar in 1917.
Upon the U.S. entry into World War I
, Bowron enlisted in the Army
, serving in the 14th Field Artillery
before transferring to the military intelligence
division. Upon his return, he once again practiced law before he married Irene Martin in 1922. The following year, he was appointed as a deputy state corporations commissioner
. His work in that capacity caught the attention of California governor, Friend Richardson
, who hired him as executive secretary in 1925, and then appointed him to the superior court in 1926.
In his first tenure as a superior court judge, which lasted 12 years, Bowron became the first jurist on the West Coast
to use the pre-trial calendar system.
He was then elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1938 in the wake of the corruption arising from the previous administration of Frank L. Shaw
, and earned the reputation of being lawful, unlike his predecessor. One example came when he replaced the city's chief of police with William H. Parker
because of the rampant corruption within the Los Angeles Police Department
. This was part of what he called the Los Angeles Urban Reform Revival.
He served during the era of World War II
, most notably taking part with the institution of Japanese detainment camps
. Bowron was quoted on the radio on Abraham Lincoln
's birthday in support of these camps: "There isn't a shadow of a doubt but that Lincoln, the mild-mannered man whose memory we regard with almost saint-like reverence, would make short work of rounding up the Japanese and putting them where they could do no harm." He continued by calling them "the people born on American soil who have secret loyalty to the Japanese Emperor
."
He lost re-election in 1953 after having survived a number of recall attempts, with his defeat linked partly because his liberal backing began to wane as a result of McCarthyism
. In 1956, he once again ran for superior court judge, defeating Joseph L. Call in the November election. Serving one six-year term, he retired from political office in 1962, but remained active in city activities.
In the final two years of his term, Bowron's personal life changed dramatically. On January 4, 1961, his wife Irene died at the Madison Lodge Sanitarium after spending nearly five years at the facility. Just 10 months later, Bowron married his long-time executive assistant, Albine Norton.
Following his retirement from the bench, he served as director of the Metropolitan Los Angeles History Project, hiring Robert C. Post, then a graduate student at UCLA, as his chief researcher. In 1967, was named chairman of the city's Citizen's Committee on Zoning Practices and Procedures
.
After finishing work on September 11, 1968 he suffered a fatal heart attack while driving home. The car in which he was driving suddenly accelerated and crashed into a brick wall. While his body lay in state in the Los Angeles City Hall rotunda, few people came to pay their respects. He was then buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery
.
Purge list
Bowron urged the defeat of these opposition City Council candidates in 1939:
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
from September 26, 1938 until June 30, 1953. Until Thomas Bradley
Tom Bradley (politician)
Thomas J. "Tom" Bradley was the 38th Mayor of Los Angeles, California, serving in that office from 1973 to 1993. He was the first and to date only African American mayor of Los Angeles...
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, California
Poway, California
Poway is a city in San Diego County, California. Originally an unincorporated community in San Diego County, Poway officially became a city in December 1980. Even though Poway lies geographically in the middle of San Diego County, most consider its relative location as north county inland...
, the youngest of three children. His parents, who had migrated from the Midwest, sent him to Los Angeles High School
Los Angeles High School
Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are blue and white and the teams are called the Romans....
, where he graduated in 1904. In 1907, he began studies at UC Berkeley, where his two brothers had graduated, then enrolled in the University of Southern California Law School
University of Southern California Law School
The University of Southern California Law School , located in Los Angeles, California, is a law school within the University of Southern California...
two years later. However, because of financial difficulties, he paid for law school by becoming a reporter for San Francisco, Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
and Los Angeles newspapers, working the City Hall and court beats in the latter city. He was finally admitted to the bar in 1917.
Upon the U.S. entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Bowron enlisted in the Army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
, serving in the 14th Field Artillery
14th Field Artillery Regiment (United States)
The 14th Field Artillery Regiment is an Field Artillery regiment of the United States Army first formed in 1916-History:The 14th Field Artillery was Constituted 1 July 1916 in the Regular Army at Fort Sill, Oklahoma-Lineage:...
before transferring to the military intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
division. Upon his return, he once again practiced law before he married Irene Martin in 1922. The following year, he was appointed as a deputy state corporations commissioner
California Department of Corporations
The California Department of Corporations is a department within the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency in California, United States...
. His work in that capacity caught the attention of California governor, Friend Richardson
Friend Richardson
Friend William Richardson , was an American newspaper publisher and politician. A member of the Progressive Party and later the Republican Party, Richardson was elected as the California State Treasurer from 1915 to 1923, and shortly afterwards as the 25th governor of California from 1923 to 1927...
, who hired him as executive secretary in 1925, and then appointed him to the superior court in 1926.
In his first tenure as a superior court judge, which lasted 12 years, Bowron became the first jurist on the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
to use the pre-trial calendar system.
