Oral Histories
Interview of William Rosenthal
Los Angeles Superior Court judge from 1961 to 1977 and 40th district California State Assembly member from 1943 to 1953.
- Subtitle:
- Father of the UCLA Law School
- Series:
- Interviews not in a series, part one
- Topic:
- Politics and Government
- Biographical Note:
- Los Angeles Superior Court judge from 1961 to 1977 and 40th district California State Assembly member from 1943 to 1953.
- Interviewee:
- Rosenthal, William
- Persons Present:
- Rosenthal, Galm, and Mrs. Rosenthal.
- Place Conducted:
- Rosenthal's home in Palm Springs, California.
- Supporting Documents:
- Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
- Interviewer Background and Preparation:
- The interview was conducted by Bernard Galm, senior editor, Oral History Program; B.A., English, St. John's University, Minnesota; Fulbright Scholar, Free University, Berlin, Germany, 1957-58; Graduate study, School of Drama, Yale University, and Department of Theater Arts, UCLA. Galm had already conducted a major interview in this series, and in preparation had done extensive research, reviewing materials and records from the university archives, chancellor's office, and the law school. He also studied copies of the legislation as introduced, amended, and approved.
- Processing of Interview:
- The interviewer edited the verbatim transcript and checked it against the original tape recordings, editing for punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling, and verifying proper nouns. The final manuscript remains in the same order as the original taped material. Words and phrases inserted by the editor have been bracketed.Rosenthal reviewed and approved the edited transcript. He made few changes or deletions; he supplied spellings of names not known to the editor.George Hodak, editorial assistant, prepared the table of contents, biographical summary, and index.
- Length:
- 1.5 hrs.
- Language:
- English
- Copyright:
- Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
- Abstract:
- Works in Los Angeles city attorney's office; elected California state assemblyman in 1943 and serves five successive terms; family background; introduces bill in state legislature providing funds for construction of a law school at UCLA; support for and resistance to the bill; the bill passes in 1947; groundbreaking ceremonies held in 1950; Rosenthal's work in the state assembly on aviation and hotel safety issues; introduces bill to abolish segregation in schools; works as state chairman of the Democratic Party; appointed to superior court; prominent graduates of UCLA law school.