Governor James Rolph and the Great Depression in California

Governor James Rolph and the Great Depression in California PDF Author: James Worthen
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786482966
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
In 1911, when businessman James Rolph first ran for mayor of San Francisco, he promised, "I will be mayor of the whole city, and not the mayor for any particular section." This statement seemed to characterize Rolph's political career. After serving an unprecedented five terms as mayor, he went on to win California's 1930 gubernatorial election. Rolph, however, had severely underestimated the challenges he would be up against as a Depression-era governor. A genuine love of people and desire to help had gotten him as far as the governor's office but could do little to help him solve the new problems he found. Lack of a firm agenda coupled with an unrealistic (or perhaps idealistic) governing style left him at odds with the legislature and found his chief lieutenants forming into warring cliques. Ultimately, Rolph--in spite of good intentions and a love of civil service--was unable to translate his mayoral triumph, with all its charm and style, into a gubernatorial success. This biography relies heavily on primary sources such as contemporary newspaper articles and firsthand recollections. Beginning with Rolph's mayoral career, the book enumerates the qualities which led to his phenomenal success as San Francisco's top politician. The work then examines the criticisms levied against Rolph as governor and the ways in which these complaints were, and were not, justified. The unfortunate historical timing of Rolph's governorship is also discussed. In many ways, Rolph's attempt to translate from prosperous '20s mayor to Depression-era '30s governor was simply ill-fated from the very beginning. A detailed bibliography and index is also provided.

Governor James Rolph and the Great Depression in California

Governor James Rolph and the Great Depression in California PDF Author: James Worthen
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786482966
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Get Book Here

Book Description
In 1911, when businessman James Rolph first ran for mayor of San Francisco, he promised, "I will be mayor of the whole city, and not the mayor for any particular section." This statement seemed to characterize Rolph's political career. After serving an unprecedented five terms as mayor, he went on to win California's 1930 gubernatorial election. Rolph, however, had severely underestimated the challenges he would be up against as a Depression-era governor. A genuine love of people and desire to help had gotten him as far as the governor's office but could do little to help him solve the new problems he found. Lack of a firm agenda coupled with an unrealistic (or perhaps idealistic) governing style left him at odds with the legislature and found his chief lieutenants forming into warring cliques. Ultimately, Rolph--in spite of good intentions and a love of civil service--was unable to translate his mayoral triumph, with all its charm and style, into a gubernatorial success. This biography relies heavily on primary sources such as contemporary newspaper articles and firsthand recollections. Beginning with Rolph's mayoral career, the book enumerates the qualities which led to his phenomenal success as San Francisco's top politician. The work then examines the criticisms levied against Rolph as governor and the ways in which these complaints were, and were not, justified. The unfortunate historical timing of Rolph's governorship is also discussed. In many ways, Rolph's attempt to translate from prosperous '20s mayor to Depression-era '30s governor was simply ill-fated from the very beginning. A detailed bibliography and index is also provided.

California After Arnold

California After Arnold PDF Author: Stephen D. Cummings
Publisher: Algora Publishing
ISBN: 0875867405
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
This book is a must-read for political activists, academics, journalists and political junkies of all sorts. It shows where the Golden State has been in the past two generations, where it is now and where it is going. The book describes the Schwarzenegger Administration in the context of broad political, demographic, economic and historical forces going back to the 1911 structural political reforms of Hiram Johnson, and it illustrates how Democrats and Republicans have won past elections in California, the strategies they have used, and why. In addition, over 100 charts unwind a tangle of details and line them up by region, ethnicity, income, party affiliation, and voter turnout over time, including results on initiatives regarding everything from water rights to hand guns.

