Ralph Luther Criswell
Encyclopedia
Ralph Luther Criswell first a Socialist and then a Republican, was a member of the Los Angeles City Council
for ten years in the early 20th Century. He then became a special agent, or lobbyist, for the Colorado River Project that brought water to Southern California.
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Criswell was born on October 12, 1861, in Rushville, Illinois
, to Edmund L. Criswell and the former Susan Catherine Wright. When he was fourteen, he worked in a print shop
and became a Linotype
machine operator. He joined the International Typographical Union
in 1895 and managed the Johnstown News in Johnstown, Nebraska
, and founded the Northwestern County Gazette in 1886 in Kansas.
Criswell was married in December 1885 in Tecumseh, Nebraska
, to May Greene of Petersburg, Illinois
, and after they moved to California in 1897 they lived in Santa Paula
for a year, then settled at 529 West 41st Place, Los Angeles. He was employed by the Los Angeles Herald and then the Los Angeles Examiner in 1903, when it was founded. He was a City Council member from 1917 to 1927 and then was hired by the Water and Power commissioners
as a "special Colorado River agent." He was a Methodist. Criswell died in his home, 4728 Whitewood Avenue, Lakewood Village, Long Beach
, on November 17, 1947, and was buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery
. He was survived by a son, Ralph Greene Criswell.
Criswell was the Socialist Party
candidate for mayor in 1915 and came in fourth among six candidates in the primary election and so did not advance to the final. Two years later, in advance of a new campaign for City Council, he resigned from what was called the "red card" wing of the Socialist Party, writing in a letter to E.L. Osgood, chapter secretary:
1917–23
At that time he was a member of the city's Civil Service
Board, from which he resigned when he was elected councilman in 1917. In the May primary that year, he came in 10th, and in the June general election he placed eighth and was elected. He was re-elected in June 1919. In 1921 he was opposed by the Los Angeles Examiner but editorially endorsed by the Times, and he thereupon placed second in the general election, after Robert Stewart Sparks
. In his next campaign, 1923, he was fourth among the nine successful candidates.
1924, 1926
In both 1924 and 1926 Criswell was a candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. Congress on a platform heavily directed toward completion of a dam in Boulder Canyon, Arizona
, to bring water to Southern California. Criswell was criticized in 1924 for using a city automobile — a Peerless
— with a city driver, while campaigning. He was beaten in 1924 by incumbent John D. Fredericks
and in 1926 by Joe Crail
, 68,513 votes to 27,040.
1925
A new city charter effective in 1925 changed the method of election, and Criswell campaigned for the first seat in the new 7th District. The district was bounded on the north by Jefferson Boulevard, on the south by Slauson Boulevard, on the west by Vermont Avenue
and on the east by South Park Avenue. He beat Howard W. Davis
in the final election by a vote of 3,477 to 2,768.
1927
The Boulder Dam project was brought up once again when Criswell ran for City Council re-election in 1927, the Times claiming that "Criswell has lost ground . . . and was absent in Washington for several months lobbying for the Power Bureau." Criswell lost in the May primary, 2,468 votes to Howard W. Davis
's 3,305.
Criswell was "credited with the successful passage of the ordinance whereby the unimportant city employee share equally with the 'white colla'r job holder in holidays and vacation privileges." In July 1917 he introduced a proposal to pay union scale
to city-employed "mechanics and laborers," but the plan was not adopted.
Racial equality
At Criswell's urging and with his vigorous support, the City Council unanimously adopted a resolution in April 1919 opposing what it said would be a "covenant for 'racial equality'
that it had been "credibly informed" would be considered by the World War II peace conference
then meeting in Paris. The Criswell resolution claimed that the covenant would "grant oriental countries free immigration, naturalization, the elective franchise, the privilege to own agricultural and other lands and the right of intermarriage. . . . these privileges cannot be granted without imperiling the welfare of the white population and ultimately of American civilization."
Ku Klux Klan
The Times broke a major story on June 6, 1922, with a photograph of an application for membership in the Ku Klux Klan
, bearing Criswell's signature, stating that:
Away in Washington, D.C., since May 30, Criswell at first said he did not know anything about it, but when he returned to Los Angeles he affirmed that he had signed the application, in blank, but that he had "no knowledge of the workings of the Klan." He made no reference to a second handwritten document bearing his signature in which he answered "Yes" to the question, "Do you believe in white supremacy?"
Opposed by mayor
Criswell drew opposition from Mayor Frederick T. Woodman
in 1922 when the councilman persuaded the council to ask Woodman for details of a "secret service fund" that Woodman controlled for the purpose of investigating cafés where police officers could not enter and procure evidence. Woodman wrote: "Mr. Criswell, I know, opposed secret service funds, has opposed police activity, voted against a red flag ordinance [forbidding the display of socialist banners] . . . and apparently believes that the authorities . . . should not direct their attention toward the suppression of vice and disorder."
