Joseph E. Hollingsworth (August 25, 1908 – November 12, 1975) was an American politician was appointed in 1961 to replace

Charles Navarro Charles Navarro Guarino (January 19, 1904 – September 7, 2005) was an American politician. He was a Los Angeles City Council member between 1951 and 1961 and city controller from 1961 to 1977. Biography Navarro was born in New York City to Ita ...

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

member for the racially mixed 10th district. He served for two years until he was ousted by retired policeman and future mayor Tom Bradley. He was the last Caucasian council member from that district.

Biography

Hollingsworth, born on August 25, 1908, was the son of Anna Hollingsworth Bostic, who immigrated from Germany. A native of Los Angeles, he lived with his family at 5483 Village Green and was "active in youth work"; in 1961 he was a construction supervisor for the Baldwin Hills Company, developer of Baldwin Hills Estates."Councilman Selected for 10th District," ''Los Angeles Times,'' August 25, 1961, page 1
/ref> His wife was Alice and his children were Joe Jr. and Alison. In 1969 he was named a vice president of Los Angeles Federal Savings. He was a veteran of World War II and co-founded Baldwin Hills Post 706 of the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

. He co-founded the Southern California

Pop Warner Football Pop Warner Little Scholars, commonly known simply as Pop Warner, is a nonprofit organization that provides activities such as American football, for over 425,000 youths aged 5 to 16 years old, in several nations. It is the largest youth football ...

Federation. Hollingsworth died November 12, 1975; funeral services were held in

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...

on November 15."Former L.A. Councilman Joseph Hollingsworth Dies," ''Los Angeles Times,'' November 16, 1975, page A-2
/ref>

Political career

In June 1961 Hollingsworth and 10 other people applied for the 10th District councilmanic position left vacant by the election of the incumbent,

, as city controller."12 Apply for Navarro City Council Seat," ''Los Angeles Times,'' June 6, 1961, page 21
/ref> Eventually there were more than 30 candidates."Hollingsworth Ends Short Council Career," ''Los Angeles Times,'' April 13, 1963, page B-2
/ref>"Opposition to Negro Voiced," ''Los Angeles Times,'' July 28, 1961, page B-3
/ref> Although Mayor

Sam Yorty Samuel William Yorty (October 1, 1909 – June 5, 1998) was an American politician, attorney, and radio host from Los Angeles, California. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the California State Assembly, ...

had favored appointment of a

Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

in the district, a council committee unanimously recommended 52-year-old Hollingsworth, a

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Common meanings *Anything from the Caucasus region or related to it ** Ethnic groups in the Caucasus ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus re ...

, and the City Council followed suit on August 25, 1961, by a vote of 8 to 6, "after a stormy 2-1/2-hour council session.""New Councilman," ''Los Angeles Times,'' August 26, 1961
/ref> One of his first acts was to appoint Cage S. Johnson, 49, a "restaurant service supervisor and part-time television actor," as the "first Negro to serve as field secretary to a City Council member," but nevertheless a

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (baseball), a baseball term * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ReCALL (journal), ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted langua ...

drive was organized at a community meeting, with H. H. Brookins named as chair. Brookins said that 16 applicants for city councilman were Negroes and that the council, by appointing Hollingsworth, "had dealt the Negro community a fast

shuffle Shuffling is a technique used to randomize a deck of playing cards, introducing an element of chance into card games. Various shuffling methods exist, each with its own characteristics and potential for manipulation. One of the simplest shuff ...

." The recall petitions were rejected by a court "because they failed to list the voter registration number and the date of registration of the persons who circulated them." At the next election, in April 1963, there were only two candidates, Hollingsworth and Tom Bradley, and also two elections — one for the unexpired term left by Controller Navarro, ending June 30, and one for a full four-year term starting July 1. Bradley won by 17,760 votes to 10,540 in the first election and by 17,552 votes to 10,400 in the second."Complete Returns," ''Los Angeles Times,'' April 4, 1963, page 2
/ref> Hollingsworth's last day in office was April 12, 1963. He was the last Caucasian council member from the 10th District.

References

Access to the ''Los Angeles Times'' links may require the use of a library card. ---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Hollingsworth, Joe E. Los Angeles City Council members 1975 deaths 1908 births 20th-century California politicians