Norman O. Houston, Joe Louis, Charles Matthews, and Fred Roberts, Los Angeles, 1940s

Item Overview

Title

Norman O. Houston, Joe Louis, Charles Matthews, and Fred Roberts, Los Angeles, 1940s

Date Created

[1940s?]

Date

1940/1949

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

Walter L. Gordon, Jr./William C. Beverly, Jr. Collection

Notes

Summary

Charles Hearde Matthews, Sr. graduated with honors from the Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley in 1930, entered the Los Angeles district attorney's office. Matthews was twice denied admission to the Bar Association, at a time when the Association excluded African Americans. (The Bar Association eliminated racial barriers in 1950.) He eventually rose to a key position in charge of the Master Calendar Department of the Superior Court. During this period, Matthews also served as a member of the Los Angeles City Police Commission. He returned to private practice in 1945. Among the many boards and civic organizations on which Matthews served were those of the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA, the Los Angeles Chapter of the NAACP, the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance company, and the Liberty Savings and Loan Association.
Norman O. Houston helped William Nickerson, Jr. to found the Golden State Mutual Life Insruance Company in1925, and became president in 1945. At one point, Golden State Mutual Life Insurance was the largest black-owned business west of the Mississippi. He expanded the activities of the company over the next 25 years. In 1970 his two sons, Norman B. Houston and Ivan J. Houston, took over active management of the company. He was also first African American to be appointed to the California State Athletic Commission and later served as chairman.
Joe Louis, known as the Brown Bomber, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949.
Frederick Roberts, the first African American elected to the California Assembly, represented a district that was 70% white from 1918–1934 when he was defeated by the New Dealer, a young man named Augustus Hawkins. The Roberts family owned a mortuary in which Frederick was employed; he was also the publisher of the New Age newspaper. The City of Los Angeles named a park after him.

Description

L to R: Norman O. Houston, Joe Louis, Charles Matthews, Fred Roberts.
All information concerning the content and description of the image was provided by Walter Gordon.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph : b&w

Keywords

Genre

Black-and-white photographs

Names

Louis, Joe, 1914-1981.
Roberts, Frederick Madison, 1879–1952
Matthews, Charles H. (Charles Hearde), 1906-1985
Houston, Norman O., 1893-1981

Location

California--Los Angeles

Resource type

still image

Subjects

People

African American boxers
African American businesspeople--California--Los Angeles
African American lawyers--California--Los Angeles