- Phil Swing
Philip David "Phil" Swing (
November 30 ,1884 –August 8 ,1963 ) is a former American Republican politician fromImperial County, California .__TOC__
Biography
Swing was born 1884 in
San Bernardino, California to James and Mary Swing.He attended the public schools and was graduated 1905 fromStanford University .He was first lieutenant in the California National Guard during 1906–1908.Swing studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1907.He was city attorney ofBrawley, California in 1908 and 1909,deputy district attorney of Imperial County 1908–1911,district attorney 1911–1915,chief counsel of theImperial Irrigation District 1916–1919,and Judge of the Imperial County Superior Court 1919–1921.During 1920–1932 Swing was delegate to the Republican State conventions at Sacramento, serving as chairman in 1926.DuringWorld War I he served as a private in the Officers Training Camp in 1918.Swing was married to Nell Cremeens in 1912.
Swing was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1920.He had a folksy manner and during his term, 1921–1933, as a progressive Republican, he worked to obtaining water from the Colorado River and
Boulder Dam .His single-minded determination resulted in legislation in 1928 authorizating Boulder Dam.This was in the face of opposition from the State ofArizona , private power companies, and bureaucratic inertia.It brought water toSouthern California and enabled San Diego to grow and prosper.In 1932 he chose not to run and resumed his law practice in San Diego.In 1933, as one of his last acts in congress, he introduced a bill to establish
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park , which passed in March.In 1945, Swing was appointed a member of the California State Water Resources Board, serving until 1958.
Swing died 1963 in San Diego and is buried at Greenwood Memorial Park.A water fountain at the Community Concourse at Third and C Streets is dedicated to Phil Swing, "The Father of Boulder Dam."
ee also
* Phiip David Swing Papers, UCLA Research Library
* "Phil Swing and Boulder Dam" (UC Press, 1971) by Beverly B. Moeller. Also her Ph.D. dissertation, UCLA 1968.
* Biography, pp. 147-148; includes portraitExternal links
*
* [http://www.sandiegohistory.org/bio/swing/swing.htm Biography] (San Diego Historical Society)
* [http://www.sandiegohistory.org/books/pourade/rising/risingchapter1.htm "Chapter 1: Envy of Cities"] and [http://www.sandiegohistory.org/books/pourade/rising/risingchapter6.htm "Chapter 6: The Boom Fades"] , "History of San Diego" (1967) by Richard Pourade. Covers Swing and Boulder Dam history
*
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