Bowron, Fletcher, 1887-1968

Bowron was born Aug. 13, 1887 in Poway, CA; attended UC Berkeley (1907-9), USC Law School (1909-11); admitted to CA State Bar, 1917; executive secretary to governor of CA (1925-26); judge, Superior Court, Los Angeles (1926-38, 1956-62); elected mayor of Los Angeles in recall election, Sept. 16, 1938; re-elected to three additional terms and served as mayor for a total fifteen years (1938-53); died Sept. 11, 1968.

Fletcher Bowron, mayor of Los Angeles from 1938-1953, came into office as a reform candidate in a recall election. Bowron had been a newspaper reporter, practiced law, and spent six years as a judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. After his term as mayor he was reelected judge of the Superior Court. After retirement he became interested in the study of Los Angeles history and initiated the Metropolitan Los Angeles History Project, which produced the bibliographical work, Los Angeles and its environs in the twentieth century (1973).

Biography

Fletcher Bowron (1887-1968), who was mayor of the city of Los Angeles from 1938 to 1953, came into office as a reform candidate in a recall election. His goal was to eradicate political corruption and establish a professional municipal government. For 15 years he was continually reelected to this important position-fifteen years of tremendous growth and unusual problems for the Los Angeles area.

Mayor Bowron had spent the years 1911 to 1917 as a newspaper reporter, followed by a return to college for a law degree, two years in private practice, then six years as Judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. During his terms as mayor, World War II brought the sudden expansion of war-related industries to Los Angeles and the immediate need for laborers, public housing, mass transportation, and pollution control. As mayor he worked not only for solutions to these problems but also for the creation of long range city planning and commercial development.

After his years as mayor, Bowron was reelected to the bench as Judge of the Superior Court. In 1962 he retired and devoted himself to a Metropolitan History Project. When Judge Bowron passed away in 1968, the project continued under the supervision of Mrs. Bowron and reached its fruition in the publication of the bibliography of Los Angeles history, Los Angeles and Its Environs in the Twentieth Century, with Doyce B. Nunis, Jr., as editor.

Biography

Bowron was born August 13, 1887 in Poway, California; attended University of California at Berkeley (1907-09), University of Southern California Law School (1909-11); admitted to California State Bar, 1917; executive secretary to governor of California (1925-26); judge, Superior Court, Los Angeles (1926-38, 1956-62); elected mayor of Los Angeles in recall election, September 16, 1938; re-elected to three additional terms and served as mayor for a total fifteen years (1938-53); died September 11, 1968.