Parley P. Christensen
Encyclopedia
Parley Parker Christensen (1869–1954) was an American politician and nominee of the Farmer-Labor Party for President of the United States in 1920. He was member of the Utah House of Representatives and of the Los Angeles, California, City Council. He was also a city attorney and a county attorney in Utah and the chairman of the Illinois Progressive Party.
, the son of Peter and Sophia M. Christensen, both of Denmark. and he was taken to Newton, Utah
, when he was a child.
He graduated from the University of Utah Normal School
in 1890, then was a teacher and principal in Murray
and Grantsville
in that state. From 1892 to 1895 he was school superintendent in Toole County
. He then earned a bachelor of laws
degree from Cornell University
law school in New York, and returned to practice law in Salt Lake City.
After 1920 Christensen traveled in Europe and Russia, and met with Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin
; he wrote that he was impressed by Lenin's approachability and his command of the English language.
He was also an early active Esperantist
, and in 1920-22 travelled around the world using the language. He was the vice president of the Esperantista Asocio de Norda Ameriko 1931-32, and taught Esperanto in Los Angeles and Pasadena
.
In 1923
he was living in Chicago, and in 1926 he moved to California, where he became a Los Angeles City Council
member in 1935.
Christensen was known for being very large, over six feet four inches and weighing 287 pounds. He was notable for wearing an array of all-white linen suits. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
. He was a Unitarian
. In 1937 he was a registered Democrat.
He later moved to 1140 North California Street in Burbank
. Christensen died in Los Angeles on February 10, 1954, at the age of 84, after "an illness of some months," leaving two sisters, Elenora Lamimam and Esther Conholm. Cremation
and inurnment
was at Chapel of the Pines
.
Christensen was city attorney of Grantsville
, where he became active in Republican
politics. In 1895 he was secretary of the Utah State Constitutional Convention, which opened in 1895, until he was elected Salt Lake County Attorney
in 1900, "one of the youngest people to ever hold that office."
Between 1900 and 1904 Christensen was a Republican state officer, including party chairman. In 1902 he was defeated for renomination as county attorney but was elected again to that office in 1904. Christensen unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Congress In 1906, 1908 and 1910, against incumbent Joseph Howell
.
In 1906 he was cited to appear before a district court judge to show why he he had not approved the issuance of a warrant for the arrest of Joseph F. Smith
, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
, "on a charge of sustaining unlawful relations with one of his five wives."
He was a member of the Utah House of Representatives from 1910 to 1912. In the latter year, Christensen joined Theodore Roosevelt
's Progressive Party
and ran as the Progressive candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. He lost, but two years later he was elected to that office as a Progressive; he served one term, "supporting a number of reforms."
Between 1915
and 1920
Christensen became "increasingly involved with various left-wing and labor groups" in Utah. He helped organize the Utah Labor Party in 1919
; and he "defended several radicals incarcerated at Fort Douglas, Utah, charged with opposition to American involvement in World War I." He was president of the Popular Government League
, organized in 1916, which argued for adopting the initiative and referendum
in Utah.
and the progressive Committee of Forty-Eight, whose leaders hoped to merge and to nominate a presidential ticket. The Farmer-Labor Party
was the result, with Christensen chosen as presidential nominee. In the election he had 265,411 votes in nineteen states.
and its unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Senator in 1926.
, with the Utopian Society and with "other leftist groups in the state."
Christensen had the endorsement of the End Poverty in California movement when he ran for Los Angeles City Council District 9 seat in 1935 and took it away from George W.C. Baker, the incumbent. He held it for two years, but did not run for reelection in 1937. Two years later, though, he was sent back to the council, and he held the post until 1949, when he was defeated by Ed Roybal
, the first Latino to be elected councilman since the 19th century. In the first part of his terms, the 9th District covered the core of Downtown Los Angeles
, but later it was shifted eastward to encompass an area with a heavy Hispanic population.
were able to block the allocation of $2,000 to deliver to Berlin, Germany, the flag that had flown over the 1932 Olympics
in Los Angeles. The two council members "assailed Hitler and Nazism and said their constituents did not want the city to spend public money" to send the Games flag to Germany.
