John C. Packard

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John C. Packard
Packard c. 1940
Chairman of the California
Industrial Welfare Commission
In office
November 15, 1940 – August 27, 1947
Preceded byArchibald Young
Succeeded byMae Carvell
Member of the California
Industrial Welfare Commission
In office
February 24, 1939 – August 27, 1947
Appointed byCulbert Olson
Earl Warren
Preceded byC. C. Craig
Succeeded byDaniel E. Koshland Sr.
Personal details
Born(1892-11-01)November 1, 1892
Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJuly 28, 1956(1956-07-28) (aged 63)
Monrovia, California, U.S.
PartySocialist (before 1934)
Democratic (after 1934)
Spouse
Rose Marie Hutchinson
​
​
(m. 1919)​
Children
  • John Jr.
  • Virginia
University of Southern California School of Law
OccupationAttorney, politician
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Battles/warsWorld War I

John Cooper Packard[1] (November 1, 1892 – July 28, 1956)[2] was an American attorney and politician who served on the California Industrial Welfare Commission from 1939[3] to 1947,[4] and as its chairman from 1940[5] to 1947.[6] He was for many years an attorney for Upton Sinclair,[7] and during the 1934 California gubernatorial election was part of the "inner circle of the EPIC campaign."[8]

Career

Attorneys John C. Packard (center) and James M. Carter (left) with miner John Langan (right) in Los Angeles, 1936

Packard entered politics as a Socialist; he was the party's candidate for State Assembly in the 67th district in 1914, coming in fourth place with 8.5% of the vote.[9] In 1924, he was an unsuccessful candidate for presidential elector, pledged to Senator Robert M. La Follette.[10] He was a delegate to the 17th National Convention of the Socialist Party in 1932,[11] during which he was elected to its National Executive Committee.[12] He was a member of the Party's Old Guard faction.[13]

Packard was acquainted with Upton Sinclair as early as 1916, when the latter spoke at a Intercollegiate Socialist Society symposium hosted at the Packard home.[14] The next year, the two men co-founded the Workers' Co-operative Association of Pasadena, with Packard as president and Sinclair as vice president.[15] When Sinclair was arrested for reciting the Bill of Rights during the 1923 San Pedro maritime strike, Packard acted as one of his attorneys.[16]

In 1933, Packard was approached by Sinclair to help him draft a political program for the 1934 gubernatorial election that would become the End Poverty in California plan.[17] After Sinclair won the Democratic primary, Packard resigned from the National Executive Committee and left the Socialist Party to become a New Dealer.[18] During the campaign, Packard secured a writ of prohibition from the California Supreme Court preventing the disenfranchisement of thousands of new Democratic voters.[2]

Although Sinclair ultimately lost the election, Packard remained active in the Democratic Party. He was a candidate for Congress in 1936, but lost the Democratic primary to incumbent John S. McGroarty by a margin of 58% to 29%.[19] Packard was later a delegate to the 1936 and 1940 Democratic National Conventions,[2] and during the 1940 presidential election was chairman of the Roosevelt/Wallace campaign in Southern California.[20]

References

  1. "Former Democratic Party Leader Dies". Venice Vanguard. Venice. July 30, 1956. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  2. Thurman, V. E. (1940). Who's Who in the New Deal (California ed.). Los Angeles: New Deal Historical Society. p. 29. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  3. "Olson Appoints Packard to Board". San Pedro News-Pilot. San Pedro. February 24, 1939. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  4. "S.F. Man Named to Welfare Commission". Oakland Tribune. Oakland. August 27, 1947. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  5. "L.A. Attorney Name Welfare Chairman". The San Bernardino Sun. San Bernardino. November 16, 1940. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  6. "65 cents an hour wage base okehed for women, minors". Los Angeles Daily News. Los Angeles. February 10, 1947. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  7. "Upton Sinclair in L.A. prison". Los Angeles Express. Los Angeles. May 16, 1923. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  8. Mitchell, Greg (1992). The Campaign of the Century. New York: Random House. p. 181.
  9. Jordan, Frank C. (1914). Statement of Vote at General Election held on November 3, 1914 in the State of California. Sacramento: California State Printing Office. p. 36. Retrieved May 13, 2025. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  10. Jordan, Frank C. (1924). Statement of Vote at General Election held on November 4, 1924 in the State of California. Sacramento: California State Printing Office. p. 9. Retrieved May 13, 2025. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  11. "Delegates and Alternates to the 17th National Convention of the Socialist Party of America". marxists.org. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  12. "The Newly Elected National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party". The New Leader. New York. May 28, 1932. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  13. Johnpoll, Bernard K. (1970). Pacifist's progress; Norman Thomas and the decline of American Socialism. Chicago: Quadrangle Books. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-8129-0152-8. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  14. "Symposium with notables as speakers". Pasadena Star-News. Pasadena. July 24, 1916. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  15. "Pasadena co-operatives hit H.C.L." Los Angeles Evening Record. Los Angeles. March 14, 1917. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  16. Kimbrough, Hunter (June 9, 1923). "'Cut Out That Constitution Stuff'". Haldeman-Julius Weekly. Girard. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  17. Sinclair, Upton (1933). I, Governor of California, And How I Ended Poverty. Hammond: W. B. Conkey Co. p. 21. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  18. "Packard Quits as a Socialist". The Daily Report. Ontario. August 31, 1934. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  19. California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote at Primary Election held on August 25, 1936 in the State of California. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. p. 6. Retrieved May 13, 2025. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  20. "John C. Packard, Former Political Chieftain, Dies". Valley Times. North Hollywood. July 30, 1956. Retrieved May 13, 2025.