Louise O. Charlton

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Louise O. Charlton
Photograph of a white-haired slender woman in a business suit carrying a purse on her left arm.
Judge Charlton, 1955
Born
Ida Louise Owings

(1889-01-27)January 27, 1889
Jefferson County, Kentucky
DiedDecember 23, 1967(1967-12-23) (aged 78)
Birmingham, Alabama
NationalityAmerican
Other namesLouise Owings Charlton
Occupation(s)teacher, judge
Years active1908-1965

Louise O. Charlton (January 27, 1889 – December 23, 1967) was an American judge and U.S. Commissioner who served in Birmingham, Alabama for over four decades. Active in the women's poll tax repeal movement, she was involved in civil rights activism and conservation efforts in the state.

Early life and education[edit]

Ida Louise Owings was born on January 27, 1889, in Jefferson County, Kentucky, to Olivia "Ollie" (née Shaffer) and Luther Clay Owings.[1] [2][3] Her father operated a drug store in Louisville and the family of three daughters[3] lived at the family estate Cedar Croft near Jeffersontown.[4] Owings attended both Louisville Girls High School and Radnor College in Nashville, Tennessee.[5][6] In 1908, she was hired as an assistant teacher of primary students at the Jeffersontown Public School[6] and in 1911, was promoted to having charge of the school, shared with Theresa McDermott.[7] She resigned in November, but gave a month's notice and on June 6, 1912, married Kenneth C. Charlton of Birmingham, Alabama.[1][4][8] The couple subsequently had three sons, Kenneth, Luther C. Owings II (1915–1945) who was killed in action in Burma during World War II, and David, before divorcing.[9][10]

Career[edit]

The couple made their home in Birmingham. Her husband was working as a US Commissioner, prompting Charlton to enroll in the Birmingham School of Law and to begin working in real estate, selling lots to develop Homewood.[11] She became involved in the Alabama chapter of the Federation of Women's Clubs.[12][13] In 1921, she was appointed chair of the organization's civics and conservation committee.[12][13] She was an ardent feminist, writing "Throughout the coming ages this century will be known and recognized as the Women's Era. Her mark will stamp the Twentieth Century as time predominated by feminine influence, ideals and achievements. She has demanded and received privileges heretofore denied her".[13]

When her marriage ended, Charlton moved back to Louisville, to take a job as a school principal, but in 1924, she was hired as a United States Commissioner, at the Birmingham federal courthouse.[11] As a judge, she evaluated evidence regarding complaints of federal agencies. Her typical cases involved transport across state lines of stolen cars, checks stolen from the postal service, counterfeiting, or illegal transportation of liquor.[14][15] Charlton remained on the bench for over 41 years, presiding, while wearing an oxygen mask, in 1965 at the hearing of Ku Klux Klansmen William Eaten, Gary Thomas Rowe, Eugene Thomas, Collie Leroy Wilkinson.[16]

Charlton served from 1931 to 1935 on the executive committee of the Ninth District of the Alabama Democratic Committee and later was the state chair of the Democratic National Committee.[17][2] She was active in the women's poll tax repeal movement.[18] In 1938, she was chosen to organize and chair the inaugural conference of the Southern Conference for Human Welfare, an organization formed with the purpose of uniting civic, educational, and political leaders to address social conditions in the South.[19][20] She worked with first lady Eleanor Roosevelt; Virginia Foster Durr a feminist and leader in the poll tax repeal movement; Clyde Helms, a prominent Baptist minister; William Mitch, district president of the United Mine Workers; and Sam E. Roper, president of the Alabama Federation of Labor, among others.[18][19][21]

Charlton was personally attacked for her involvement in the conference and threatened by loss of her seat on the Democratic Committee.[22][23] During the Red Scare and rising McCarthyism, including investigations by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Charlton resigned from the Southern Conference in 1946.[24] Charlton remained active in environmental issues, like questioning a city plan to fluoridate Birmingham's water supply in 1953 and arguing against turning parkland into a highway in 1956.[25][26]

Death and legacy[edit]

Charlton died on December 23, 1967, and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery of Birmingham.[27]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b The Birmingham News 1912, p. 11.
  2. ^ a b The Birmingham News 1959, p. 13.
  3. ^ a b U.S. Census 1900, p. 8A.
  4. ^ a b The Jeffersonian 1912, p. 13.
  5. ^ The Jeffersonian 1907, p. 6.
  6. ^ a b The Jeffersonian 1908, p. 6.
  7. ^ The Jeffersonian 1911a, p. 1.
  8. ^ The Jeffersonian 1911b, p. 1.
  9. ^ The Birmingham News 1948, p. 22.
  10. ^ U.S. Census 1930, pp. 8A–8B.
  11. ^ a b The Birmingham News 1955, p. 14.
  12. ^ a b The Anniston Star 1921, p. 5.
  13. ^ a b c The Clarke County Democrat 1921, p. 1.
  14. ^ U.S. Census 1930, p. 8A.
  15. ^ Lackey 1952, p. 53.
  16. ^ McMichael 2015, pp. 104–106.
  17. ^ Owen 1931, p. 57.
  18. ^ a b The Virginia Beach News 1938, p. 5.
  19. ^ a b Wilkerson-Freeman 2002, p. 345.
  20. ^ The Jeffersonian 1938, p. 4.
  21. ^ Ashby 1980, p. 155.
  22. ^ Egerton 1995, p. 295.
  23. ^ Johnson 1939, p. 15.
  24. ^ Ashby 1980, pp. 233–234.
  25. ^ The Birmingham News 1953, p. 7.
  26. ^ Wortsman 1956.
  27. ^ Death Records 1967.

Bibliography[edit]

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