1937: Christensen's vehement objection to including El Sereno, along Huntington Drive
, within his district under a new City Council redistricting
plan was overruled by the rest of the City Council. He said didn't have any objection to the region, only to the fact that the district lines were the same as Congressional boundaries in that area, and he believed the separate political jurisdictions should be "kept distinct."
1943: He accused Council Member G. Vernon Bennett
of having used a city automobile for an "unauthorized and illegal" trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1937 and on his return, "presenting the city with a bill for gasoline and oil." Bennett denied the charge.
1943. Christensen unsuccessfully opposed granting a permit to Seaboard Oil Company for slant oil drilling
under Elysian Park from a site near Riverside Drive
.
1943 He also fought for a December 1943 resolution honoring Bill of Rights
Week that would put the council on record as opposed to discrimination "against minority groups" and encouraging broadest "racial" unity. Other members of the council objected to those two terms, and, after a two-hour debate, they were eventually deleted and the motion was adopted, 10-5, in opposition to any form of discrimination and in favor of general unity and tolerance.
Biography
Christensen was born on July 19, 1869, in Weston, IdahoWeston, Idaho
Weston is a city in Franklin County, Idaho, United States. The population was 425 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Logan, Utah-Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, the son of Peter and Sophia M. Christensen, both of Denmark. and he was taken to Newton, Utah
Newton, Utah
Newton is a town in Cache County, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1869 by LDS Pioneers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The population was 789 at the 2010 census...
, when he was a child.
Mr. Christensen as a boy pioneered with his parents in Idaho and Utah[,] where his father drove wagons of freight from the railway terminus in Utah up cross country into Idaho, Montana, and the Dakotas. This background gave Mr. Christensen an insight into the struggle of those who labor and those who wrest their living from the soil.
He graduated from the University of Utah Normal School
Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University, or SUU, is located in Cedar City, Utah. It was founded in 1897 as an extension of the Agricultural College of Utah, by the citizens of Cedar City.During its history, the school has been known as:...
in 1890, then was a teacher and principal in Murray
Murray, Utah
Murray is a city situated on the Wasatch Front in the core of Salt Lake Valley in the U.S. state of Utah. Named for territorial governor Eli Murray, it is the state's fourteenth largest city. According to the 2010 census, Murray has approximately 46,746 residents.Murray is close to Salt Lake City,...
and Grantsville
Grantsville, Utah
Grantsville is the second most populous city in Tooele County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,015 at the 2000 census. The city has grown slowly and steadily throughout most of its existence, but rapid increases in...
in that state. From 1892 to 1895 he was school superintendent in Toole County
Tooele County, Utah
Tooele County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of 2000, the population was 40,735 and by 2005 was estimated at 51,311. Its county seat and largest city is Tooele....
. He then earned a bachelor of laws
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
degree from Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
law school in New York, and returned to practice law in Salt Lake City.
After 1920 Christensen traveled in Europe and Russia, and met with Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
; he wrote that he was impressed by Lenin's approachability and his command of the English language.
He was also an early active Esperantist
Esperantist
An Esperantist is a person who speaks or uses Esperanto. Etymologically, an Esperantist is someone who hopes...
, and in 1920-22 travelled around the world using the language. He was the vice president of the Esperantista Asocio de Norda Ameriko 1931-32, and taught Esperanto in Los Angeles and Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
.
In 1923
1923 in the United States
-Incumbents:* President: Warren G. Harding until August 2, Calvin Coolidge * Vice President: Calvin Coolidge until August 2, vacant * Chief Justice: William Howard Taft * 68th United States Congress -Events:...
he was living in Chicago, and in 1926 he moved to California, where he became a Los Angeles City Council
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles.The Council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the Council at the first regular meeting after...
member in 1935.
Christensen was known for being very large, over six feet four inches and weighing 287 pounds. He was notable for wearing an array of all-white linen suits. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...
and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is an American fraternal order and social club founded in 1868...
. He was a Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
. In 1937 he was a registered Democrat.
