Fletcher Bowron
Fletcher Bowron | |
---|---|
35th Mayor of Los Angeles | |
In office September 26, 1938 – July 1, 1953 | |
Preceded by | Frank L. Shaw |
Succeeded by | Norris Poulson |
Personal details | |
Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | August 13, 1887
Resting place | Inglewood Park Cemetery |
Political party | Republican |
Spouses | Irene Martin
(m. 1922; died 1961)Albine Norton (m. 1961) |
Children | 1 |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Military Intelligence |
Battles/wars | World War I |
Fletcher Bowron (August 13, 1887 – September 11, 1968) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He was the 35th Mayor of
Life and career
Bowron was born in
Upon the U.S. entry into
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.
Mayor
He was then elected mayor of Los Angeles on a
Los Angeles grew enormously during the war years, with very large defense industries. After the war Bowron began construction of the
He served during the era of
Later life
He lost re-election in 1953 after having survived a number of recall attempts, with his defeat attributed partly to the loss of his liberal backing 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 in 1962, but remained active in city activities.
On January 4, 1961, his wife Irene died at the Madison Lodge Sanitarium after spending nearly five years at the facility. Ten 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, Bowron 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. While his body lay in state in the Los Angeles City Hall rotunda, people came to pay their respects.[6] He is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery.
In popular culture
- Bowron appeared in the 1953 "Tax Refund" episode of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.[7]
- Bowron was endorsed and campaigned for his reelection by gangster Mickey Cohen, including a picture of Cohen's infamous armored Cadillac with Bowron campaign signs, Mickey Cohen standing next to it.[8]
- In the 2011 video game L.A. Noire, the mayor is based on Fletcher Bowron, and coincides with the name and personality.
- In James Ellroy's 2014 novel Perfidia, Ellroy provides a fictionalized version of Fletcher Bowron in a supporting role. This version of Bowron also appears in Perfidia's sequel This Storm.
See also
- Employers Group, which, as the Merchants and Manufacturers Association, opposed Bowron's policies
- Stephen W. Cunningham, Republican City Council member who ran against Bowron in 1941
- Harold Harby, Los Angeles City Council member, 1939–42, 1943–57, complained about Bowron's radio talks
- John C. Holland, Los Angeles City Council member, 1943–67, Bowron supporter
Purge list
Bowron urged the defeat of these opposition City Council candidates in 1939:[9]
References
- ^ "Pima Indian survivor of the Mt. Suribachi Flag-raising and Indian veteran of Bataan Death March with Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron". Los Angeles Times. March 23, 1947. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2012 – via UCLA Library.
- ISBN 9780871964533.
- ^ a b Nakagawa, Martha. "Fletcher Bowron". Densho Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
- ISBN 978-0684803548.
- ISBN 9780520012622.
- ^ West, Richard (September 14, 1968). "Only a Few Honor Ex-Mayor Bowron at City Hall Rotunda". Los Angeles Times. p. B1. Retrieved June 24, 2022 – via ProQuest.
Library card required
- ^ ""The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" Tax Refund (TV Episode 1953)". IMDb.
- ^ Harnisch, Larry (November 18, 2007). "Mickey Cohen's Cadillac". The Daily Mirror. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
- ^ "Council Slates Announced as Bowron Pushes Purge". Los Angeles Times. March 2, 1939. p. 6 – via ProQuest.
Library card required
Further reading
- Buntin, John (2009). L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City. New York: Harmony Books. OCLC 431334523. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
- Sitton, Tom (2005). Los Angeles Transformed: Fletcher Bowron's Urban Reform Revival, 1938-1953. ISBN 0-8263-3527-6.
- Starr, Kevin (July 10, 2009). Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963. ISBN 978-0-19-515377-4.
External links
- "Fletcher Bowron". Find a Grave. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
- Fletcher Bowron at IMDb