Henry Gaylord Wilshire (June 7, 1861 – September 7, 1927), known to his contemporaries by his middle name of "Gaylord", was an American

land developer Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing * Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpose ...

, publisher, and outspoken

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

. He is the

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

of Los Angeles'

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal ...

Biography

Early years

Henry Gaylord Wilshire was born June 7, 1861, in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. He moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1884. In 1895 he began developing stretching westward from

Westlake Park Westlake Park can mean: *Westlake Park (Seattle), a park in Seattle, Washington * MacArthur Park, formerly Westlake Park, in Los Angeles, California *Westlake Park (Houston) Westlake Park is a office complex located in the Energy Corridor, Housto ...

for an elite residential subdivision. He donated a strip of land to the city of Los Angeles for a boulevard through what was then a barley field, on the conditions that it would be named for him and that railroad lines and commercial or industrial trucking would be banned. In 1900, Wilshire was arrested for speaking in a public park in Los Angeles. A judge dismissed the charges, but the incident caused Wilshire to leave Los Angeles for New York.

Political career

Wilshire was a frequent and far-ranging political candidate. He stood as the Nationalist Party Congressional candidate for the 6th California District in 1890, as the candidate of the

Socialist Labor Party The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

for Attorney General in 1891, for the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

in 1894, for Congress in the California 6th District again in 1900, this time on the ticket of the Social Democratic Party of America, for the

Canadian Parliament The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

in 1902, and for Congress from New York in 1904. In 1909 Wilshire was a candidate for city council in Los Angeles as a part of the Socialist Party slate, which was backed at that time by the Los Angeles unions. By about 1911 Wilshire began to have his doubts about electoral politics, and shifted his allegiance to revolutionary syndicalism and advocacy of the general strike. He was the editor of the Syndicalist League's magazine ''The Syndicalist'' during 1913. During World War I Wilshire worked with

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...

in the Free Speech League in New York. In 1900, Wilshire launched the first of his publishing ventures in Los Angeles, a magazine called ''The Challenge.'' At least 40 issues of the publication were produced between December 1900 and October 1901. The name of this publication was subsequently changed to ''Wilshire's Monthly Magazine'' in 1901, before being shortened to ''Wilshire's Magazine'' (1902) and ''Wilshire's'' (1904),(7 March 1908)
Literary Notes
''Fourth Estate'', p. 15 (In 1908 Wilshire's absorbed the subscription list of the mail-order monthly '' Cheerful Moments'', which Wilshire had acquired in 1906) with publication variously in New York and Toronto. First a small-format magazine, later a tabloid newspaper, ''Wilshire's'' continued in production until February 1915.

Later life, death, and legacy

Wilshire eventually returned to Los Angeles and made his connection with the now famous boulevard that bore his name. He had no direct involvement with its gradual expansion in the years while he was absent from the region. Wilshire was also interested in the health industry. In 1925, he started marketing the

Ionaco The Ionaco (often stylized as I-on-a-co or I-ON-A-CO) was an electric belt developed by Gaylord Wilshire after his career in politics. It was advertised during the 1920s as a curing device but was dismissed by contemporary medical experts as quack ...

, an electric belt that could purportedly improve health. The belt gained popularity from its marketing, but was dismissed by medical health experts as

quackery Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, ...

. He died destitute on September 7, 1927 in New York. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in

The Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...

. Wilshire Drive in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, was named after him, as is Wilshire Avenue in Fullerton, California (where he first ran for Congress in 1890, the first congressional candidate in America from what became a socialist-oriented party).See the 2012 biography by Los Angeles City College teacher Louis Rosen: https://www.amazon.com/henry-gaylord-wilshire-millionaire-socialist/dp/1469982765/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382462782&sr=1-1

Footnotes

Works

Books and pamphlets

* ''Why American Workingmen Should Be Socialists.'' 1891. —Four page leaflet. * ''Free Trade vs. Protection.'' New York: Socialist League of America, 1892. * ''The Poor Farmer and Why He is Poor.'' Fullerton, CA: Nationalist Publication Co., n.d. . 1899 * ''Liquid Air: Perpetual Motion at Last: Tripler's Surplusage Explained.'' Los Angeles, n.p., 1899.
''The Problem of the Trust.''
Los Angeles: aylord Wilshire 1900. * ''The Trust Problem.'' Los Angeles: Social Democratic Party, 1900. * ''Imperialism.'' Los Angeles: Los Angeles Branch of the Social Democratic Party, 1900. * ''A Business-like City Charter.'' Los Angeles: Allied Printing, 1900. * ''Trusts and Imperialism.'' Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Co., 1901. * ''Imperative Mandate, Initiative and Referendum: Adopted in the Late Proposed New Charter for Los Angeles.'' Los Angeles: Gaylord Wilshire, 1901. * ''Debate on Socialism, Wilshire-Seligman: A Verbatim Report of the Greatest Debate in the History of Socialism in the United States, Which Took Place in Cooper Union, January 16, 1903, New York City.'' With E.R.A. Seligman. New York: Wilshire's Magazine, 1903. * ''Ten Cents a Year.'' New York: Wilshire Book Co., 1905. * ''Wilshire-Carver Debate on Socialism: Gaylord Wilshire vs. Thomas Nixon Carver: Held January 15, 1906, at Hartford, Conn. Before the "Get Together Club."'' New York: Wilshire Book Co., 1906. * ''Socialism: A Religion.'' New York: Wilshire Book Co., 1906.
''Wilshire Editorials.''
New York: Wilshire Book Co., 1906.
''Socialism Inevitable (Wilshire Editorials).''
New York: Wilshire Book Co., 1907. * ''Socialism: The Mallock-Wilshire Argument.'' New York: Wilshire Book Co., n.d. . 1907 * ''The Significance of the Trusts.'' New York : Wilshire Book Co., n.d. . 1900s * ''Hop Lee and the Pelican.'' New York : Wilshire Book Co., n.d. . 1900s * ''Why a Workingman Should Be a Socialist.'' Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Co., n.d. . 1912 * ''Syndicalism: What It Is.'' London: 20th Century Press, 1912. * ''I-ON-A-CO: The Short Road to Health.'' Los Angeles: aylord Wilshire n.d. . 1926

Magazines

''Wilshire's Magazine'' [Toronto], 1903, part 1.
Issues 54-58. Google Books project. Retrieved April 21, 2010.

External links

*
Online Archive of California – Henry Gaylord Wilshire biographyRhymes and Reactions (Jul 1926) - Gaylord Wilshire's Ionaco
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilshire, Gaylord 1861 births 1927 deaths American newspaper editors American real estate businesspeople Businesspeople from Los Angeles American socialists History of Los Angeles Socialist Labor Party of America politicians from California Social Democratic Party of America politicians Wilshire Boulevard Socialist Party of America politicians from California Journalists from New York City People from Cincinnati