He later moved to 1140 North California Street in Burbank
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
. Christensen died in Los Angeles on February 10, 1954, at the age of 84, after "an illness of some months," leaving two sisters, Elenora Lamimam and Esther Conholm. Cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
and inurnment
Columbarium
A columbarium is a place for the respectful and usually public storage of cinerary urns . The term comes from the Latin columba and originally referred to compartmentalized housing for doves and pigeons .The Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas is a particularly fine ancient Roman example, rich in...
was at Chapel of the Pines
Chapel of the Pines Crematory
Chapel of the Pines Crematory is a crematory and columbarium located at 1605 South Catalina Street Los Angeles, California, in the historic West Adams District a short distance southwest of Downtown...
.
Utah
In the late 1890s1890s
The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the "Mauve Decade" - because William Henry Perkin's aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion - and also as the "Gay Nineties", under the then-current usage of the word "gay" which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no...
Christensen was city attorney of Grantsville
Grantsville, Utah
Grantsville is the second most populous city in Tooele County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,015 at the 2000 census. The city has grown slowly and steadily throughout most of its existence, but rapid increases in...
, where he became active in 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...
politics. In 1895 he was secretary of the Utah State Constitutional Convention, which opened in 1895, until he was elected Salt Lake County Attorney
County attorney
A county attorney in many areas of the United States is the chief legal officer for a county or local judicial district. It is usually an elected position...
in 1900, "one of the youngest people to ever hold that office."
Between 1900 and 1904 Christensen was a Republican state officer, including party chairman. In 1902 he was defeated for renomination as county attorney but was elected again to that office in 1904. Christensen unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Congress In 1906, 1908 and 1910, against incumbent Joseph Howell
Joseph Howell
Joseph Howell was a U.S. Representative from Utah.Born in Brigham City, Utah Territory, Howell moved with his parents to Wellsville, Utah, in 1863....
.
In 1906 he was cited to appear before a district court judge to show why he he had not approved the issuance of a warrant for the arrest of Joseph F. Smith
Joseph F. Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traces its current dispensation beginnings to Joseph Smith, Jr. on April 6, 1830 in Western New York. Initial converts were drawn to the church in part because of the newly published Book of Mormon, a self-described chronicle of indigenous American...
, "on a charge of sustaining unlawful relations with one of his five wives."
It was commonly understood that there would be no prosecution of the Mormon president, by direction of the city attorney. Christensen charged that the filing of the complaint was an attempt on the part of the anti-Mormons to embarrass him in his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Congressman. Christensen was defeated in yesterday's convention by Congressman Howell.
He was a member of the Utah House of Representatives from 1910 to 1912. In the latter year, Christensen joined Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
's Progressive Party
Progressive Party (United States, 1912)
The Progressive Party of 1912 was an American political party. It was formed after a split in the Republican Party between President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt....
and ran as the Progressive candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. He lost, but two years later he was elected to that office as a Progressive; he served one term, "supporting a number of reforms."
Between 1915
1915 in the United States
-January–March:* January – While working as a cook at New York's Sloan Hospital under an assumed name, Typhoid Mary infects 25 people, and is placed in quarantine for life....
and 1920
1920 in the United States
-January:* January 2 – The second of the Palmer Raids takes place with another 4,000 suspected communists and anarchists arrested and held without trial. These raids take place in several U.S. cities....
Christensen became "increasingly involved with various left-wing and labor groups" in Utah. He helped organize the Utah Labor Party in 1919
1919 in the United States
-January: * January 1 – Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company.*January 6 – Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, dies in his sleep at the age of 60....
; and he "defended several radicals incarcerated at Fort Douglas, Utah, charged with opposition to American involvement in World War I." He was president of the Popular Government League
Judson King
Judson King was a lecturer, writer, and political consultant. He was director of the National Popular Government League during the period 1933-58.-Biography:...
, organized in 1916, which argued for adopting the initiative and referendum
Initiative and referendum
In the politics of the United States, initiative and referendum is a process that allows citizens of many U.S. states to place new legislation on a popular ballot, or place laws recently passed by the legislature on the ballot, and vote on it....
in Utah.
Presidential campaign
In June 1920 Christensen was a delegate to the Chicago joint conventions of the National Labor PartyNational Labor Party
The National Labor Party was the name used by the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes for himself and his followers after he was expelled from the Australian Labor Party in November 1916 over his pro-conscription stance in relation to World War I...
and the progressive Committee of Forty-Eight, whose leaders hoped to merge and to nominate a presidential ticket. The Farmer-Labor Party
Farmer-Labor Party
The first modern Farmer–Labor Party in the United States emerged in Minnesota in 1918. Economic dislocation caused by American entry into World War I put agricultural prices and workers' wages into imbalance with rapidly escalating retail prices during the war years, and farmers and workers sought...
was the result, with Christensen chosen as presidential nominee. In the election he had 265,411 votes in nineteen states.