Right Out of California

Right Out of California PDF Author: Kathryn S. Olmsted
Publisher: New Press, The
ISBN: 1620971399
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
“Olmsted finds in Depression-era California the crucible for strong-arm policies against farm workers that bolstered the conservative movement” (Kirkus Reviews). At a time when a resurgent immigrant labor movement is making urgent demands on twenty-first-century America—and when a new and virulent strain of right-wing anti-immigrant populism is roiling the political waters—Right Out of California is a fresh and profoundly relevant touchstone for anyone seeking to understand the roots of our current predicament. This major reassessment of modern conservatism reexamines the explosive labor disputes in the agricultural fields of Depression-era California, the cauldron that inspired a generation of artists and writers and that triggered the intervention of FDR’s New Deal. Noted historian Kathryn S. Olmsted tells how this brief moment of upheaval terrified business leaders into rethinking their relationship to American politics—a narrative that pits a ruthless generation of growers against a passionate cast of reformers, writers, and revolutionaries. “Olmstead’s vivid, accomplished narrative really belongs to the historiography of the left . . . As her strong research shows, race and gender prejudice informed, or deformed, almost the whole of American social and cultural life in the 1930s and was as common on the left as on the right.” —The New York Times Book Review “An accessible work that aids in contextualizing the rise of future conservative leaders such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.” —Publishers Weekly “A major reworking of the Republican right’s origins, this is also a compelling read for anyone interested in California’s outsize importance in America’s recent past.” —Darren Dochuk, author of From Bible Belt to Sunbelt

In Pursuit of Utopia

In Pursuit of Utopia PDF Author: Errol Wayne Stevens
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806177500
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
During the Great Depression, the Los Angeles area was rife with radical movements. Although many observers thought their ideas unworkable, even dangerous, Southern Californians voted for them by the tens of thousands. This book asks why. To find answers, author Errol Wayne Stevens takes readers through the history of such movements as the Utopian Society, Dr. Francis Townsend’s old-age revolving pension plan, Upton Sinclair’s End Poverty in California gubernatorial campaign, and Retirement Life Payments, known as Ham and Eggs. The book also examines the Los Angeles Communists and the free-market capitalists, both quasi-religious movements with large followings, as well as the self-help cooperatives, a spontaneous upsurge of neighbors who came together to help one another in a time of desperate need. As to these movements’ extraordinary popularity, Stevens finds the standard explanations unpersuasive. He debunks the idea that naïve, unsophisticated Southern Californians, living aimless, empty lives, suffering from ennui, and longing for community, readily supported charismatic leaders who promised a way out of the Great Depression. In Stevens’s telling, Southern Californians supported these movements because they spoke to their needs. Fearful or desperate, some elderly and hopeless, Angelenos cared less about the programs’ feasibility than about their promise of relief. As one Ham and Eggs supporter succinctly explained: “It may be a racket and maybe it won’t work more than a couple of weeks, but that will be $60 more than I ever got before for one vote.” Finding parallels between past and present, readers might wonder why people remain loyal to programs that prove unrealistic, or why voters continue to support leaders who reveal, time and again, their ignorance or dishonesty. In its illumination of a troubled time in American history not so long ago, this book offers insight into our own.

The California Idea and American Higher Education

The California Idea and American Higher Education PDF Author: John Aubrey Douglass
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 1503617106
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 618

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Book Description
Throughout the twentieth century, public universities were established across the United States at a dizzying pace, transforming the scope and purpose of American higher education. Leading the way was California, with its internationally renowned network of public colleges and universities. This book is the first comprehensive history of California's pioneering efforts to create an expansive and high-quality system of public higher education. The author traces the social, political, and economic forces that established and funded an innovative, uniquely tiered, and geographically dispersed network of public campuses in California. This influential model for higher education, "The California Idea," created an organizational structure that combined the promise of broad access to public higher education with a desire to develop institutions of high academic quality. Following the story from early statehood through to the politics and economic forces that eventually resulted in the 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education, The California Idea and American Higher Education offers a carefully crafted history of public higher education.

From Dead Ends to Cold Warriors

From Dead Ends to Cold Warriors PDF Author: Peter W.Y. Lee
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 1978813481
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
After World War II, studies examining youth culture on the silver screen start with James Dean. But the angst that Dean symbolized—anxieties over parents, the “Establishment,” and the expectations of future citizen-soldiers—long predated Rebels without a Cause. Historians have largely overlooked how the Great Depression and World War II impacted and shaped the Cold War, and youth contributed to the national ideologies of family and freedom. From Dead Ends to Cold Warriors explores this gap by connecting facets of boyhood as represented in American film from the 1930s to the postwar years. From the Andy Hardy series to pictures such as The Search, Intruder in the Dust, and The Gunfighter, boy characters addressed larger concerns over the dysfunctional family unit, militarism, the “race question,” and the international scene as the Korean War began. Navigating the political, social, and economic milieus inside and outside of Hollywood, Peter W.Y. Lee demonstrates that continuities from the 1930s influenced the unique postwar moment, coalescing into anticommunism and the Cold War.

