Harlan G. Palmer (1885-1956) was a politician, judge, and newspaper publisher in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

, in the early 20th century."Hollywood Publisher Judge Palmer Dies," ''Los Angeles Times,'' July 26, 1956, image 24
/ref>"Conduct Rites for Publisher, Judge Palmer," ''Valley News,'' Van Nuys, July 29, 1956, image 3
/ref>

Early life

He was born on March 19, 1885, in

Le Roy, Minnesota Le Roy is a city in Mower County, Minnesota, Mower County, Minnesota, United States, surrounded by Le Roy Township, Minnesota, Le Roy Township. The population was 929 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Lake Louise State Park is just ...

, and attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. He purchased a weekly newspaper in Leroy and edited it for two years, then took his invalid father's place as head of a retail lumber and coal business.

Career

Palmer came to California in 1911 and immediately purchased the weekly

Hollywood Citizen Community newspapers in Hollywood, California, have included the ''Hollywood Sentinel'' (1903 or before-1911), ''Hollywood Inquirer'' (unknown-1914), ''Hollywood Citizen'' (1905–1931), ''Hollywood News,'' (unknown-1931), and ''Hollywood Citizen- ...

. In the fall he enrolled in the University of California Law School and passed the state

bar examination A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associa ...

in 1913. He was the first attorney to set up practice in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, a small city ten miles east of Los Angeles. In 1910 Hollywood was merged with the city of Los Angeles, and in 1915, Palmer was appointed one of the six judges of the Los Angeles Justice Court, which is now part of the

municipal court City court or municipal court is a court of law with jurisdiction limited to a city or other municipality. It typically addresses "violations of city ordinances and may also have jurisdiction over minor criminal cases...and over certain civil cases ...

system. He was elected to the same post in 1918 but resigned when the conversion of his newspaper to daily publication required more of his time. He became a member of the city's Board of Water and Power Commissioners and later was a special attorney for the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the Los Angeles, 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 Los Angeles City Counc ...

during an investigation of that board. He ran for

Los Angeles County district attorney The District Attorney of Los Angeles County is in charge of the office that prosecutes felony and misdemeanor crimes that occur within Los Angeles County, California, United States. The current district attorney (DA) is George Gascón. Some mi ...

against the incumbent,

Buron Fitts Buron Rogers Fitts (March 22, 1895 – March 29, 1973) was the 29th lieutenant governor of California, from 1927 to 1928, and Los Angeles County district attorney thereafter until 1940. Early life Born in Belcherville, Texas, Fitts received h ...

, and received 48.5 percent of the votes cast. In his years as publisher, the ''Citizen-News'' campaigned against gambling and alleged police payoffs.

Personal life

Palmer died in Los Angeles on July 25, 1956. He was survived by his wife, Ethelyn H. Palmer, and their children, Harlan Jr., Byron, Ralph, and Peggy. He had three siblings, William J., Orlando T., and Zuma Palmer."Former Editor of LeRoy Paper Dies in California," ''Mason City (Iowa) Globe Gazette,'' July 28, 1956, image 8
/ref> He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Harlan G. 1885 births 1956 deaths People from Mower County, Minnesota Editors of Minnesota newspapers People from Los Angeles Editors of California newspapers University of Minnesota alumni UC Berkeley School of Law alumni Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References