Illinois
He remained in Chicago after the convention and became chairman of the Illinois Progressive PartyProgressive Party (United States, 1924)
The Progressive Party of 1924 was a new party created as a vehicle for Robert M. La Follette, Sr. to run for president in the 1924 election. It did not run candidates for other offices, and it disappeared after the election except in Wisconsin. Its name resembles the 1912 Progressive Party, which...
and its unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Senator in 1926.
Los Angeles
In the early 1930s Christensen moved to California, where he joined with the End Poverty in California crusade of Upton SinclairUpton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
, with the Utopian Society and with "other leftist groups in the state."
Elections
See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returns, 1935–1949Christensen had the endorsement of the End Poverty in California movement when he ran for Los Angeles City Council District 9 seat in 1935 and took it away from George W.C. Baker, the incumbent. He held it for two years, but did not run for reelection in 1937. Two years later, though, he was sent back to the council, and he held the post until 1949, when he was defeated by Ed Roybal
Edward R. Roybal
Edward Ross "Ed" Roybal was a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council for thirteen years and of the U.S. House of Representatives for thirty years.-Biography:...
, the first Latino to be elected councilman since the 19th century. In the first part of his terms, the 9th District covered the core of Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
, but later it was shifted eastward to encompass an area with a heavy Hispanic population.
Controversies
1936: Christensen and Councilman James M. HydeJames M. Hyde
James M. Hyde was a metallurgist who was noted for inventing a process that revolutionized the American mining industry. He was also a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from 1931 to 1939.-Biography:...
were able to block the allocation of $2,000 to deliver to Berlin, Germany, the flag that had flown over the 1932 Olympics
1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was a major world wide multi-athletic event which was celebrated in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, many nations...
in Los Angeles. The two council members "assailed Hitler and Nazism and said their constituents did not want the city to spend public money" to send the Games flag to Germany.
1937: Christensen's vehement objection to including El Sereno, along Huntington Drive
Huntington Drive
Huntington Drive is a major east–west street in Southern California. It runs from the merge of Soto Street and Mission Road near the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Los Angeles east through the El Sereno section of Los Angeles, South Pasadena, San Marino, Alhambra, San Gabriel, Arcadia,...
, within his district under a new City Council redistricting
Redistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...
plan was overruled by the rest of the City Council. He said didn't have any objection to the region, only to the fact that the district lines were the same as Congressional boundaries in that area, and he believed the separate political jurisdictions should be "kept distinct."
1943: He accused Council Member G. Vernon Bennett
G. Vernon Bennett
Guy Vernon Bennett , also known as G. Vernon Bennett, was superintendent of schools in Pomona, California; a professor of education at the University of Southern California, and a Los Angeles city councilman from the 10th District from 1935 to 1951...
of having used a city automobile for an "unauthorized and illegal" trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1937 and on his return, "presenting the city with a bill for gasoline and oil." Bennett denied the charge.
1943. Christensen unsuccessfully opposed granting a permit to Seaboard Oil Company for slant oil drilling
Directional drilling
Directional drilling is the practice of drilling non-vertical wells. It can be broken down into three main groups: Oilfield Directional Drilling, Utility Installation Directional Drilling Directional drilling (or slant drilling) is the practice of drilling non-vertical wells. It can be broken down...
under Elysian Park from a site near Riverside Drive
Riverside Drive (Los Angeles, California)
Riverside Drive is a northeast-southwest road connecting the San Fernando Valley and Downtown Los Angeles, California. It follows the course of the Los Angeles River.-Overview:...
.
1943 He also fought for a December 1943 resolution honoring Bill of Rights
United States Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and...
Week that would put the council on record as opposed to discrimination "against minority groups" and encouraging broadest "racial" unity. Other members of the council objected to those two terms, and, after a two-hour debate, they were eventually deleted and the motion was adopted, 10-5, in opposition to any form of discrimination and in favor of general unity and tolerance.