World War I Army Training by San Francisco Bay

World War I Army Training by San Francisco Bay PDF Author: Barbara Wilcox
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1625856334
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
In 1917, Stanford University leased a portion of its land to allow the creation of Camp Fremont, headquartered in present-day Menlo Park. That brought the war into the Bay Area's backyard. Soldiers received a welcome reception, and locals embraced the potential economic opportunities. However, the military presence also revealed the conflict Americans felt over the war. Residents threatened conscientious objectors within their community, while the government mollified fears of the vice that often followed troops in training. Armistice came earlier than expected, and many soldiers trained for combat they never saw. But all contributed to the growth and change that arrived with the modern era. Author Barbara Wilcox tells Camp Fremont's story of adaptability, bravery and extraordinary accomplishment during the Great War.

The Elusive Eden

The Elusive Eden PDF Author: Richard B. Rice
Publisher: Waveland Press
ISBN: 1478639911
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 555

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Book Description
California is a region of rich geographic and human diversity. The Elusive Eden charts the historical development of California, beginning with landscape and climate and the development of Native cultures, and continues through the election of Governor Gavin Newsom. It portrays a land of remarkable richness and complexity, settled by waves of people with diverse cultures from around the world. Now in its fifth edition, this up-to-date text provides an authoritative, original, and balanced survey of California history incorporating the latest scholarship. Coverage includes new material on political upheavals, the global banking crisis, changes in education and the economy, and California's shifting demographic profile. This edition of The Elusive Eden features expanded coverage of gender, class, race, and ethnicity, giving voice to the diverse individuals and groups who have shaped California. With its continued emphasis on geography and environment, the text also gives attention to regional issues, moving from the metropolitan areas to the state's rural and desert areas. Lively and readable, The Elusive Eden is organized in ten parts. Each chronological section begins with an in-depth narrative chapter that spotlights an individual or group at a critical moment of historical change, bringing California history to life.

Political Women

Political Women PDF Author: Michele Lockhart
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739182048
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
This collection examines the ways in which women have used political rhetoric and political discourse to provide leadership, or assert their right to leadership, at the national level. While over the years women have broken through traditional roles, they are still underrepresented in political leadership. In this text, scholars consider the various factors that continue to restrict political leadership opportunities for women as well as some of the ways in which individual women have strategically sought to enact political power and leadership for themselves. The contributors analyze various case studies of leadership positions at the national level, looking at women who have run, been nominated to run, or appointed to national positions. The interdisciplinary approach lends itself to: rhetoric; political rhetoric; political discourse; leadership studies; women’s studies; gender issues; satire; pop culture.

Art Deco San Francisco

Art Deco San Francisco PDF Author: Therese Poletti
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
ISBN: 9781568987569
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
The Castro Theatre, the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Headquarters, 450 Sutter Medico-Dental Buildingthesemasterpieces of San Francisco's Art Deco heritage are the work of one man: Timothy Pflueger. An immigrant's sonwith only a grade-school education, Pflueger began practicing architecture after San Francisco's 1906 earthquake. While his contemporaries looked to Beaux-Arts traditions to rebuild the city, he brought exotic Mayan, Asian, and Egyptian forms to buildings ranging from simple cocktail lounges to the city's first skyscrapers. Pflueger was one of the city's most prolificarchitects during his 40-year career. He designed two major downtown skyscrapers, two stock exchanges, several neighborhood theaters, movie palaces for four smaller cities (including the beloved Paramount in Oakland), some ofthe city's biggest schools, and at least 50 homes. His works include the San Francisco Stock Exchange, the ever-popularTop of the Mark, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and the San Francisco World's Fair. It is a testament to his talentthat many of his buildings still stand and many have been named landmarks. Therese Poletti tells the fascinating story of Pflueger's life and work in Art Deco San Francisco. In lively detail, she relates how Pflueger built extravagant compositions in metal, concrete, and glass. She also tells the story behind the architecture: Pflueger's commissioning and support of muralist Diego Rivera, his association with photographer Ansel Adams and sculptor Ralph Stackpole, and his childhood friendship turned to adulthood sponsorship with San Francisco Mayor James "Sunny" Rolph Jr. Beautiful archival photography mixes with stunning new photography in this collection of a truly Californian, but ultimately American, story.