The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

In a dark time in local history, businessman Dan O’Hanlon spoke out against the forces of white supremacy and religious intolerance. With a simple proclamation of “Liar!” at a Klan rally 1924, he challenged the KKK, and likely gave others the courage to do so.

Dan O’Hanlon was born in England in 1887. During World War I, He served in the British army, at the front for nearly two and half years.

He married his wife Margaret (an American) in England and, after the War, they moved briefly to Nebraska before coming to Fullerton in 1920 at the request of his brother-in-law, Tom Eadington, who worked in the local citrus industry.

He slowly built up an insurance, accounting, and realty business. Meanwhile, he and his wife had seven children: Margaret, Daniel, John, Eileen, Mary, Thomas, Kathleen, Marjoria, and Larry.

He was a civic-minded businessman, serving as secretary of the local Kiwanis Club, director of the Chamber of Commerce, secretary of the Orange County Democratic Central committee, and president of the Holy Name society at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

In 1924, when he was 37 years old, O’Hanlon found himself in the eye of a storm as the Ku Klux Klan was amassing lots of members, power, and popularity locally.

In 1924, the Ku Klux Klan was experiencing a massive resurgence, with an estimated 5 million members, even outside the South. It became a major force in politics.

In Anaheim, four KKK members were elected to City Council. In Fullerton, many prominent leaders joined the hooded order. The Klan painted a large “KIGY” (Klan I Greet You) sign over Spadra (now Harbor) in Fullerton.

According to the Fullerton News-Tribune, “there is a membership of from 2500 to 3000 [Klan members] in this territory.”

Crosses were burned on the hills above town. Ku Klux Klan rallies drawing thousands took place throughout Orange County in 1924, including at least two large meetings at what is now Amerige Park, across the street from City Hall.

Perhaps out of curiosity, Dan O’Hanlon attended one such rally.

O’Hanlon, who was Catholic, was unhappy with the Klan speaker’s denunciations of catholicism, so he shouted “Liar!” during the speech. 

This led to cries of “get that guy” and “where is a tar bucket?” from different parts of the crowd. O’Hanlon was taken by police officers, for his own safety, and booked him briefly at the city jail. He was released later that night, and according to an oral history interview with O’Hanlon’s wife Margaret, a cross was burned on their lawn that night.

“They burned their crosses in front of our house in the middle of the night. It scared me to death,” Margaret said. “I heard a couple of shots that went off and that waked me. Dan wanted to go out and I said, ‘No don’t,’ and I said ‘Just stay indoors.’ So in the morning before it was light, I went out and moved this burnt cross and threw it out.”

It was because of local residents like O’Hanlon, who spoke up against the Klan, that its popularity began to wane. Not long after O’Hanlon called out the rally speaker, the Rotary Club issued a public denunciation of the Klan. 

To read more about the Ku Klux Klan in Orange County, including the individuals and groups that resisted, read my article HERE.

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

In 1937, Fullerton celebrated its “Golden Jubilee” 50th anniversary with a three-day event featuring a massive historical pageant play, displays of historical artifacts and photos, and other social events. The Fullerton News-Tribune (which usually ran about eight pages), released a massive 60-page edition featuring an impressive array of articles profiling notable local figures and institutions. One of those articles was written by 82-year-old George Amerige, co-founder of Fullerton. Here is Amerige’s article, along with some historic photos courtesy of the Fullerton Public Library.

There is a secret in building a town, do you know what it is? It takes a stiff backbone, a spirit of progressiveness and determination to win out, and a disposition that can stand all sorts of criticism.

Two brothers, George H. and Edward R. Amerige left their home town, Malden, Mass, a suburb of Boston, May 3, 1886, for a trip to California. In San Francisco they joined friends on a vacation trip, camping on the Russian River in Sonoma county. From there they came south to Los Angeles wishing to see the southern part of the state.

Becoming interested in California, they purchased their first piece of property, a ten-acre orange ranch in Sierra Madre. Some friends form the east visited them there and persuaded them to rent this ranch home for the winter. The Amerige brothers then came to the coast for the duck shooting, which they had been informed was good. They made their headquarters at the Planters hotel in Anaheim, going down into the Westminster marshes to hunt.

Decided to Stay

This visit to the coast convinced them of the possibilities of this section of the country, so they went back to Sierra Madre, sold their ranch, and with their horses and bird dogs came back to Anaheim to stay, establishing a real estate office in the Albers building.

Driving out from Anaheim in all directions to shoot quail and dove, they became interested in what is now the Fullerton district, and conceived and formulated a plan to start a town, thinking here, of all they places they had examined, would be the location for a successful and permanent municipality.

They negotiated for 390 acres of land from the Miles brothers, bought 20 actress from Joseph Franz, to square out the townsite they had in mind. When they learned that the California Central Railroad company, a subsidiary of the Santa Fe railroad, would soon build a line from Los Angeles to San Diego, passing through Orange County, then a part of Los Angeles county, the Amerige brothers waited on George H. Fullerton who, at that time, was president of the Pacific Land and Improvement Company and also the “right-of-way” man for the railroad, who informed them that several surveys had been made, but none of them would take in their tract of land. By offering him a right-of-way thorough their land and an interest in the town-site, they prevailed upon him to change the survey to bring the railroad through their land and south into Anaheim.

