Julius Meier
Encyclopedia
Julius L. Meier was an American businessman and politician in the state of Oregon
. The son of the Meier & Frank
department store founder, he would become a lawyer before entering the family business in Portland
. Politically an independent
, Meier served a single term as the 20th Governor of Oregon
from 1931–1935.
Meier is the only independent to be elected Governor of Oregon, and one of only eight to be elected as governor of any U.S. state.
, Meier & Frank
, and Jeannette (Hirsch) Meier. He had three siblings, and was the father of Jean Ellen Meier Ehrman Reichert, Elsa Frances Meier Ganz, and Julius L. (Jack) Meier, Jr. He married Grace Mayer on Christmas Day, 1901, saying afterwards that it was the only day that he was allowed off from the store.
Meier graduated from the University of Oregon School of Law
in 1895 and practiced law with a partner, George W. Joseph
for the next four years, until he went into the family's business. According to family tradition, it was at this time that he added the "L" to his name; the sign painter, who was putting his name on the door, insisted that all lawyers of substance had one and Meier suggested an "L".
An important accomplishment was his leading the Columbia River Highway Association, the citizen committee creating political support for building the Columbia River Highway, first west from Portland to Astoria (1912–1915) and later east from Portland to The Dalles (1913–1922). His daughter, Jean, would later recall that he walked or crawled every inch of the highway's projected roadway.
In the 1930 gubernatorial election
, George W. Joseph—who had been disbarred during an extensive dispute with the Oregon Supreme Court
over the will and estate of E. Henry Wemme
—won the Republican
nomination for Governor of Oregon
, but died shortly after. The Republican Party
selected Phil Metschan, Jr., son of a former Oregon state treasurer, as a replacement nominee. In contrast to a core element of Joseph's platform, Metschan opposed public development of hydroelectric power
along the Columbia River
.
At first reticent, due to his wealth and religion, Meier agreed to enter the race as an independent candidate, adopting Joseph's platform. In spite of opposition to his candidacy by The Oregonian
(the state's largest newspaper), he won 54.5 percent of the total vote, outdistancing his nearest competitor, Democratic candidate Edward F. Bailey, 135,608 votes to 62,434. Meier's overwhelming victory was viewed as a reflection of strong public support for public hydropower development.
Meier served for one term (1931–1935), declining to run for a second term for reasons of health. Among his accomplishments were establishing the Oregon Liquor Control Commission
(after Prohibition ended), founding the Oregon State Police
, helping create a State Board of Agriculture and State Unemployment Commission, pressing for the adoption of a non-partisan judicial system, and using his business acumen to help the state navigate the financial tribulations of the Great Depression
. Efforts to establish a sales tax
and public power were not immediately successful, though Federal legislation was passed in 1933 authorizing the public development of the Bonneville
and Grand Coulee
dams.
, where he died in 1937. He is buried at Beth Israel Cemetery in Portland.
Julius Meier's official portrait escaped the fire which damaged the state capitol in 1935, as his successor Charles H. Martin had not allowed it to be displayed, and transferred it instead to Meier & Frank, from whose vaults it was recovered by the Oregon Secretary of State 50 years later. Another version of the story holds that the architect of the 1938 capitol did not want portraits hanging on the marble walls, and banished Meier's to the "Store".
His family sold Menucha in 1950 to the First Presbyterian Church of Portland
, which now operates it as a conference and retreat center. The Meier and Frank families sold the department store to the May Company
in 1966. With May's sale to Federated in 2005, the store was renamed "Macy's" in September 2006.
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. The son of the Meier & Frank
Meier & Frank
Meier & Frank was a chain of department stores founded in Portland, Oregon, and later bought out by the May Department Stores Company. Meier & Frank operated in the Pacific Northwest from 1857 to 2006.-History:Summary...
department store founder, he would become a lawyer before entering the family business in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. Politically an independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
, Meier served a single term as the 20th Governor of Oregon
Governor of Oregon
The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....
from 1931–1935.
Meier is the only independent to be elected Governor of Oregon, and one of only eight to be elected as governor of any U.S. state.
Early life
Meier was born in Portland to German immigrants of Jewish ancestry: Aaron, a merchant and founder of Oregon's largest department storeDepartment store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
, Meier & Frank
Meier & Frank
Meier & Frank was a chain of department stores founded in Portland, Oregon, and later bought out by the May Department Stores Company. Meier & Frank operated in the Pacific Northwest from 1857 to 2006.-History:Summary...
, and Jeannette (Hirsch) Meier. He had three siblings, and was the father of Jean Ellen Meier Ehrman Reichert, Elsa Frances Meier Ganz, and Julius L. (Jack) Meier, Jr. He married Grace Mayer on Christmas Day, 1901, saying afterwards that it was the only day that he was allowed off from the store.
Meier graduated from the University of Oregon School of Law
University of Oregon School of Law
The University of Oregon School of Law is a public law school in the U.S. state of Oregon. Housed in the Knight Law Center, it is Oregon's only state funded law school. The school, founded in 1884, is located on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, on the corner of 15th and Agate streets,...
in 1895 and practiced law with a partner, George W. Joseph
George W. Joseph
George W. P. Joseph was an attorney and Republican politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of California, his family relocated to Oregon when he was young. There he would practice law and serve in the Oregon State Senate....
for the next four years, until he went into the family's business. According to family tradition, it was at this time that he added the "L" to his name; the sign painter, who was putting his name on the door, insisted that all lawyers of substance had one and Meier suggested an "L".
