Nelson S. Dilworth

Nelson S. Dilworth (June 27, 1890 – June 21, 1965) was an American farmer who served for 24 years in the California legislature. Dilworth was a strong proponent of restrictions on communists in schools and state government jobs.

Nelson S. Dilworth
Member of the California State Senate
from the 37th district
In office
January 8, 1945 – January 2, 1961
Preceded byJohn R. Phillips
Succeeded byLee Backstrand
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 76th district
In office
January 4, 1937 – January 8, 1945
Preceded byJohn R. Phillips
Succeeded byPhilip L. Boyd
Personal details
Born
Nelson Smith Dilworth

June 27, 1890
East Palestine, Ohio, U.S.
DiedJune 21, 1965(1965-06-21) (aged 74)
Hemet, California, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Lillian Olive Whiteman
​
​
(m. 1924⁠–⁠1965)​
RelationsRobert P. Dilworth (brother)
Children3
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Battles/warsWorld War I

Early life

Dilworth was born in Ohio in 1890. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was seven, then moved to the Coachella Valley in 1903.[1] During World War I. Dilworth served in the American Expeditionary Forces in France.[2] He later became a farmer in Hemet, California. He served as a mail carrier, postmaster, and Assistant Clerk of the state Assembly.[3]

Political career

Dilworth was elected to the California State Assembly in 1936, where he served until his election to the state senate in 1944.[4]

Dilworth was a member of the Senate Factfinding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities under state Senator Jack Tenney.[1] A staunch anti-communist, Dilworth sponsored legislation to prevent Communists from employment in the state government. He also introduced legislation that removed the US Communist Party from the ballot in California.[1] Dilworth authored the Fourth Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities, 1948: Communist Front Organizations.[5]

Dilworth also served as chairman of the Senate Investigating Committee on Education. This committee produced several reports relating to alleged communists in education in California, including its Third Report in 1952,[6] which identified that Kenneth MacGowan, employed by the University of California Berkeley, "has been affiliated with ... Communist front organizations" including the Motion Picture Artist's Committee and the Hollywood Democratic Party.[7]

The 1953 Dilworth Act specified that "no person knowingly a member of the Communist Party shall be employed or retained in employment by a school district" and that all school district employees have a duty to answer, under oath, questions about their membership in the Communist Party.[8] Refusing to answer such questions constituted grounds for dismissal.[9] One teacher dismissed for refusing to answer questions about her husband's associations was Jean Benson Wilkinson, a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District.[10] Her husband, Frank Wilkinson, was an officer of the Los Angeles City Housing Authority. Jean Wilkinson was dismissed as a teacher after refusing to answer questions before a California State Senate UnAmerican Activities Committee hearing which was investigating her husband.

Dilworth is quoted as saying,

"It is often true that many things which, in the end, bring benefits and satisfaction are very difficult to get started in the beginning. So it is going to be hard to save America from those who are pushing us and taxing us downhill into a form of state socialism. And there is no time to lose."[4]

and

"Citizens must have labor preference over aliens."[3]

Personal life

Dilworth retired from the legislature in 1960 at age 70. He died in 1965.[1]

The Nelson S Dilworth Elementary School in San Jose, California, is named after him, although he had no apparent connection to San Jose. The school opened in 1965,[11] the year that Dilworth died.

References
  1. "A Champion of the Average Man, Sen. Nelson Dilworth Dies". The Desert Sun. 22 June 1965. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  2. Vassar, Alexander C. (2011). Legislators of California (PDF). Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  3. Letter from Nelson S. Dilworth to Citizens of Hemet, San Jacinto and vicinity (Aug. 20, 1936) http://www.onevoter.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/10/1936_Letter_Campaign.pdf
  4. "Nelson S. Dilworth". Join California. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  5. Dilworth, Nelson S. (12 February 2018). Fourth Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities, 1948: Communist Front Organizations. ISBN 978-0656372959.
  6. Senate Investigating Committee on Education: Third Report : Textbooks : Members of the Committee, Nelson S. Dilworth, Chris N. Jespersen, Fred Weybret, Hugh P. Donnelly, J. Howard Williams, R.E. Combs, Louis S.N. Phillipp, Audrey Shade : Opposition to Loyalty, Members of the Committee, Nelson S. Dilworth, Arthur H. Breed, Fred Weybret, Hugh P. Donnelly, J. Howard Williams, Created Pursuant to Senate Resolution No. 183 (1951), Marianne Carr, Research and Investigation. Eleventh report. 1952.
  7. "Letter to John Francis Neylan, June 21, 1949". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  8. "Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles v. Cooper". Civ. 20960–20965. 25 October 1955.
  9. Eisloeffel, Paul J. (Fall 1989). "The Cold War and Harry Steinmetz". The Journal of San Diego History. 35 (4).
  10. "Jean Benson Wilkinson Papers Blacklisted Teachers In Los Angeles, 1953-1955". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  11. "About Us / Home, Dilworth Elementary School". http. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
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