Charles Heard Matthews (1906 - 1985)

Born 12 Dec 1906 in Pensacola, Escambia, Florida, United States

Ancestors

Died 14 Jan 1985 at age 78 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

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Biography

Charles Matthews is Notable.

Charles was born about 1907 in Florida. He is the son of Reuben Matthews and Fannie Elijah. By 1910, the family was living in Los Angeles Assembly District 72, Los Angeles, California.^[1] They were still there in 1920.^[2]

Charles Heard Matthews and Alice Viola Watkins, daughter of William F Watkins and Gussie Rue Harris, married on 24 Mar 1956in Los Angeles, California.^[3]

Charles passed away in 1985. Burial was in the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California.^[4]

According to his obituary posted on Find A Grave: Memorial #70379416, Charles Heard Matthews was a "trailblazing black attorney with an impressive array of firsts." Despite being barred from joining the Los Angeles Bar Association twice due to his race, he practiced law for 50 years. Fourteen of those years he was in the district attorney's office where he was the only black. Other firsts included:

• the only black in his class at the University of California, Berkeley, Law School
• the first black person to sit on the Los Angeles Police Commission
• the first black on the California State Law Revision Commission
• one of the founders of the John M Langston Law Association for black lawyers

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MV2B-MZN : accessed 9 March 2021), Charles H Matthews in household of Reuben H Matthews, Los Angeles Assembly District 72, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 152, sheet 6A, family 150, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 82; FHL microfilm 1,374,095.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH77-7R6 : 31 January 2021), Charles H Matthews in entry for Reuben H Matthews, 1920.
3. ↑ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K86V-KP3 : 9 March 2021), Charles Hearde Matthews and Alice Viola Watkins, 24 Mar 1956; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 1,343,420.
4. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 9 March 2021), memorial page for Charles Heard Matthews Sr. (12 Dec 1906–14 Jan 1985), Find A Grave: Memorial #70379416, citing Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA ; Maintained by Richard Wesley (contributor 47285987) .