Julius L. Meier (December 31, 1874 – July 14, 1937) was an American businessman, civic leader, and politician in the state of
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
. The son of the
Meier & Frank
Meier & Frank was a prominent chain of department stores founded in Portland, Oregon, and later bought by The May Department Stores Company. Meier & Frank operated in the Pacific Northwest from 1857 to 2006.
History Summary
Meier & Frank was f ...
department store founder, he would become a lawyer before entering the family business in
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
. Politically an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
Governor of Oregon
The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...
from 1931–1935. He is the only independent to be elected Governor of Oregon.
Early life
Meier was born in Portland to German immigrants of Jewish ancestry: Aaron, a merchant and founder of Oregon's largest
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
,
Meier & Frank
Meier & Frank was a prominent chain of department stores founded in Portland, Oregon, and later bought by The May Department Stores Company. Meier & Frank operated in the Pacific Northwest from 1857 to 2006.
History Summary
Meier & Frank was f ...
, and Jeannette (Hirsch) Meier. He had three siblings, and was the father of Jean Ellen Meier Ehrman Reichert, Elsa Frances Meier Ganz, and Julius L. (Jack) Meier, Jr.Official biography of Julius L. Meier at Oregon State Library website He married Grace Mayer on Christmas Day, 1901, saying afterwards that it was the only day that he was allowed off from the store.
Meier graduated from the
University of Oregon School of Law
The University of Oregon School of Law is a public law school in the U.S. state of Oregon. Housed in the Knight Law Center, it is Oregon's only state funded law school. The school, founded in 1884, is located on the University of Oregon campus in ...
in 1895 and practiced law with a partner,
George W. Joseph
George W. P. Joseph (May 10, 1872 – June 17, 1930) was an attorney and Republican politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of California, his family relocated to Oregon when he was young. There he would practice law and serve in the Or ...
for the next four years, until he went into the family's business. According to family tradition, it was at this time that he added the "L" to his name; the sign painter, who was putting his name on the door, insisted that all lawyers of substance had a middle name, so Meier suggested an "L".
Political career
Meier devoted 30 years to civic involvement before entering elective politics. A noted philanthropist, he also kept a high profile leading many good causes. During World War I, he headed Liberty Loan drives, served as regional director of the Council of National Defense, and after the war aided in the rehabilitation of France. He also headed the Oregon Commission of the 1915
Panama–Pacific International Exposition
The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...
in San Francisco, and in 1922 attempted to bring a world's fair to Portland in 1925.
An important accomplishment was his leading the Columbia River Highway Association, the citizen committee creating political support for building the Columbia River Highway, first west from Portland to Astoria (1912–1915) and later east from Portland to The Dalles (1913–1922). His daughter, Jean, would later recall that he walked or crawled every inch of the highway's projected roadway.
In the 1920s, as an attorney and highly involved in Portland's Republican Party, Meier took over
Henry L. Corbett
Henry Ladd Corbett (July 29, 1881April 22, 1957) was an American businessman, civic leader, and politician in the state of Oregon. He was born into one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Oregon. Corbett attended Harvard Universi ...
's work between the party and the city government, meaning he received monthly payments from organized crime, especially Prohibition-era liquor and gambling operations. The full monthly payment was $175,000; Meier received his portion as cash from florist Tommy Luke, a close friend of Mayor George Luis Baker.
In the 1930 gubernatorial election,
George W. Joseph
George W. P. Joseph (May 10, 1872 – June 17, 1930) was an attorney and Republican politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of California, his family relocated to Oregon when he was young. There he would practice law and serve in the Or ...
—who had been disbarred during an extensive dispute with the
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.E. Henry Wemme—won the
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 ...
nomination for
Governor of Oregon
The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...
, but died shortly after. When Meier declined the nomination, the Republican Party selected
Phil Metschan, Jr.
Phil may refer to:
* Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names
* Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil"
* Phil, Kentucky, United States
* Phil (film), ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film
* -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as ...
