William Byron Rumford [SEP] occupation
William Byron Rumford
William Byron Rumford (February 2, 1908 – June 12, 1986) was an American pharmacist and politician. He was the first African American elected to a state public office in Northern California.
Family background.
Rumford was born in Courtland, Arizona, a now-defunct mining town, the second of Chauncey G. Rumford and Margaret Lee Johnson's two sons. His father, who had left the family when Rumford was very young, lived in Los Angeles, where his family had moved in
Relations of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Return to Berkeley.
In 1976 Rumford returned to private life and his pharmacy, from which he retired in 1981. He developed Parkinson's disease and died in 1986.
Honors.
Rumford was honored at the 1972 World Symposium on Air Pollution Control, which recognized his contributions to the fight against air pollution.
In 1980, a segment of state highway 24, the Grove-Shafter Freeway, was renamed the William Byron Rumford Freeway in his honor.