William Byron Rumford
William Byron Rumford, (1908 - 1986) was an African American politician active in Northern California.
Known as Byron by his friends he was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, holding a degree in pharmacology. He became the first African American elected to any public office in Northern California:
- "Rumford took the leap in 1948 from the pharmacy he owned on Sacramento Street in Berkeley to Sacramento itself, where he was best known for authoring two state legislative landmarks: the Fair Employment Practices Act of 1959; and the Fair Housing Act of 1963"[1]
This law became the principle legal weapon against housing discrimination until passage of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1968. During Rumford's eighteen year stint in the Legislature (1948 - 1966), his Berkeley pharmacy became an informal headquarters for other emerging politicians, including the future Oakland mayor, Lionel Wilson and California Supreme Court Justice Allen Broussard. In 1966 Rumford ran for state Senate, losing in an extremely close race. This was the first occasion votes were counted using computers. Errors in the new system may have cost him the election.
In 1980, the Grove-Shafter Freeway (from the Caldecott Tunnel to MacArthur Freeway) was renamed in Rumford's honor. In 1997 the Rumford Postal Station was dedicated to him, part of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building.
- "Rumford was to politics what Jackie Robinson was to baseball."
External Reference
- Historic black politician is honored throughout Oakland accessed 22 April 2007