Wallace Dalrymple Henderson was a California politician, serving in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

, Fresno City Council, and as acting mayor of

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

immediately following the death of Mayor Arthur L. Selland. Henderson was born on May 18, 1912 to Norman Batty Henderson and Mary Elizabeth Dalrymple in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, the first of three children. The son of a minister, Henderson and family moved during the early years of his life traveling from Chicago to

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and eventually settling in

. Here he attended and graduated in 1932 from

Fresno High School Fresno High School is a four-year secondary school located in Fresno, California. Fresno High is the oldest high school in the Fresno metropolitan area and one of the few International Baccalaureate schools. As of 2021, Linda Laettner is the 29th a ...

. During high school, he took an early interest in oratory and politics by serving on the Associated Student Body along with another future Fresno mayor

Gordon Dunn Gordon Glover "Slinger" Dunn (April 16, 1912 – July 26, 1964) was an American discus thrower who won a silver medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics, a U.S. Navy lieutenant, and former mayor of Fresno, California from 1949-1957. Godron Dunn was bo ...

. Henderson served as the Commissioner of Debating and was a part of several plays throughout high school. He attended

Fresno State Normal School California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

graduating in 1937 with a dual major in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

. Henderson began work in union offices starting as a secretary and moving to vice-president of the Distillery & Wine Workers International Union, which is today a part of

UFCW The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...

Political career

California State Assembly

In 1950, Henderson ran for the

representing the city of Fresno in what was then Assembly District 34, which eventually moved to the 32nd district, and served in the assembly from 1951 to 1959. During his time in the assembly, he fought against the establishment of the Kings River Conservation District and power generation at

Pine Flat Dam Pine Flat Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Kings River (California), Kings River in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of Fresno County, California United States. Situated about east of Fresno, California, Fresno, the dam is hi ...

as well as the taxation of cities that may encroach into the district boundaries. He co-sponsored the California Fair Employment Practices Act, which was an anti-discrimination law and a precursor to the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

. Henderson left the union and became a teacher at Fresno Junior College, and then

Fresno State College California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

City council

After leaving the State Assembly, Henderson ran for Fresno City Council in April 1958 and was elected. He was pro-growth and pro-annexation. Along with fellow councilmember and future Fresno mayor

Ted C. Wills Theodore Carl Wills, Sr. (November 28, 1911 – November 6, 2003) was a labor leader, Fresno City Council Member from 1954 to 1987 and was the mayor of Fresno from 1969 to 1977. He is the father of MLB pitcher Ted C. Wills, Jr. The Ted C. Wills ...

, he worked to overrule or dismantle development plans that would slow city expansion, size, and density. Also during his time on the council, Henderson and fellow councilmembers worked on the route and direction of the Fresno freeway system including SR 41, SR 180, and SR 168. He voiced opposition to the initial location of SR 41, which would have carved through Huntington Boulevard Neighborhood. He also led the opposition to remove other tree-lined streets in Fresno, including North Fulton Street heading out of Downtown Fresno.

Mayor

Henderson was appointed interim Fresno mayor after the death of Arthur L. Selland. As mayor, Henderson saw the groundbreaking and construction of the

Fulton Mall Fulton Street is a long east–west street in northern Brooklyn, New York City. This street begins at the intersection of Adams Street and Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights, and runs eastward to East New York and Cypress Hills. At the borde ...

which turned a six-block portion of the city's central business district into a pedestrian-only mall. He voiced support for the city to retain its bus transit system, today known as

FAX Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...

; other councilmembers had called for its elimination. The city took over service in 1961 from National City Lines and was running a deficit that the council wanted to stop. Henderson noted that the bus system was indispensable for the city. He supported the continued progression on equal and fair housing and employment. He was joined by Rev.

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

at a march in Fresno to show solidarity and support for these causes. In December 1964, Henderson chose to not seek a full term as mayor, which allowed for an open race for the mayoralty. In 1970, Henderson attempted a comeback election to take control of his old State Assembly seat, now considered Assembly District 32. He lost the race to Kenneth L. Maddy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Wallace 1912 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American politicians Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly California city council members Mayors of Fresno, California