May 14, 1887

Upon receipt of all deeds and titles to their land on May 14, 1887, they proceeded to form a closed stock company, consisting of the Amerge brothers, the Pacific Land and Improvement Company and the Wilshire brothers, who paid a bonus to come into the company. Up to this time much of the land had been rented by the Amerige brothers to a Frenchman named Morat for sheep grazing.

The services of Frank Olmstead of Los Angeles were obtained to survey and plat the town-site. On July 5, 1887, the first stake was driven in a field of mustard at what is now the northeast corner of Commonwealth ave. and Spadra rd, in Hotel Block 21 by Edward R. Amerige. The building of the town and the selling of lots was on. The clearing of the land and grading the streets was done by the Fuller brothers, of the Pioneer Transfer Company, Los Angeles.

Then came discussion of a name for the town. It was urged that it be called Amerige for the Founders, but they did not wish this and suggested that it be named Fullerton. Then the Amerige brothers named the streets.

Streets Named

Malden ave. and Highland ave. were selected for the town and street on which they were born, Amerige ave. for their family name, Commonwealth ave. for one of the finest avenues in Boston, Harvard for the college, Wilshire for the Wilshire brothers, Truslow for the general ticket agent of the Santa Fe Railroad, Northam ave. for Bob Northam, who at that time was agent for the Stearns Rancho Company, of which the town-site was part and parcel at one time. This avenue was later changed to Chapman. Whiting was named for Dwight Whiting owner of the El Toro Ranch, who was a friend of the brothers.

The first building was built by the Amerige brothers, on lot 8 block 29 for an office. Here they lived and transacted all their business of selling lots. This building is now in the Commonwealth city park, placed there by the historical section of the Ebell club.

The first residence was built by George Amerige on lots 1 and 2 block 22, the corner of Amerige and Harvard aves. George Amerige also installed the first water system, employing Chinamen to do the excavation work on the ditches. Hooker Bros. supplied the water pipes and made the connections. The first well was drilled by Padderatz Bros. on Block 7 on Sept 26, 1887. The first water was raised by an old-fashioned hot air engine and later by a windmill.

First Building

The first building of any importance was the St. George Hotel, built in Hotel Block 21. This block has never been surveyed into lots. The hotel consisted of 65 rooms, construction of which was started Aug. 20, 1887, and finished Feb 28, 1888. The architects were Calkin and Haas and the contractor W.H. McKillian. The building alone cost $54,000 and the furnishings $15,000. The lumber was bought through W.T. Brown, who at that time was agent for the Griffith Lumber Company of Anaheim. Brown later established a lumber yard and planing mill in Fullerton which is now known as the Brown and Dauser Lumber Company.

The first managers of the hotel were the Laidigs. They came from the Yosemite valley to Anaheim where George Amerige met them with a bus, as their family consisted of eleven children and two dogs.

The building owned by the Amerige brothers was sold in 1918 by George Amerige to the Whiting-Meade Wrecking Company for $1,300 and was razed to make room for business blocks which he later built.

Beazley Postmaster

The next building was built by H. Gaylord Wilshire on lots 25 and 26–at the corner of Commonwealth ave. and Spadra rd. Here the first grocery store was opened by Howell and Ford. This was also where the first postoffice was located with E.E. Beazley as the first postmaster. This was afterward the home of the first general department store, established by Stern and Goodman, who bought out the grocery store.

The next building was put up by Shindler, Schumacher and Grimshaw on lots 22, 23, and 24 block 28. These lots were given to them with the understanding they would build on them. Here the first drug store was established by William Starbuck, the first meat market by G.A. Brunswicker, and the first furniture store and undertaking parlor by a Mr. Brown.

In the second story of this building was held the first religious services, and a church organized with thirteen members, by Rev. F.R. Holcomb. He also officiated at the first wedding in town.

Chadbourne Block

The next building to be built was the Chadbourne block on lots 1,2,3 and 4 in block 20. These lots were also given with the understanding that buildings were to be put up on them. The contractor left town in the night with the buildings unfinished and hills unpaid, so George Amerige, who was bondsman for him, paid the bills and finished the building. This building was built for stores and a bank, with a public hall in the second story, and later became the home of the first bank established in Fullerton, which came into existence largely through the efforts of E.R. Amerige.

The first lumber yard to come to Fullerton was the Russel Lumber Company.

Canning Factory

In March 1888, a canning factory was built and operated by the Joslyn brothers.

The first livery stable was established by Jonathon Kraemer, in February, 1888, who was also building a cottage at the time. This was a very necessary asset to a town, as these were the “horse and buggy days” and the railroad had not yet reached Fullerton.

The first school was held in a little old wooden building on W. Commonwealth ave. in block 44. The teacher was Edwin Clark, whose daughter Norma was the first girl baby born in Fullerton. Roy Fullerton Schumacher, son of P.A. Schumacher was the first child born in Fullerton, April 7, 1888.

The first grade school was built on E. Wilshire ave. The first church building was erected at the corner of Wilshire and Pomona aves on lot 19-20 block 15 in 1889 with George Irwin as pastor.

The Amerige brothers had the first real estate office and insurance business.

Dr. George C. Clark was the first physician in Fullerton and is still practicing, with an office on Whiting ave.

Street Lighting

The first street lighting system was installed in 1887. It consisted of a wooden lamp post and a coal oil lamp presented by the street lighter of Anaheim to George H. Amerige, who brought it on his shoulder from Anaheim to Fullerton, walking all the way, and he installed it at the southeast corner of Commonwealth ave. and Spadra rd.

