Fremont Older

Fremont Older (August 30, 1856 – March 3, 1935) was a newspaperman and editor in San Francisco, California for nearly 50 years and an important activist in the progressive social and political life of the era and area. He is best known for his campaigns against civic corruption, capital punishment, prison reform, and efforts on behalf of Tom Mooney and Warren Billings, wrongly convicted of the Preparedness Day bombing of 1916.

Career

Born in a log house in Appleton, Wisconsin, Older began working at age 12 circa 1868 as an apprentice printer. He claimed that this was after reading the story of Horace Greeley. later writing for the Alta California.

In 1895, Older became managing editor of the San Francisco Bulletin met Fremont Older while on summer vacation from Syracuse. She and her classmates had performed in a play in Sacramento, which Fremont Older happened to have attended. They quickly became engaged and married a month later on August 22.

The couple lived in San Francisco hotels.

In 1912, the couple purchased some land and then two years built later Woodhills, a house of hybrid architectural features that Cora Older mostly directed. The property today is now a regional park known as the Fremont Older Open Space Preserve, and it has a "Cora Older Trail" available to the public. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, she was associated with fellow activist and writer Stella Wynne Herron.

Older was also a long-time friend and correspondent of Clarence Darrow and was known as a friend to the poor. He regularly tried to reform drunkards and criminals with mixed success. After 20 years of attempting to help such persons, Older said, "I'm sorry, but I must admit that of the scores I have helped, all but one or two have failed me."

Older died at a hospital in Stockton, California after suffering a heart attack while driving. He was buried at the Los Gatos Memorial Park, San Jose.

Works

Legacy The World War II Liberty ship, the S.S. Fremont Older, was named for Older. The Fremont Older Open Space Preserve incorporates his home and estate in the hills above Cupertino, California. The Fremont Older Elementary School, Cupertino, California was also named for Older.