He was then elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1938 in the wake of the corruption arising from the previous administration of Frank L. Shaw
Frank L. Shaw
Frank L. Shaw was the first mayor of a major American city to be recalled from office, in 1938. He was also a member of the Los Angeles City Council and then the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors...
, and earned the reputation of being lawful, unlike his predecessor. One example came when he replaced the city's chief of police with William H. Parker
William H. Parker (LAPD)
William Henry Parker III was the police chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and has been called "... Los Angeles's greatest and most controversial chief of police"...
because of the rampant corruption within the Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
. This was part of what he called the Los Angeles Urban Reform Revival.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, most notably taking part with the institution of Japanese detainment camps
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
. Bowron was quoted on the radio on Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's birthday in support of these camps: "There isn't a shadow of a doubt but that Lincoln, the mild-mannered man whose memory we regard with almost saint-like reverence, would make short work of rounding up the Japanese and putting them where they could do no harm." He continued by calling them "the people born on American soil who have secret loyalty to the Japanese Emperor
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...
."
He lost re-election in 1953 after having survived a number of recall attempts, with his defeat linked partly because his liberal backing began to wane as a result of McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
. In 1956, he once again ran for superior court judge, defeating Joseph L. Call in the November election. Serving one six-year term, he retired from political office in 1962, but remained active in city activities.
In the final two years of his term, Bowron's personal life changed dramatically. On January 4, 1961, his wife Irene died at the Madison Lodge Sanitarium after spending nearly five years at the facility. Just 10 months later, Bowron married his long-time executive assistant, Albine Norton.
Following his retirement from the bench, he served as director of the Metropolitan Los Angeles History Project, hiring Robert C. Post, then a graduate student at UCLA, as his chief researcher. In 1967, was named chairman of the city's Citizen's Committee on Zoning Practices and Procedures
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
.
After finishing work on September 11, 1968 he suffered a fatal heart attack while driving home. The car in which he was driving suddenly accelerated and crashed into a brick wall. While his body lay in state in the Los Angeles City Hall rotunda, few people came to pay their respects. He was then buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery
Inglewood Park Cemetery
Inglewood Park Cemetery was founded in 1905 in Inglewood, California. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed here.-List of notable and celebrity interments at Inglewood Park:...
.
See also
- Employers GroupEmployers GroupEmployers Group was founded as the Merchants and Manufacturers Association in 1896 in California. It has become a worldwide organization advocating for employers and giving guidance about employment laws and regulations, professional development, consulting projects, and compensation and workplace...
, which, as the Merchants and Manufacturers Association, opposed Bowron's policies - Stephen W. CunninghamStephen W. CunninghamStephen W. Cunningham was the first graduate manager at the Southern Branch of the University of California, later UCLA, and a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1933 to 1941.-Biography:Stephen W...
, Republican City Council member who ran against Bowron in 1941 - Harold HarbyHarold HarbyNot to be confused with Harold A. Henry, Los Angeles City Council member 1945–66.Harold Harby was elected to the Los Angeles, California, City Council in 1939, but he had to leave office in 1942 when he was convicted of using a city car for a trip out of the state. He was reelected in 1943 and...
, Los Angeles City Council member, 1939–42, 1943–57, complained about Bowron's radio talks - John C. HollandJohn C. HollandJohn C. Holland was one of the longest-serving Los Angeles City Council members, for 24 years from 1943 to 1967, and was known for his losing fight against bringing the Los Angeles Dodgers to Chavez Ravine and for his reputation as a watchdog over the city treasury.-Biography:Holland was born...
, Los Angeles City Council member, 1943–67, Bowron supporter
Purge list
Bowron urged the defeat of these opposition City Council candidates in 1939:
- Byron B. BrainardByron B. BrainardByron 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...
- Howard W. DavisHoward W. DavisHoward W. Davis was a member of the California State Assembly for two years and of the Los Angeles City Council for 16 years. He was indicted on charges of accepting bribes to influence his actions as a city official but was cleared on one count and never tried on the others, which were...
- Earl C. GayEarl C. GayEarl C. Gay was a registered pharmacist who was a member of the Los Angeles City Council between 1933 and 1945.-Biography:Earl C. Gay was a registered pharmacist who was a member of the Los Angeles City Council between 1933 and 1945.-Biography:Earl C...
- James M. HydeJames M. HydeJames M. Hyde was a metallurgist who was noted for inventing a process that revolutionized the American mining industry. He was also a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from 1931 to 1939.-Biography:...
- Edward L. ThrasherEdward L. ThrasherEdward Lee Thrasher , who went by Edward L. Thrasher, was a builder, contractor and decorator who served on the Los Angeles, California, City Council between 1931 and 1942.-Biography:...