The first newspaper, a weekly called “The New Era,” was published by Mr. Field in 1888. This was first printed in Anaheim, but because of an interest held by George H. Amerige, it was later moved to Fullerton. About the same time the “Fullerton Star,” edited and published by Clark Hagaboon came to town. The first issue of this paper is now in the possession of George Amerige. These papers soon went out of existence and later Edgar Johnson started a weekly Tribune which was soon changed to a daily paper. This paper is now being published under the name of the Fullerton News-Tribune, one of the best papers in Orange County, and is owned and published by W. Kee Maxwell.

First Train

Fullerton did not receive any natural benefit from the boom, for, before the advent of the railroad, the boom was over. The railroad was delayed by heavy storms which made transportation a problem. Lumber for the depot was hauled from San Pedro by Otto des Granges, who is still an orange grower in this city. The first passenger train came into Fullerton on Aug. 15, 1888.

An attempt was made to change the name of the town to La Habra. In fact, the first railroad tickets read from Los Angeles to La Habra, the name La Habra was placed on the station. The opposition to this change was so strenuous by the Amerige brothers, that the original name was restored. Later Mr. Fullerton was dispossessed of his title and interest in the railroad company and Mr. McGinnis took his place.

The Wilshire brothers purchased the Pacific Land and Improvement Company interest and the Fullerton Land and Trust Company came into existence. Failing to fulfill their contract with the Pacific Land and Improvement Company, their holdings were taken over and they were dropped from the company. Then the Amerige brothers and the Fullerton Land and Trust Company interests were segregated. This took place on April 4, 1890, and the Fullerton Land and Trust Company dissolved, the Pacific Land and Improvement Company selling and disposing of their interests and the Amerige brothers staying with the town. After the advent of the railroad the town experienced a steady and healthy growth.

First Phone System

The first telephone system was installed by William Starbuck in his drug store in the Chadbourne block. The first blacksmith shop was established by A. Pendergrast, the first restaurant was opened by Mrs. Dierkson, and P.A. Schumacher was the first nurseryman. George Case had the first plumbing shop and the first hardware store was established by Buchanan and Lelpe.

Through the efforts of E.R. Amerige, Wm. McFadden, Dr. George C. Clark, Arthur Staley and others, a Masonic lodge was organized and a building erected on the corner of Amerige ave. Spadra rd. in block 17.

To the loyalty and support of many whose names are not mentioned here, we owe, to a great extent, the wonderful progress and growth of our town. Only a few of our original townspeople remain, as many of moved away and some have passed on.

Incorporated in 1904

Fullerton was enlarged and incorporated as a sixth class city July 15, 1904, and embraced 18 square miles, with a population of 3,000 people at this time.

The first trustees to be elected were E.R. Amerige, Dr. George C. Clark, J.R. Gardiner, E.K. Benchley and C.C. Chapman. Mr. Chapman was elected president of the board.

At the present time the population is 13,000. Fullerton now owns its own water plant, has a fine lighting system, its out-fall sewer to the sea and the best of paved streets. There are many packing houses and other industries. Fullerton has many fine buildings, good hotels, a fine library, theater, a beautiful clubhouse and all the lodges and societies are represented. There are three banks: the Security First National and F.C. Krause manager, the Bank of America with Harry Smith manager, and the First National Trust and Savings bank with Harry Williams manager.

It has the best of transportation facilities with three railroads and a bus line entering the city. Is it any wonder we are proud of this beautiful city and the wonderful growth it has made!

E.R. Amerige Death

E.R. Amerige, one of the brothers who founded this city, passed away May 3, 1915, after serving is city as one of the first trustees, and on the school board. He was president of the Anaheim Union Water Company in 1893, and was elected assemblyman for this district in 1903 and again in 1905. He was a Mason and Knight Templar.

George H. Amerige is still living and active at the age of 82, still working and making improvements.

He is the nephew and namesake of George Amerige who came to San Francisco in 1849, who in 1850 owned and operated a printing establishment. He introduced the first steam power press into San Francisco and at one time nearly all the newspapers issued in that city were printed in his office.

I have had to leave out many interesting instances, not knowing where to end. I am placing original contracts, deeds, and many early interesting pictures on exhibition at the D.A.R. headquarters, 109 E. Commonwealth ave.

We celebrate our “Golden Jubilee,” the 50th anniversary of the founding of Fullerton on May 14, 1937.

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

In 1937, Fullerton celebrated its “Golden Jubilee” 50th anniversary with a three-day event featuring a massive historical pageant play, displays of historical artifacts and photos, and other social events. The Fullerton News-Tribune (which usually ran about eight pages), released a massive 60-page edition featuring an impressive array of articles profiling notable local figures and institutions. One person featured was William Starbuck, Fullerton’s first druggist, librarian, first telephone company representative, first high school trustee, first undertaker, and probably more. Here’s a bit more about Starbuck.

Mr. and Mrs. William Starbuck opened a drug store in Fullerton in the 1890s, just after the town of Fullerton was founded.

Because there were so few other stores here at that time, the Starbucks sold many other items besides drugs, including school books, Christmas toys, and much more. 

“The Starbucks had the first soda fountain here and were amused at seeing school children waiting to touch the ice, inasmuch as many of them never before had seen ice,” the News-Tribune states.

The Starbucks started the first library in Fullerton, located in the back room of their drug store, with couches for guests to sit on and read.