Political career
Meier devoted 30 years to civic involvement before entering elective politics. A noted philanthropist, he also kept a high profile leading many good causes. During World War I, he headed Liberty Loan drives, served as regional director of the Council of National Defense, and after the war aided in the rehabilitation of France. He also headed the Oregon Commission of the Pan-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, and in 1922 attempted to bring a world's fair to Portland in 1925.An important accomplishment was his leading the Columbia River Highway Association, the citizen committee creating political support for building the Columbia River Highway, first west from Portland to Astoria (1912–1915) and later east from Portland to The Dalles (1913–1922). His daughter, Jean, would later recall that he walked or crawled every inch of the highway's projected roadway.
In the 1930 gubernatorial election
Oregon gubernatorial election, 1930
The 1930 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1930 to elect the governor of the U.S. state of Oregon. The Oregon Republican Party, at the time dominant in Oregon politics, initially nominated George W. Joseph, but the nominee died prior to the general election...
, George W. Joseph—who had been disbarred during an extensive dispute with the Oregon Supreme Court
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
over the will and estate of E. Henry Wemme
E. Henry Wemme
E. Henry Wemme was a wealthy businessman in Portland, in the U.S. state of Oregon. He was an active business investor during the pioneering era of automobiles and aviation....
—won the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
nomination for Governor of Oregon
Governor of Oregon
The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....
, but died shortly after. The Republican Party
Oregon Republican Party
The Oregon Republican Party is the state affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Oregon, headquartered in Lake Oswego. The first state party convention was held in Salem on April 21, 1859, and its first nominee for Congress, Portland attorney David Logan...
selected Phil Metschan, Jr., son of a former Oregon state treasurer, as a replacement nominee. In contrast to a core element of Joseph's platform, Metschan opposed public development of hydroelectric power
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
along the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
.
At first reticent, due to his wealth and religion, Meier agreed to enter the race as an independent candidate, adopting Joseph's platform. In spite of opposition to his candidacy by The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
(the state's largest newspaper), he won 54.5 percent of the total vote, outdistancing his nearest competitor, Democratic candidate Edward F. Bailey, 135,608 votes to 62,434. Meier's overwhelming victory was viewed as a reflection of strong public support for public hydropower development.
Meier served for one term (1931–1935), declining to run for a second term for reasons of health. Among his accomplishments were establishing the Oregon Liquor Control Commission
Oregon Liquor Control Commission
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is a government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon. The OLCC was created by an act of the Oregon Legislative Assembly in 1933, days after the repeal of prohibition, as a means of providing control over the distribution, sales and consumption of alcoholic...
(after Prohibition ended), founding the Oregon State Police
Oregon State Police
The Oregon State Police is the main state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of Oregon. They have been charged to enforce all of Oregon's criminal laws and to help local law enforcement agencies with their duties...
, helping create a State Board of Agriculture and State Unemployment Commission, pressing for the adoption of a non-partisan judicial system, and using his business acumen to help the state navigate the financial tribulations of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Efforts to establish a sales tax
Sales tax
A sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....
and public power were not immediately successful, though Federal legislation was passed in 1933 authorizing the public development of the Bonneville
Bonneville Dam
Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Oregon, in the Columbia River Gorge. The primary functions of...
and Grand Coulee
Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power plants. A third power station was completed in 1974 to increase its energy...
dams.
Later years
Time Magazine reported in 1937 that Meier had sunk most of his fortune into what it called his "pet financial hobby", the American National Bank of Portland, which was closed in June 1933 and its assets and liabilities acquired by First National Bank. After serving as governor he retired to "Menucha", his estate above the Columbia River in Corbett, OregonCorbett, Oregon
Corbett is an unincorporated community on the Columbia River in eastern Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. It is located on the Historic Columbia River Highway between the Sandy River and Crown Point....
, where he died in 1937. He is buried at Beth Israel Cemetery in Portland.
Julius Meier's official portrait escaped the fire which damaged the state capitol in 1935, as his successor Charles H. Martin had not allowed it to be displayed, and transferred it instead to Meier & Frank, from whose vaults it was recovered by the Oregon Secretary of State 50 years later. Another version of the story holds that the architect of the 1938 capitol did not want portraits hanging on the marble walls, and banished Meier's to the "Store".
His family sold Menucha in 1950 to the First Presbyterian Church of Portland
First Presbyterian Church (Portland, Oregon)
The First Presbyterian Church is a building located in downtown Portland, Oregon listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Construction began in 1886 and was completed in 1890. The building includes stained-glass windows made by Portland's Povey Brothers Studio....
, which now operates it as a conference and retreat center. The Meier and Frank families sold the department store to the May Company
May Company
May Company may refer to several American businesses:*The May Department Stores Company, a defunct retail company acquired by Federated Department Stores in 2006**May Company California, a defunct California department store that merged with J. W...
in 1966. With May's sale to Federated in 2005, the store was renamed "Macy's" in September 2006.