Douglas Dollarhide

Douglas Dollarhide (March 11, 1923 – June 28, 2008) was the first African American mayor of a metropolitan city in California.

Biography

Douglas F. Dollarhide witnessed first hand the transformation of Compton, California from a predominantly white Los Angeles suburb into one of the most heavily concentrated African American communities in the United States. He was elected to the City Council in 1963, becoming its first African American member.

In 1969, Dollarhide made history again, when he became not only the first black mayor of Compton, but the first African American mayor of a major town in California since American rule. After his election crime rose and property values declined throughout Compton.

Compton's Dollarhide Neighborhood Center is named after him.

Dollarhide died on June 28, 2008, aged 85, at his home in Northridge in the San Fernando Valley.^[1]

References

1. ^ Compton’s first Black mayor remembered as trailblazer, Los Angeles Wave, July 10, 2008.

External links

• African Americans in California
• Dollarhide Neighborhood Center (info)

Political offices
Preceded by Chester R. Crain	Mayor of Compton, California 1969 – 1973	Succeeded by Doris A. Davis

Persondata
Name	Dollarhide, Douglas
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	March 11, 1923
Place of birth
Date of death	June 28, 2008
Place of death