Starbuck managed the first telephone system in Fullerton and under his management, the system grew to include Placentia, Yorba Linda, Brea, La Habra, and Buena Park.

Starbuck was also instrumental in the formation of Fullerton Union High School, and served as a high school trustee for 15 years.

Starbuck established the first undertaking business in the city after taking an embalming course in Los Angeles.

He was also involved in establishing Fullerton’s first hospital.

Unfortunately, there was a darker side of William Starbuck. In the 1920s, he (along with many local notables) was involved with the Ku Klux Klan. 

In 2011, OC Weekly editor Gustavo Arellano wrote a piece on Starbuck as part of his series “Profiles in OC Pioneers Who Were Klansmen.”

“The druggist also helped lead the efforts to protest Mexicans moving into Fullerton, sat on a school board that created Mexican-only schools, and played a prominent role in an episode involving the Klan, corruption, and city officials,” Arellano wrote.

Click HERE to read that piece.

In 1937, Mr. and Mrs. Starbuck were retired and living on their ranch at S. Highland and at Maple avenues.

The Gem Pharmacy was located approximately where Kentro Greek restaurant on the 100 block of East Commonwealth is today.

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

The Local History Room of the Fullerton Public Library has microfilm from the Fullerton Daily News-Tribune newspaper stretching back to 1893. I am in the process of reading over the microfilm, year by year, to get a sense of what was happening in the town over the years, and creating a mini archive. Below are some news stories from 1936.

National and International News

Fascism was becoming more firmly entrenched in Europe, with Adolf Hitler in Germany, Benito Mussolini in Italy, and the nationalist forces of Francisco Franco in Spain. Germany hosted the Olympics, at which American runner Jesse Owens famously won three gold medals, challenging Hitler’s notions of Aryan racial superiority. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to a second term as U.S. president in a true landslide victory.

Thanks in part to Roosevelt’s New Deal policies which sought to help Americans suffering through the Great Depression, nearly all states had a Democratic majority.

The New Deal established things like social security to provide a safety net for citizens. It was an unprecedented attempt to use the federal government to help Americans.

“When human distress reaches the point that government assistance is necessary, government up to the limit of its local, its state and its federal resources must and does act,” Roosevelt said in a 1936 speech.

Not everyone was happy with the New Deal. Big business oligarchs and conservative Republicans, as today, fought against federal programs to help the poor, with some calling it socialism or communism.

Local New Deal Projects

Fullerton benefited greatly from the New Deal. Some of the City’s most iconic and historic buildings were constructed by local residents using federal relief dollars. Projects completed in 1936 included improvements at Hillcrest Park (including the fountain), and the first building on the Fullerton College campus, the Commerce Building.

Whither City Hall?

Another project that received federal funds was the construction of City Hall.

Unfortunately, there was disagreement among City Council members regarding where to build the structure. Some wanted it to be built next to the California Hotel (now the Villa Del Sol), while others wanted it built at Commonwealth Park (now Amerige Park).

With City Council unable to agree on the Commonwealth site, the issue went to voters, who voted down that location.

Because of all this disagreement, City Hall would not be built for another five years.

LA Police Seek to Keep Out the Poor

The financial troubles of the Great Depression led to a big increase in homelessness and poverty. The Los Angeles Police department took the extreme (and illegal) action of sending officers to the California border with neighboring states to block “Indigent Alien Transients” (aka, the poor) from entering California.

This led to widespread condemnation and ultimately legal action to prevent the movement of humans seeking to better their lot.

Actions such as this represent what historian Kevin Starr called fascist tendencies in Depression-era California.

“For a month at least, the entrepots of California, north, south, and central, seemed more like the border checkpoints of fascist Europe than those of an American state,” Starr writes in Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression in California.

Efforts to keep out the poor also extended to Mexican immigrants. As has unfortunately happened throughout American history, hard times made immigrants convenient scapegoats for demagogues. In 1933, hundreds of Mexican farmworkers had been deported from Orange County.

The News-Tribune published editorials decrying the presence of “illegal aliens” and their supposed burden on taxpayers, despite the fact that Mexican farmworkers in particular were a foundation of the local economy.

The Murder of Francisco Gomez

Tensions between the Mexican community and the more affluent (and politically powerful) white community were inflamed when the dead body of 16-year old Francisco Gomez was found in a vacant lot in Placentia. The body had a .32 caliber bullet hole through the hip.

It was quickly learned that William Kraemer, of the wealthy Kraemer family, had shot Gomez whom he claimed was a “peeping Tom” outside the window of his home.

Kraemer was not convicted of any crime.

Hundreds of Mexican supporters of Gomez showed up at the courthouse to express their outrage.

The Citrus Strike

Throughout the 1930s, large scale labor strikes occurred throughout the United States, including in California. In 1936, the Mexican farmworkers of Orange County went on strike.

In his 1972 USC doctoral dissertation entitled The Orange County Citrus Stikes of 1935-1936: The Forgotten People in Revolt. Louis Reccow called it, “the largest and most violent citrus strike of the depression.”

Most of the Mexican pickers in Orange County lived in colonies, or “colonias,” which were segregated from the larger community.

In March strike leaders sent the growers of Orange County two lists of demands calling for better pay and working conditions as well as union recognition–demands which the growers ignored.

On June 11, as many as 2,500 workers went on strike.