, son of a former Oregon state treasurer and affiliated with the KKK, as a replacement nominee. In contrast to a core element of Joseph's platform, Metschan opposed public development of
hydroelectric power
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
along the Columbia River.
Meier entered the race as an independent candidate, adopting Joseph's platform. In spite of opposition to his candidacy by ''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...
'' (the state's largest newspaper), he won 54.5 percent of the total vote, outdistancing his nearest competitor, Democratic candidate
Edward F. Bailey
Edward is an English language, English given name. It is derived from the Old English, Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements ''wikt:ead#Old English, ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and ''wikt:weard#Old English, weard'' "gua ...
, 135,608 votes to 62,434. Meier's overwhelming victory was viewed as a reflection of strong public support for public hydropower development.
Meier's graft continued as governor, as he "diligently went after corruption and graft everywhere his political enemies were practicing it". For instance, his Republican gubernatorial competitor, Phil Metschan, Jr., was on the Port of Portland board. Meier sent an aggressive forensic accountant, Frank Akin, to determine what fraud was occurring there. Akin clearly discovered problems but was murdered the day before he was slated to present it to the
Oregon state legislature
The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the H ...
, and had also begun an investigation of the
Portland Water Bureau
The Portland Water Bureau is the municipal water department for the city of Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. The bureau manages a water supply that comes mainly from the Bull Run River in the foothills of the Cascade Range east of the city a ...
. The evidence against the Port's
James H. Polhemus
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguati ...
was already public and his resignation was demanded. Many rumors swirled around Akin's death. Polhemus was eventually cleared of charges of graft.
Meier served for one term (1931–1935), declining to run for a second term for reasons of health. He hired George W. Joseph Jr. as a legal adviser during the first legislative session of his administration, paying the younger Joseph's salary personally. Among his accomplishments were establishing the
Oregon Liquor Control Commission
The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC), formerly known as Oregon Liquor Control Commission is a government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon. The OLCC was created by an act of the Oregon Legislative Assembly in 1933, days after the re ...
(after Prohibition ended), founding the
Oregon State Police
The Oregon State Police (OSP) is a law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of Oregon. The OSP enforces all of Oregon's criminal laws and assists local law enforcement agencies. Terri Davie has served as Superintendent since November 1, 2020.
The ...
, helping create a State Board of Agriculture and State Unemployment Commission, pressing for the adoption of a non-partisan judicial system, and using his business acumen to help the state navigate the financial tribulations of the Great Depression. Efforts to establish a sales tax and public power were not immediately successful, though Federal legislation was passed in 1933 authorizing the public development of the Bonneville and
Grand Coulee
Grand Coulee is an ancient river bed in the U.S. state of Washington. This National Natural Landmark stretches for about 60 miles (100 km) southwest from Grand Coulee Dam to Soap Lake, being bisected by Dry Falls into the Upper and Lower ...
dams.
Later years
''Time'' magazine reported in 1937 that Meier had sunk most of his fortune into what it called his "pet financial hobby", the American National Bank of Portland, which was closed in June 1933 and its assets and liabilities acquired by First National Bank. After serving as governor he retired to "Menucha", his estate above the Columbia River in
Corbett, Oregon
Corbett is an unincorporated community on the Columbia River in eastern Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. It is located on the Historic Columbia River Highway (a.k.a. Crown Point Highway) between the Sandy River and Crown Point.
Corbett ...
, designed by architect
Herman Brookman
Herman S. Brookman (July 2, 1891 — November 6, 1973) was an architect in Portland, Oregon, United States.
Born in New York, Brookman received early training in the office of society architect Harrie T. Lindeberg and worked there until 192 ...
, where he died in 1937. He is buried at Beth Israel Cemetery in Portland.
His family sold Menucha in 1950 to the First Presbyterian Church of Portland, which now operates it as a conference and retreat center. The Meier and Frank families sold the department store chain to the May Company in 1966. With May's sale to Federated in 2005, the remaining stores were rebranded as "
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...