Police Department
Criswell locked horns with Police Chief Louis D. Oaks
on several occasions, at one point in 1922 making "startling charges" that "members of the police department have been levying thousands of dollars in protection money" and at another blocking for several weeks a request by the chief for 1,500 badges for his officers and 50 Dodge
automobiles for his department.
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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...
for ten years in the early 20th Century. He then became a special agent, or lobbyist, for the Colorado River Project that brought water to Southern California.
Biography
Criswell was born on October 12, 1861, in Rushville, Illinois
Rushville, Illinois
Rushville is a city in Schuyler County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,212 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Schuyler County.-Demographics:...
, to Edmund L. Criswell and the former Susan Catherine Wright. When he was fourteen, he worked in a print shop
Print shop
Print shop may refer to:* Printer , someone providing commercial printing services* The Print Shop, a desktop publishing software...
and became a Linotype
Linotype
The Mergenthaler Linotype Company is a corporation founded in the United States in 1886 to market the linecaster invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler...
machine operator. He joined the International Typographical Union
International Typographical Union
The International Typographical Union was a labor union founded on May 3, 1852 in the United States as the National Typographical Union. In its 1869 convention in Albany, New York, the union—having organized members in Canada—changed its name to the International Typographical Union...
in 1895 and managed the Johnstown News in Johnstown, Nebraska
Johnstown, Nebraska
Johnstown is a village in Brown County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 53 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Johnstown is located at ....
, and founded the Northwestern County Gazette in 1886 in Kansas.
Criswell was married in December 1885 in Tecumseh, Nebraska
Tecumseh, Nebraska
Tecumseh is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,716 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tecumseh is located at ....
, to May Greene of Petersburg, Illinois
Petersburg, Illinois
Petersburg is a city in Menard County, Illinois, on the bluffs and part of the floodplain overlooking the Sangamon River. It is part of the Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,299 at the 2000 census, and 2,185 at a 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Menard...
, and after they moved to California in 1897 they lived in Santa Paula
Santa Paula, California
Santa Paula is a city within Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 29,321 at the 2010 census, up from 28,598 at the 2000 census...
for a year, then settled at 529 West 41st Place, Los Angeles. He was employed by the Los Angeles Herald and then the Los Angeles Examiner in 1903, when it was founded. He was a City Council member from 1917 to 1927 and then was hired by the Water and Power commissioners
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is the largest municipal utility in the United States, serving over four million residents. It was founded in 1902 to supply water and electricity to residents and businesses in Los Angeles and surrounding communities...
as a "special Colorado River agent." He was a Methodist. Criswell died in his home, 4728 Whitewood Avenue, Lakewood Village, Long Beach
Lakewood Village, Long Beach, California
Lakewood Village or simply known as the Village is a community in the northeast portion of Long Beach, California and is surrounded on the west, north and east sides by the city of Lakewood. This custom-home community is one of the most desirable places to live in Long Beach. It is located south...
, on November 17, 1947, and was buried in 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:...
. He was survived by a son, Ralph Greene Criswell.
Elections
1915–17Criswell was the Socialist Party
Socialist Party USA
The Socialist Party USA is a multi-tendency democratic-socialist party in the United States. The party states that it is the rightful continuation and successor to the tradition of the Socialist Party of America, which had lasted from 1901 to 1972.The party is officially committed to left-wing...
candidate for mayor in 1915 and came in fourth among six candidates in the primary election and so did not advance to the final. Two years later, in advance of a new campaign for City Council, he resigned from what was called the "red card" wing of the Socialist Party, writing in a letter to E.L. Osgood, chapter secretary:
The Socialist movement has far outgrown the present party machinery, and I have decided to cast my lot with that large and constantly growing body of Socialists who believes that the red card organization has outlived its usefulness and that Socialism can no be better advanced through an organization formed as an ordinary political party . . . .
1917–23
At that time he was a member of the city's Civil Service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
Board, from which he resigned when he was elected councilman in 1917. In the May primary that year, he came in 10th, and in the June general election he placed eighth and was elected. He was re-elected in June 1919. In 1921 he was opposed by the Los Angeles Examiner but editorially endorsed by the Times, and he thereupon placed second in the general election, after Robert Stewart Sparks
Robert Stewart Sparks
Robert Stewart Sparks was a Los Angeles City Council member in the 1920s. He was the first person to represent the 5th District under a new city charter effective in 1925...
. In his next campaign, 1923, he was fourth among the nine successful candidates.
1924, 1926
In both 1924 and 1926 Criswell was a candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. Congress on a platform heavily directed toward completion of a dam in Boulder Canyon, Arizona
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President...
, to bring water to Southern California. Criswell was criticized in 1924 for using a city automobile — a Peerless
Peerless
Peerless was a United States automobile produced by the Peerless Motor Company of Cleveland, Ohio from 1900 to 1931. The company was known for building high-quality, precision luxury automobiles. Peerless' factory was located at 9400 Quincy Avenue in Cleveland...