The Fullerton News-Tribune characterized the strike leaders as outside agitators and communists. Police officers were organized to “protect” those who wanted to work from “threats of agitators.”

Sheriff Logan Jackson deputized hundreds of men. The American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars pledged their assistance to police and the growers.

During the strike, pickers who did not participate were escorted to work by armed guards.

“Police, deputy sheriffs and specially recruited deputies of police, sheriff and constables were in the field this morning keeping a constant watch for appearance of agitators,” the News-Tribune reported.

Scab crews and white students were hired to pick the oranges.

“From Placentia high school and Fullerton district junior college, scores of youths went today to orchards to take the place of the strikers,” the News-Tribune reported.

The first instance of “violence” occurred in Anaheim when striker Virginia Torres bit a police officer on the arm.

“Two hundred angry Mexican women spurned on the citrus picker’s strike today as the first riot call of the strike sent a score of officers into Anaheim early this morning to quell a disturbance led by the women,” the News-Tribune reported.

Torres and others were arrested.

Elsewhere, in Brea, strikers were arrested on flimsy grounds ranging from traffic violations to trespassing.

Charles McLaughlan, Orange county communist candidate for congress, was arrested on trespassing charges in the Mexican worker camp on Balcom in Fullerton. While the vast majority of strikers were not communist, there were some communists involved in the labor movement during the Great Depression.

Not long after McLauchlan’s arrest, some striking orange pickers were evicted from their homes in the worker’s camp.

Conflict between strikers, scabs, and law enforcement sometimes flared into violence.

“During the month of July (1936), northern Orange County experienced a kind of civil war,” Reccow writes. “Increased picketing, violence, armed deputies by the score, vigilante attacks, mass arrests and trials, shoot-to-kill orders, calls for State interference, along with California State Federation of Labor and federal government involvement–all contributed to the situation.”

“With violence reported in several sectors of the citrus strike area of Orange county and with three Mexican pickers from Azusa in county hospital with a stab wound, lacerated face and smashed teeth, respectively, peace officers throughout the county and orange grove owners and packinghouse officials promised the future would find all picking areas guarded with sawed off shotguns and other weapons,” the News-Tribune reported.

“All Orange country was under heavy guard today as Sheriff Logan Jackson, following yesterday’s violence, began deputizing 170 additional special deputies to protect every picking crew and packinghouse in the county,” the News-Tribune reported.

The increased police presence did little to quell the conflict. In one day at the height of the strike, 159 Mexican strikers were arrested on charges of “rioting.”

As conflict and occasional violence continued, Sheriff Jackson issued a “Shoot to Kill” order to his men.

“New special deputies were being added rapidly to the sheriff’s office staff, which numbers 300 to 400 now, and 20 more California highway patrol officers were rushed here today from Los Angeles county to be added to 35 or 40 already on duty,” the News-Tribune reported.

In La Habra, 40 or 50 families were evicted from their homes on ranch property for participating in the strike.

In the conflict, the strikers had weapons like rocks and clubs. The police had tear gas guns, hand grenades, rifles, and shotguns. 

Sometimes the police would arrest and jail Mexicans before any crime occurred.

“A strange parade it was from Placentia ave, at Pointsettia, near Anaheim, yesterday afternoon as California highway patrolmen and the sheriff intercepted 19 carloads of Mexicans, more than 100 in all, who said they were going to Orange for a meeting,” the News-Tribune reported. “The parade, enlarged by five more carloads intercepted in a neighboring road, ended at the jail.” 

On July 8 the 119 Mexicans arrested on rioting charges were arraigned in the open courtyard behind the Fullerton courthouse under heavy guard from state highway patrol officers and deputy sheriffs armed with sub-machine guns and sawed off shotguns.

A couple weeks later this large group was again transported to Fullerton.

“The Odd Fellows Temple, selected by law officials as the site of the hearing for security reasons, soon resembled an armed fortress. Men armed with submachine guns, riot guns, revolvers, and clubs guarded all exits and entrances,” the News-Tribune reported.

Part of the reason the strike continued was because of the growers’ insistence that the strike was not a result of legitimate grievances, but rather part of some nefarious communist plot.

“Dr. W.H. Wickett of Fullerton, a member of the publicity committee of the growers organization, said today that the growers have definitely learned that the strike is not a walkout merely for the betterment of pickers but is directed and abetted by communist headquarters for the purpose of fomenting strife in the interests of communism,” the News-Tribune reported.

In fact, the workers’ demands, which were publicly sent to the growers well before the strike, had nothing to do with communism, and everything to do with improving pay and working conditions.

Whether growers like Wickett actually believed the strikers represented a communist threat or they were simply seeking to tarnish the strikers so as to avoid having to treat their workers better, is hard to say.

It wasn’t just the police who sought to disrupt and end the strikers’ activities. Vigilante activity also occurred.

“Wild disorder, repetition of which was promised for tonight at the same place, broke out last night about 9:15pm, near Santa Fe ave. and Melrose in the center of Placentia as 40 Americans of a vigilante committee swooped down upon a Mexican gathering and with guns, clubs and a score of tear gas bombs sent them scattering in ever direction,” the News-Tribune reported. “Reports…stated 20 to 30 Mexicans and a few of the white men were injured, cars were smashed and other damage done. Several Mexicans among the group, who had gathered on the Luis Varcas handball court for a meeting told officers they definitely recognized ‘Stuart Strathman as the supposed leader of the raid.’”

