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Register of the Hodghead (Beverly L.) Speeches & Other Papers, 1894-1910
Mss146
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Title: Hodghead (Beverly L.) Speeches & Other Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1894-1910
Collection number: Mss146
Creator:
Beverly Eckles Hodghead
Extent: 0.5 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
Stockton, CA 95211
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
[Identification of item], Hodghead (Beverly L.) Speeches & Other Papers, Mss146,
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
Mr. Beverly Lacy Hodghead (1865-1928)was mayor of Berkeley(Calif.) from 1909 to 1911. An
attorney and politically active Progressive Democrat, Hodghead was instrumental in the
development a new charter for the city of Berkeley (1909). Berkeley's city charter, based
on that of Galveston, Texas, promoted government as a sound business operation with
knowledgeable commissioners, rather than one of partisan politics where city positions
are given out as favors. Changes included: a primary election in which all nominations
were made by non-partisan petition; a small council with each councilman elected at-large
and serving as a commissioner of a department; and, ultimate veto power to the people
through the initiative, referendum or recall.
Beverly Hodghead was educated at the University of California and at Hastings College of
Law, San Francisco (1891). He was admitted to the California bar in that year and began
practice in San Francisco. Active in many legal and political organizations and endeavors
throughout his life, Hodghead was Vice President of the Board of Freeholders, Berkeley;
President of the League of California Municipalities (1910-1911); Chairman of the
arrangements committee for the meeting of the American Bar Association in San Francisco
(August 1922); Master of Ceremonies at the Commonwealth Club banquet for Chief Justice
Taft and Lord Shaw (1922); and representative for the California Bar Association at the
American Law Institute, Washington (1924).
The Beverly Hodghead papers consist primarily of about forty speeches. The majority of
these are devoted to explaining the Berkeley city charter. Other speeches consider the
roles of citizens in support of municipal government, the annexation of Berkeley by
Oakland and the creation of a dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley to provide a water source
for San Francisco.