— with a city driver, while campaigning. He was beaten in 1924 by incumbent John D. Fredericks
John D. Fredericks
John Donnan Fredericks was a U.S. Representative from California.Born in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, Fredericks attended the public schools and Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania.He studied law....
and in 1926 by Joe Crail
Joe Crail
Joe Crail was a United States Representative from California. He was born in Fairfield, Jefferson County, Iowa. He attended the public schools and graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa in 1898....
, 68,513 votes to 27,040.
1925
A new city charter effective in 1925 changed the method of election, and Criswell campaigned for the first seat in the new 7th District. The district was bounded on the north by Jefferson Boulevard, on the south by Slauson Boulevard, on the west by Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north/south streets in Los Angeles, California with a length of about . Located just west of the Harbor Freeway for the major portion south of Downtown Los Angeles, it starts in Griffith Park at the Greek Theatre in the Los Feliz neighborhood as a...
and on the east by South Park Avenue. He beat Howard W. Davis
Howard W. Davis
Howard 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...
in the final election by a vote of 3,477 to 2,768.
1927
The Boulder Dam project was brought up once again when Criswell ran for City Council re-election in 1927, the Times claiming that "Criswell has lost ground . . . and was absent in Washington for several months lobbying for the Power Bureau." Criswell lost in the May primary, 2,468 votes to Howard W. Davis
Howard W. Davis
Howard 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...
's 3,305.
City Council
City working conditionsCriswell was "credited with the successful passage of the ordinance whereby the unimportant city employee share equally with the 'white colla'r job holder in holidays and vacation privileges." In July 1917 he introduced a proposal to pay union scale
Union wage premium
A union wage premium refers to the degree in which union wages exceed non-union member wages. Union wage premiums are one of the most researched and analyzed issues in economics especially in labor economics. Unions and their struggle for wages and better benefits usually target larger firms that...
to city-employed "mechanics and laborers," but the plan was not adopted.
Racial equality
At Criswell's urging and with his vigorous support, the City Council unanimously adopted a resolution in April 1919 opposing what it said would be a "covenant for 'racial equality'
Racial Equality Proposal, 1919
The Racial Equality Proposal was a Japanese proposal for racial equality at the Paris Peace Conference.-The proposal:After the end of seclusion, Japan suffered unequal treaties and demanded equal status with the Powers. In this context, the Japanese delegation to the Paris peace conference proposed...
that it had been "credibly informed" would be considered by the World War II peace conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
then meeting in Paris. The Criswell resolution claimed that the covenant would "grant oriental countries free immigration, naturalization, the elective franchise, the privilege to own agricultural and other lands and the right of intermarriage. . . . these privileges cannot be granted without imperiling the welfare of the white population and ultimately of American civilization."
Ku Klux Klan
The Times broke a major story on June 6, 1922, with a photograph of an application for membership in the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, bearing Criswell's signature, stating that:
I, the undersigned, a native born true and loyal citizen of the United States of America, being a white male Gentile person of temperate habits, sound in mind, and a believer in the tenets of the Christian religion, the maintenance of White Supremacy, the practice of an honorable clannishness and the principles of "pure Americanism," do voluntarily most respectfully, seriously and unselfishly petition you for citizenship in the Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan , , , ,
Away in Washington, D.C., since May 30, Criswell at first said he did not know anything about it, but when he returned to Los Angeles he affirmed that he had signed the application, in blank, but that he had "no knowledge of the workings of the Klan." He made no reference to a second handwritten document bearing his signature in which he answered "Yes" to the question, "Do you believe in white supremacy?"
Opposed by mayor
Criswell drew opposition from Mayor Frederick T. Woodman
Frederick T. Woodman
Frederick Thomas Woodman served as the 31st Mayor of Los Angeles, California from 1916 to 1919.-Biography:...
in 1922 when the councilman persuaded the council to ask Woodman for details of a "secret service fund" that Woodman controlled for the purpose of investigating cafés where police officers could not enter and procure evidence. Woodman wrote: "Mr. Criswell, I know, opposed secret service funds, has opposed police activity, voted against a red flag ordinance [forbidding the display of socialist banners] . . . and apparently believes that the authorities . . . should not direct their attention toward the suppression of vice and disorder."
Police Department
Criswell locked horns with Police Chief Louis D. Oaks
Louis D. Oaks
Louis D. Oaks served as the Chief of Police of the Los Angeles Police Department from April 22, 1922, when he succeeded James W. Everington, and August 1, 1923, when he was succeeded by ex-Berkeley, California Police Chief August Vollmer, a prominent criminologist.During his short reign as chief,...
on several occasions, at one point in 1922 making "startling charges" that "members of the police department have been levying thousands of dollars in protection money" and at another blocking for several weeks a request by the chief for 1,500 badges for his officers and 50 Dodge
Dodge
Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
automobiles for his department.
See also
- 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)
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