Strathman was a leading representative of the growers and packinghouses, with an office at the Chamber of Commerce.

No arrests or charges were made against any of the vigilantes.

Eventually, an agreement between the strikers and growers was reached–insuring higher wages and a few other benefits, but not union recognition.

Charges against all but 13 of the strikers charged with rioting were dismissed. Of those, 10 were found guilty and faced fines and imprisonment.

Reflecting on the strike, Reccow writes, “The strike offers a classic study in the use of anti-strike tactics: the deputizing of hundreds of growers, blacklisting, the eviction of workers from company homes, the cries that agitators and communists were responsible for the strike, vigilante attacks, the strict enforcement of an anti-picketing ordinance, the jailing of large numbers of strikers and the deportation of alien Mexican workers.”

Journalist Carey McWilliams wrote, “No one who has visited a rural county in California under these circumstances will deny the reality of the terror that exists. It is no exaggeration to describe this state of affairs as fascism in practice.”

Local Politics

In local politics, Hans Kohlenberger, Walter Muckenthaler, and Thomas Gowen were elected to Fullerton City Council.

Harry Maxwell was chosen as mayor.

At this time, during the Great Depression, Democrats held a voting majority in all Orange County cities except Orange.

Culture and Entertainment

Two Fullertonians were listed in the annual Who’s Who in Art publication: Helena Dunlap and Lucile Bernice Hinkle. Fullertonian John Raitt was beginning his career as a singer.

Harpo Marx of the Marx Brothers married Alva Fleming in Fullerton.

Fullerton held its annual “Hospitality Night” which drew thousands to downtown to see elaborate store window displays, clowns, musical performances, and more.

In addition to funding public works and building projects, the WPA also funded arts projects, like plays and murals. The News-Tribune called these “Literary Boondoggles.”

The News-Tribune featured a few comic strips including Mickey Mouse and Tim Tyler’s Flying Luck, both of which included some occasionally disturbing panels:

Sports

Baseball at Commonwealth (now called Amerige) Park was extremely popular.

Deaths

Fullerton pioneer Andrew Rorden passed away.

Rorder, a native of Germany was born in 1866 on the Island of Fohr, off Prussia. He came to the United States and to Fullerton in 1873 before the town was founded. He was a rancher.

Stay tuned for top news stories from 1937!

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

The Local History Room of the Fullerton Public Library has microfilm from the Fullerton Daily News-Tribune newspaper stretching back to 1893. I am in the process of reading over the microfilm, year by year, to get a sense of what was happening in the town over the years, and creating a mini archive. Below are some news stories from 1933.

The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake

The disastrous Long Beach earthquake killed over 130 people, injured thousands, and caused tens of millions in property damage.

Some refugees from the earthquake took up temporary residence in their cars at Hillcrest Park and at the American Legion hall therein, where they were provided food and shelter by local volunteers and the Red Cross. The Izaak Walton Lodge was also opened to those who had fled the quake.

“Fullerton American Legion members continued to feed more than 100 persons at each meal at the Legion hall,” the Tribune reported. “Many of this group are lodged in Fullerton homes or camping in the park and are nearly without funds, their homes demolished or unsafe for occupancy in Long Beach, Compton, Bellflower and other points.”

Mrs. Clarence Spencer on W. Orangethorpe took in 27 quake refugees.

Most Fullerton buildings escaped damage, although a chimney fell at the California Hotel, crashing through the roof of the cafe kitchen and half filling it with bricks and shattered building materials. Thankfully, no one was there at the time. The Wilshire Elementary school also experienced some minor damage, although it was declared structurally sound.

As a result of the earthquake, many cities including Fullerton passed stricter building codes.

Roosevelt’s New Deal

Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected in 1932. His first 100 days of office in 1933 were filled with sweeping legislation aimed at combating the Great Depression. The idea of a president enacting major policy within their first 100 days began with FDR.

Roosevelt’s overall program was called the New Deal. Laws passed in 1933 sought to stabilize major aspects of the economy, such as banking (the Glass-Stegall Act and the creation of the FDIC), agriculture (Agricultural Adjustment Act and Farm Credit Act), and others (National Industrial Recovery Act). Other laws sought to provide government jobs for the unemployed by creating the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (later called the Works Progress Administration).

The Reconstruction Finance Corporation provided funding for jobs for local unemployed men to improve public works.

“One hundred men were assigned to Hillcrest Park this morning,” the Tribune reported, “where they will work under direction of Harry Byerrum, park superintendent. Forty-five more men were at work under direction of Leo Fallert, road foreman, in clearing water courses and improving the waterway northwest of Buena Park.”

Unemployed Fullerton resident George Buxton joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and was stationed at Camp Radford in the San Bernardino mountains.

His company built fire breaks and roads in the mountains.

During his time there, he stayed in a cabin with other CCC members and by his own account, he was well fed and enjoyed the work, as well as the amenities of the camp, including a swimming pool, recreation hall, community singing, interdenominational church on Sunday, a small baseball field, volley ball court, putting course and horse shoe pits.

For his work, he was paid $30 a month, with $25 sent to his family.

Although many of Roosevelt’s policies and programs received some opposition, perhaps the most controversial was the National Recovery Act (NRA), which placed numerous regulations on business with the aim of improving wages and stabilizing prices. Businesses that participated in the NRA proudly displayed a blue eagle poster. Many Fullerton businesses participated.

