Dudleys Diary

is C. Norris Poulson born in Baker County, Oregon on July 23, 1895, he died on September 25, 1982. Sadly, like my great uncle J.D. Jernigin Jr., I never got to meet him. Norris and my grandfather on my fathers side were 1st cousins. I guess that would make him my 3rd cousin. His father and my grandfather's father were brothers. Norris became a Certified Public Accountant after attending Southwestern University School Of Law which also had a business school. In 1938, he was elected to the 56th District seat of the California assembly. He then served a total of eight years as a United States Congressman before serving eight years as the mayor of Los Angeles. When he left the U.S. Congress, he was the chairman of the Interior and Insular Affairs committee. While mayor of Los Angeles, he lead the fight against Arizona over Colorado River water. During his eight years as mayor, Los Angeles became the third largest city in the United States, Norris was instrumental in leading the construction of the Los Angeles International Airport, expanding the Los Angeles Harbor and, most notably, luring major league baseball's Brooklyn Dodger's westward to Los Angeles. He also worked with Walter O'Malley to bring about the building of Dodger Stadium. The most memorable moment of his mayoral career came in September, 1959 when he embarrassed Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev during a public ceremony. The comments came after Khrushchev had constantly touted Russian superiority during his tour of the city by Poulson. Citing Khrushchev's comment, "We will bury you," Norris responded, "You shall not bury us and we shall not bury you. We tell you in the friendliest terms possible we are planning no funerals, yours or our own." Norris received over 3,600 letters following the incident, many of them praising him for his comments. Norris Poulson was friends with U.S. presidents, congressmen and senators as well as many of the biggest Hollywood celebrities of his time. On many occasions growing up, I remember being at my grandparents home when Norris would call and talk for an extended period of time with my grandfather catching up on their lives and families.