FAIR The
LEGISLATION
Byron Rumford Story
FAIR LEGISLATION is a 60-minute documentary being produced about the life of Byron
Rumford, one of California’s first African American candidates elected to the state legislature,
and Northern California’s first African American assemblyman.
Byron Rumford’s path to political prominence started from very humble beginnings. As
a young kid growing up very poor in Arizona, he witnessed his grandmother’s tireless efforts
to fight racism in Tuscon’s segregated public school system. This early encounter with racism
would set the foundation for his lifelong fight for fairness and equality through political
advocacy for African Americans in the United States.
Byron Rumford migrated to Northern California after graduating from high school in Phoenix (1926), in pursuit of a better life. Byron
truly optimized the phrase “self made man”, as he worked his way through the University of California, San Francisco during the
years of the Great Depression when few Blacks resided in the state. He earned his BS degree from the university’s school
of pharmacy in 1931, and went on to land a position as the first Black employee (assistant pharmacist at Highland Hospital
in Oakland. In 1942, he bought a pharmacy in Berkeley and became a prominent businessman and community activist that
eventually guided him into politics.
FAIR LEGISLATION will explore the circumstances of how this pharmacist from Berkeley with no political ambitions would later
sponsor some of the most important state legislation for African Americans and all people of color. Through in-depth interviews
with family members, politicians, historians, political documents, photographs and archival film footage, the documentary will
trace the path that led California Assemblyman Byron Rumford becoming an integral part of the political advocacy that predated the
national Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
Byron Rumford entered California’s political scene in 1944, when he was appointed to serve on the California Rent Control
Board by Governor Earl Warren. At the urging of an East Bay Negro political organization (Appomattox Club) in 1948, Rumford was endorsed as the candidate for assemblyman of the District 17 seat in Alameda County. Immediately after entering
public office in 1949, Rumford passed legislation that barred discrimination of Blacks in the California National Guard. In
1959, he passed the Fair Employment Practices Act which began the process of outlawing employment discrimination.
In 1963, Assembly Bill 1240 (The Rumford Fair Housing Act) would become some of the state’s most controversial legislation
of all time. The bill was passed and immediately amended in 1964 by the voters in California through Proposition 14 sponsored by
the California Real Estate Association. Proposition 14 was later declared unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court in 1966.
The documentary will conclude with an examination of Byron Rumford’s run for a
newly formed seat in the California State Senate. Rumford’s victory in the 1966 Democratic
primary would be followed by a close loss in the November general election to Republican
challenger Lewis Sherman of Berkeley. The Alameda County post election recount
requested by the assemblyman was mired in so much controversy, that a special
investigation was conducted by the FBI.
“Although Byron Rumford isn’t particularly a household name in political circles, his
valuable contributions to fair legislation for African Americans in California must not
go unnoticed,” says filmmaker Doug Harris. “Its extremely important that his legacy be
chronicled and preserved so that younger generations fully understand the breadth of
his struggles as a pioneering politician who combatted racial injustices in our society.”
FAIR LEGISLATION is being produced by Doug Harris, an award winning Berkeley
filmmaker who has produced a list of critically acclaimed documentaries that include:
BOUNCE: The Don Barksdale Story, Tournament of Champions, OUT: The Glenn Burke
Story, and the “An Exploration of Our History” documentary series.
Doug Harris, Writer/Producer/Director
www.dougharrismedia.com
doug5271@netzero.net
510.228.9618
Byron Rumford’s Timeline
1908
1926
Byron Rumford was born on
February 2, 1908 in the mining
town of Courtland, Arizona
to Chauncey Rumford and
Magaret Lee Johnson.
1900
1941
Graduated from high school
in Phoenix, Arizona, and then
migrated to Northern California
to to attend college .
1920
1925
1932
1933
Graduated from the University
of California, San Francisco
College of Pharmacy, and
was an original member of the
AΦA, Greek-letter fraternity for
African Americans.
After several failed attemps
taking the state’s oral interview,
Rumford became the first
Black employee at Oakland’s
Highland Hospital as an
assistant pharmacist.
1930
1935
1918
1932
Fredrick Roberts becomes
California’s first known Black
legislator representing Los Angeles. He introduced early civil
rights legislation in assembly,
serving from 1918 to 1934.
Married Elsie Carrington and
settled in Berkeley, California
where they raised a family of
three children. Elsie went on to
become a community activist
with the NAACP in Berkeley.
1940
1942
1944
1948
1949
Began working full-time as the
proprietor of the pharmacy he
owned and operated in Berkeley. The pharmacy was the
hub of Black business community in South Berkeley.
Appointed by Governor Earl
Warren to the Rent Control
Board, a state agency that
was part of a federal wartime
program to maintain control of
spiraling rent costs down.
Won the primary election for
Assembly District 17 (Berkeley /
Oakland) after a contentious
recount. Won general election
becoming Northern California’s
first Black assemblyman.
Immediately upon entering
the California Assembly, Byron
passed his first state bill that
was authored to end racial
discrimination in the California
National Guard.
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1942
Was appointed to the Emergency Housing Committee
by Berkeley Mayor Laurance
Cross. The committee helped
assist migrating families with
housing during WWII.
1951
1952
1953
1955
1957
1959
Appointed Chairman of the
California legislature’s Public
Health Committee to address
issues and legislation to benefit the overall health of the
residents around the state.