Local leaders even organized a parade to encourage employers to participate in the NRA program.

The parade down Spadra (now Harbor) was led by a police car with Congressman Sam Collins, civic leaders, and officials of the NRA participating.

Civil war, Spanish American War and World War veterans marched together with Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Girl Reserves and other similar groups

The parade ended at Commonwealth Park, where there was community singing and speakers explaining the NRA program.

Larger industries like coal and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposed the NRA. It eventually succumbed to legal challenge and was replaced by other New Deal programs.

One impact of the New Deal was to greatly increase the number of federal employees.

Local Depression Relief Efforts

In addition to increased funding and support from the federal and state governments, local groups also sought to help those facing unemployment, poverty, and hunger caused by the Depression.

Prohibition Ends!

Prohibition on alcohol, which had begun in 1920 with the passage of the 18th Amendment, was repealed in 1933 with the passage of the 21st Amendment. President Roosevelt famously said, “What America needs now is a drink.”

Even prior to the repeal, congress passed a law permitting the sale of beer with an alcohol content of 3.2 or less.

Things played out a bit contentiously in Orange County. After the passage of the Beer law, the OC District Attorney declared alcohol still illegal under a county ordinance.

“Orange county remains bone dry, regardless of the new beer bill passed by congress, District Attorney S.B. Kaufman declared in a formal opinion today,” the Tribune reported. “The county still had a dry ordinance and because the new beer law allowed for local control…Meanwhile, LA county board of supervisors repealed their local ordinance, thus allowing beer.”

The battle between “wet” and “dry” supporters played out locally, as Fullerton City Council considered rescinding its dry ordinance. City Council declined to take a position on the contentious matter, instead putting it to a vote of the people, who decided they needed a drink.

In short order, some Fullerton businesses began selling beer.

And with the passage of the 21st amendment, Prohibition was over.

Agriculture and Mexican Deportation

As a result of the Depression, the Bastanchury family lost control of their vast orange ranch, and it went into receivership.

Under its new owners, all of the Mexican workers on the ranch were deported.

“All of the Mexican camps on the ranch have been eliminated and all American labor is being used with 28 houses on the ranch now filled with regular employees, nearly all of whom have been continuously on the payroll since last April,” the Tribune reported.

“Nine carloads of Mexicans, including 437 adults and children–mostly children–were deported from Orange county today to points on the Mexican border, where they were to re-enter their native country,” the Tribune reported.

The majority of those deported were likely from the Bastanchury Ranch. The deportation was seen as a way to provide jobs for white workers, and to reduce county welfare costs.

“Thus the county welfare department unburdened itself to an appreciable extent of a “relief” load. The trainload has been living on charity in this county and their deportation represents “relief” to the taxpayers, according to Byron Curry, county welfare director,” the Tribune reported. “One car-load will be sent to Nogales, opposite Notales, Arizona. The other eight car-loads will be sent to Juarez, opposite El Paso, Texas. The cost of deportation, $12 per fare for adults, $6 for children over 5 years of age and no charge for children under that age, is far less than maintaining the group in the county Curry pointed out.”

The figure of nine trainloads from the Bastanchury Ranch is corroborated by a narrative written by Druzilla Mackey, a teacher in the Americanization program at Fullerton Union High School, published in Louis Plummer’s history of the High School:

“In this time of stress and strain the American community no longer spoke of ‘Our’ Mexicans. They no longer considered that no ‘whiteman’ could pick oranges.  Instead they felt that the jobs done so patiently by Mexicans for so many years should now be give to them. ‘Those’ Mexicans instead of ‘Our’ Mexicans should ‘all be shipped right back to Mexico where they belong.’ The Americanization centers in which these people had been taught how to buy and make themselves a part of the American community were now used for calling together assemblages in which county welfare workers explained to bewildered audiences that their small jobs would now be taken over by the white men, that they were no longer needed or wanted in the United States. They explained that the Welfare Department no longer had any money to aid them during times of unemployment, but would furnish them a free trip back to Mexico.  And so—one morning we saw nine train-loads of our dear friends roll away back to the windowless, dirt-floored homes we had taught them to despise.

This mass deportation was part of a larger mass deportation of Mexicans in the United States during the Great Depression, which is chronicled in the book Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation During the 1930s by Francisco E. Balderrama and Raymond Rodriguez.

Water

In 1933, the Orange County Water District was created.

“This bill has a threefold purpose and affects only a part of Orange County,” State Assemblymember Ted Craig explained. “The three objectives are flood control, water conservation, importation of water and the protection of water rights in the Santa Ana basin.”

“The future of the district depends solely upon the underground supply of water, which has been receding for the past 25 years. With the formation of this district the three objectives can be carried out,” the Tribune reported.

Fascism Abroad and at Home

In Germany, Adolph Hitler and his Nazis continued to consolidate power.

The Reichstag fire, which burned down Germany’s Parliament building, was blamed on communists, gave a pretext for Hitler to crack down on his political opponents and seize power.

Hitler was applauded by the entire assembly when he said: “Treason against the people must be exterminated with barbarous ruthlessness.”

Hitler was also cracking down on Jews.

In Berlin, iron-clad discipline was enforced among the brown-shirted Nazis who closed Jewish stores and stood guard to prevent customers from entering.

