Fletcher Bowron

Fletcher Bowron
Mayor Bowron (second from right) at Cinco de Mayo celebration, 1952
35th Mayor of Los Angeles
In office September 26, 1938 – July 1, 1953
Preceded by	Frank L. Shaw
Succeeded by	Norris Poulson
Personal details
Born	(1887-08-13)August 13, 1887 Poway, California
Died	September 11, 1968(1968-09-11) (aged 81) Los Angeles, California
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Irene Martin, Albine Norton
Children	Barry Bowron
Residence	Los Angeles, California

Fletcher Bowron (August 13, 1887 – September 11, 1968) was an American lawyer, judge and politician. He was the 35th mayor of Los Angeles, California, from September 26, 1938, until June 30, 1953. He was the longest-serving mayor to date in the city, and was the city's second longest serving mayor after Tom Bradley, presiding over the war boom and very heavy population growth, and building freeways to handle them.

Bowron was born in Poway, California, the youngest of three children. His Yankee parents, who had migrated from the Midwest, sent him to Los Angeles High School, where he graduated in 1904. In 1907, he began studies at UC Berkeley, where his two brothers had graduated, then enrolled in the University of Southern California Law School two years later where he became a member of the Delta Chi Fraternity. He dropped out of law school and became a reporter for San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles newspapers, working the City Hall and court beats in the latter city. He was finally admitted to the bar in 1917.

Upon the U.S. entry into World War I in 1917, Bowron enlisted in the Army, serving in the 14th Field Artillery before transferring to the military intelligence division. Upon his return, he once again practiced law before he married Irene Martin in 1922. The following year, he was appointed as a deputy state corporations commissioner. His work in that capacity caught the attention of California governor, Friend Richardson, who hired him as executive secretary in 1925, and then appointed him to the superior court in 1926.