Parley Parker Christensen (July 19, 1869 – February 10, 1954) was an American attorney and politician who was a Utah state representative, a

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro temp ...

member, and the

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 price ...

's presidential nominee during the 1920 presidential election. He was a member of several third parties and chairman of the Illinois Progressive party.

Early life

Christensen was born on July 19, 1869, in

Weston, Idaho Weston is a city in Franklin County, Idaho, United States. The population was 437 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Logan, Utah-Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was first settled in 1865. The community was so named on account of it ...

, to Peter and Sophia M. Christensen and was taken by them to Newton, Utah. In 1890 he graduated from the University of Utah Normal School and

University of Deseret The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of ...

, then became a teacher and principal in

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

and

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 12,617 at the 2020 census. The city has grown slowly and steadily throug ...

. In 1897, he graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

Law School and practiced law in Salt Lake City.

Early political career

From 1892 to 1895, he was superintendent of schools in

Tooele County, Utah Tooele County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 58,218. Its county seat and largest city is Tooele. The county was created in 1850 and organized the following year. Tooele Co ...

. In 1895 he was secretary of the Utah constitutional convention that drafted a state constitution for submission to Congress. In the late 1890s he was city attorney of Grantsville. Between 1900 and 1904 Christensen was a Republican state officer, including party chairman. In 1902 he was defeated for renomination as county attorney, but in 1904, he was elected again to that office. Christensen unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Congress in 1906, 1908, and 1910 against incumbent Joseph Howell. From 1901 to 1906 he was prosecuting attorney for Salt Lake County. In 1906 he was cited to appear before a district court judge to show why he had not approved the issuance of a warrant for the arrest of

Joseph F. Smith Joseph Fielding Smith Sr. (November 13, 1838 – November 19, 1918) was an American religious leader who served as the sixth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was the nephew of Joseph Smith, the founde ...

, president of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

, "on a charge of sustaining unlawful relations with one of his five wives. From 1910 to 1912 he was a member of the

Utah House of Representatives The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district conta ...

as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. In the latter year, Christensen joined

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

and ran as the Progressive candidate for the Utah House of Representatives. He lost, but two years later he was elected to that office as a Progressive; he served one term. He supported 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, 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 Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are represe ...

in Utah.

Presidential campaign

In June 1920, Christensen was a delegate to the Chicago joint conventions of the Labor Party of the United States 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 as presidential nominee. He campaigned for nationalization of railroads and utilities, an eight-hour working day, a federal Department of Education, and an end to the

Espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tang ...

and Sedition Acts. In the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

, he received 265,411 votes in nineteen states. Christensen did the best in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

, where he came close to out-polling the Democratic candidate,

James M. Cox James Middleton Cox (March 31, 1870 July 15, 1957) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th and 48th governor of Ohio, and a two-term U.S. Representative from Ohio. As the Democratic nominee for President of the United ...

Later life

He remained in Chicago after the convention and became chairman of the Illinois

and its unsuccessful candidate for US Senator in 1926. In 1921 Christensen moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, where he was elected to the city council in 1935. He joined the

End Poverty in California End Poverty in California (EPIC) was a political campaign started in 1934 by socialist writer Upton Sinclair (best known as author of ''The Jungle''). The movement formed the basis for Sinclair's campaign for Governor of California in 1934. The p ...

crusade of

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in sever ...

and the Utopian Society. Christensen had the endorsement of the End Poverty in California movement when he won Los Angeles City Council District 9 seat in 1935 from the incumbent, George W. C. Baker. He held the seat for two years but did not run for re-election in 1937. Two years later, however, he was sent back to the council and held the post until 1949, when he was defeated by Edward R. Roybal. 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 heavily Hispanic population.

Death

Christensen died at age 84 on February 9, 1954, in Queen of Angels Hospital, Los Angeles.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, Parley Parker 1869 births Candidates in the 1920 United States presidential election 1954 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians American Esperantists American people of Danish descent School superintendents in Utah American Unitarians Burials at Chapel of the Pines Crematory California Democrats California Progressives (1924) Cornell Law School alumni District attorneys in Utah Illinois Farmer–Laborites Illinois Progressives (1924) Los Angeles City Council members Members of the Utah House of Representatives People from Cache County, Utah People from Franklin County, Idaho Utah Farmer–Laborites Utah Progressives (1912) Utah Republicans University of Utah alumni Members of the Odd Fellows