“What happens to Germany with regard to Hitlerism will determine what happens to the whole European government in the next 15 or 20 years,” Rabbi Herman Lissauer of Los Angeles asserted in his address on “Germany, Hitler, and race Relations” last evening at the final spring dinner meeting of the Fullerton International Relations council in First Methodist Episcopal church banquet hall.

“A group has come into power in Germany which has put an end to the German republic, stripped Germany of her last vestige of honor, self-respect and dignity in the eyes of the rest of the world,” Rabbi Lissauer said.

“In Germany today, the whole power of the country is in the hands of a small group of people…Hitler has set about crushing out all minority factions excepting the Catholics, whom he has striven to ingratiate. His interest has centered on the Jews. The German people under his leadership have turned like wolves against the Jews who have lived and labored in Germany for 900 years and are an integral part of Germany. You have only to read the press of the nations of the world to see what atrocities have been committed against the Jews.

“It would be impossible to achieve the Hitler ideal, a race 100 percent German without amending theology to divest it of the very essence of Christianity. The only true racial fact is that each individual is one in a family among the other families of the world, and that each person must strive to raise the standard of human excellency among men.”

Under Hitler, Germany quit the League of Nations.

Albert Einstein, who was Jewish, moved to the United States to flee persecution and to accept a position at Princeton University.

Fascism at Home

Fascism wasn’t confined to Europe. In America, a fascist group called the Khaki Shirts was led by a man named Art. J. Smith.

“We are a group of citizens who are fed up and disgusted,” Smith said. “We are an American Fascist organization. We are going to put a dictator over the United States. But we are not for revolution. We have 6,000,000 men now and we will have 10,000,000 by July. Our organization started only 13 months ago in California–and look at us now.”

In reality, the Khaki Shirts had less than 25,000 members.

When asked why the Khaki Shirts carried clubs and gas pipes, Smith responded, “For protection against Communists.”

Labor vs. Capital

Throughout the 1930s, many labor strikes occurred.

Mrs. Reba Crawford Splivalo, state director of social welfare, told an audience of around 300 in the high school auditorium: “I see in the sky the signs of rebellion. I am not crying ‘wolf, wolf.’ I am giving a warning. If the present economic situation is to survive the needs of the underprivileged must be met. Capital and labor must find a common meeting ground.”

Local Politics

In local political news, many citizens were outraged when a City Council majority dismissed judge Halsey Spence, without initially giving a reason. Citizens get together a petition with over 1,600 names calling for the reinstatement of the apparently popular judge. At first, the council majority dismissed the petition. It was only after the threat of a recall against the council majority that they started to listen.

Crime

In crime news, a spate of kidnapping of wealthy people and holding them for ransom spread throughout the United States.

There was at least one attempted assassination of President Roosevelt.

There were railroad robberies.

A group of Filipino farm workers couldn’t pay for their food at a rooming house. A fight ensued, and one of the laborers stabbed the owner of the boarding house.

“Fullerton police halted a miniature Philippine insurrection and incipient race riot shortly before noon today with the arrest of S. Sonico, 30, charged with suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on Nesario Daza, 35, Mexican, who with his wife operates a lodging house on E. Truslow ave,” the Tribune reported. “More than 15 Filipino laborers were rounded up in the investigation, but only Sonico was held by police, although officers were drawn into the argument between friends of Daza and one group of Filipinos in regard to their proposed departure for Bakersfield with an unpaid board bill.”

Unfortunately, lynching of African Americans was still a relatively common occurrence in 1933.

Sports

In sports news, Fullertonian Arky Vaughn was making waves in the Major Leagues.

There was a local baseball league which played games at what is now Amerige Park. The teams seem to have been somewhat segregated.

Fullerton had a swimming pool at the northwest corner of Malden and Wilshire, which is now an apartment complex.

Deaths

A number of local pioneers passed away in 1933.

“Peter A. Schumacher, 90, pioneer resident of Fullerton, was found dead in his apartment at 214 ½ N. Spadra road this morning by his widow, Mrs. Julia L. Schumacher. He was believed to have committed suicide because of ill health, although no statement was left by the aged man. Returning from a brief shopping tour, the widow found her husband in their apartment bedroom, where he had hanged himself,” the Tribune reported.

Born in Germany May 21, 1843, Schumacher came to America with his parents in 1857. He fought for the Union Army in the Civil War, during which he was wounded.

In 1887, the year Fullerton was founded, he opened the Orange County nursery in town. He later entered into the real estate and insurance business. He built a notable building on the 200 block of N. Harbor, where he lived and died.

His son Roy Schumacher was the first child to be born in Fullerton.

In a nice tribute, the Tribune stated: “Pete” Schumacher was almost an institution in Fullerton. For almost half a century his name and person have been known to the men, women, and children of the community. In later years his cane and basket were familiar features of the downtown scene. His presence on the city streets, talking and visiting, was an established part of the local picture. To have him disappear from the daily round is like having an accustomed landmark taken from our view.”

William Thomas Brown, 81, a resident of Fullerton since 1899 died at his home at 111 S. Pomona ave. For 34 years he was active in the civic and fraternal life of Fullerton and was head of the Brown and Dauser lumber company, which was the successor to the Grimshaw Lumber company.

Thomas Eadington, 47, president of the Fullerton chamber of commerce and prominent citrus packer and shipper, died of a heart attack.

A native of Lancaster, England, Eadington came to the United States in 1911. After working for the Benchley Fruit company, he established the Eadington Fruit company in 1921, operating his own packing houses.

Stay tuned for top stories from 1934!