Under Rumford’s leadership,
the Public Health Committee
passes the first air pollution
control act targeting the
problem of smog control
in the Los Angeles area.
Appointed Chairman of the
Records Management
Program for Casper Weinberger’s Committee on
Government Reorganization in Sacramento.
Passed Fair Employment
Practices Act, which outlawed
employment discrimination.
The bill was originally introduced in 1945 by Assemblyman Gus Hawkins.
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1959
While working in the pharmacy
and in the state assembly,
Rumford returned to college
to earn a Graduate Degree
from UC Berkeley in Public
Administration.
1961
1962
1963
1964
1966
1966
Introduced assembly bill 1240
known as the Rumford Fair
Housing Act which helped to
end the problems with housing
discrimination in California for
Blacks and other minorities.
California Proposition 14
was placed on the ballot to
ammend the Rumford Fair
Housing Act. The proposition
won, but was later declared
unconstitutional.
Rumford runs for newly formed
Alameda County seat in State
Senate, but loses in a close
race to Berkeley Republican
Lewis Sherman. The election
was mired in controversy.
Rumford would request a
re-count of the election that
showed signs of fraudulent activity with the ballots. The case was
taken to the Alameda County
District Attorney and FBI.
1963
1964
1965
1966
1964
1966
Rumford was targeted to step
into the democratic seat in US
Senate that was vacant due to
the serious illness of Senator
Clair Engle. He was heavily
endorsed for the position.
Rumford lost the Democratic
primary election to regain his
17th District assembly seat
that ended his political career
as one of the most influential
legislators in California history.
1967
1968
1969
1970
FAIR LEGISLATION
Filmmaker Doug Harris
Doug Harris’ career as a documentary filmmaker evolved through his years of work
in the community as the executive director of Athletes United for Peace. His background in sports as a player and coach has helped to shape his philosophy of team
building within the filmmaking process. Doug’s primary focus as a producer/director
has been to bring intriguing untold stories to life through a warm and unique style.
click on underlined links to view video clips
Harris’ foundation as a documentary producer began at California State University Monterey Bay, where he studied digital media as
a graduate student at the university’s Teledramic Arts and Technology Institute, earning his masters degree from CSUMB in 1998.
During this time, Doug helped to establish AUP Media as a division of the Athletes United for Peace nonprofit organization to produce
media projects and documentaries in conjunction with partnering local government agencies, educational institutions and other
nonprofit groups. Through this effort he later developd the Digital Technology Academy, a comprehensive media arts program
for high-risk teens in the East Bay communities of Berkeley, Oakland, Bay Point and Richmond. The Athletes United for Peace academy
regularly provides media skills training to participants with a special emphasis on digital filmmaking.
Under Harris’ direction, participants of the Digital Technology Academy produced the award winning “An Exploration of Our History”
seven part documentary series that chronicled the rich history of Contra Costa County’s North Richmond and Bay Point communities. In addition to winning film festival awards from the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, the National Alliance for Community Media,
and the Berkeley Video & Film Festival, the Digital Technology Academy also received recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives in the 107th Congressional Record for outstanding educational youth program from Congressman George Miller.
Doug Harris’ prominence in filmmaking came to the forefront through his production of BOUNCE: The Don Barksdale Story about
Berkeley’s legendary African American sports and entertainment pioneer who became the first of his race to be selected as an NCAA
college basketball All American (1947 UCLA), Olympic basketball team (1948 London), and the first to play in the NBA All Star game
(1953 Boston Celtics). The documentary was aired on FOX Sports Net, and received the 2008 Beacon Award for cable televisions
“Best Single Program” from the Association of Cable Communicators. Doug’s longtime involvement as a youth sports advocate
through Athletes United for Peace inspired him to produce the popular film Basketball in the Barrio, the compelling story about one
of the most unique youth sports camps in the country held each summer in El Paso, Texas. The documentary aired on PBS in the
Southwest and received the “Most Inspirational Film” award from the 2008 U.S. Sports Film Festival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In 2010, Doug formed the Harris/Maddison filmmaking team with Comcast SportsNet to
produce the critically acclaimed documentary OUT: The Glenn Burke Story about
Major League Baseball’s first openly gay player. Burke, a native of Berkeley, played in
the late 1970s for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland A’s. OUT was nominated for
an Emmy Award for “Best Documentary” by the National Academy of Television Arts
& Sciences in San Francisco, and was also nominated for the national G.L.A.A.D. Media
Award for “Outstanding Documentary”.
Harris has taken a great deal of pride in telling these untold stories about interesting
people that have literally gone unnoticed. His documentary BOUNCE was instrumental
in landing basketball legend Don Barksdale a place in the Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame 2012 class in Springfield, Massachusetts. The documentary OUT continues
to attract national discussion about the controversial issue of gay athletes in sports.
“FAIR LEGISLATION is a special project for me because Assemblyman Byron Rumford
was responsible for passing landmark civil rights legislation that everyone in the
State of California has benefitted from over the years,” states filmmaker Doug Harris.
“I also believe it’s extremely important that we continue to chronicle and preserve
Sean Maddison and Doug Harris enjoying a laugh at the these types of documentary stories, because they help educate people about our
premiere of OUT at the Castro Theater in San Francisco. great African American pioneers from Berkeley, California.”
www.athletesunitedforpeace.org
712 Peralta Avenue Berkeley, California 94707
510.228.9618
doug5271@netzero.net