Features

When I think of my great-grandfather, Walter Gordon, two memories come to mind. One of them was when I was in the fourth grade attending Malcolm X Elementary School in Berkeley. Our class had planned a Grandparents Night and invited all of our grandparents to attend a potluck dinner and celebration. Before the event I had proudly told my teacher that my great-grandfather was the first black police officer in Berkeley. 

Well, on the night of the actual event, when Grandpa Walt and Grandma Sis arrived I introduced them to my teacher. She greeted them both and they started chatting. Shortly thereafter my teacher said to my great-grandfather, “Jonathan told me you were the first black police officer in Berkeley.” 

Once grandpa Walt heard this he immediately turned to me with a glare that I can still see very clearly. My first thought was that he had told me this under the assumption that I would keep it to myself, that I betrayed a secret he had shared with me. I felt ashamed. He then turned to my teacher and calmly but sternly said, “No, I was the first Negro police officer in Berkeley.” 

The other memory I have is one of our visits with Grandpa Walt and Grandma Sis. One thing Grandpa Walt would always do when my family visited was pick my brother and me up at the same time, me in one arm and Craig in the other and squeeze us tightly. This would oftentimes make me giggle. Well, this particular visit was different from others. He lifted both of us up, as usual, but the difference was that my great-grandfather had recently gone blind. Nevertheless, his hug was a strong as ever. 

He would say, “It’s not that I’m blind it’s just that my eyes can’t see.”  

I think both of these memories are good examples of the strength, dignity and pride of my great-grandfather, Walter Gordon, a local hero that I remember. 

Walter Arthur Gordon was born in Atlanta, Ga, in 1894. When he was 10 years old his family moved to Riverside, where he graduated from high school. His father was a Pullman porter and moved his family to California, like many Negroes at that time, looking for a better opportunity. 

Walter’s father greatly influenced him. Those who knew Walter said he was always quoting his father. When they came to Riverside and he and his brother Edwin went to school their father told them, “Now listen, you’re going to a school where there are whites and Negroes, and I don’t want either of you to come home crying to me, telling me that you’re not getting a square deal on account of your color.” 

In 1914 Walter entered the University of California, Berkeley. During his undergraduate years his scholarship was considerably above average. He was active in campus affairs. For example, he co-founded and was a charter member of the Alph Phi Alphi fraternity on campus, which is still alive today. He was an intercollegiate wrestler and boxer, winning the state championship in both. He played football with coach Andy Smith’s early teams, playing every position except center. In 1918, his senior year, Walter Camp selected him as All-American, Berkeley’s first. 

The 10 years after he graduated were unbelievably busy for my great-grandfather. Andy Smith chose him to be an assistant football coach, a position that he held for 24 years under four different head coaches. He was also chief scout for many of the great Cal football teams, one team in particular, the group labeled “The Wonder Team”—a team that went undefeated one year, thoroughly dominating its opponents en route to a Rose Bowl victory over Ohio State. 

August Vollmer, Berkeley’s chief of police at the time, invited him to join the police department, where he became the first Negro officer. He served on a full-time basis for 10 years. In addition to that he enrolled in Boalt Hall School of Law in 1921. 

I remember a time schedule that my great-grandmother used to show me which described his daily schedule. He barely had enough time to sleep, let alone study. In 1920 he married Elizabeth Fisher and they eventually had two sons and a daughter. One of the sons, Walter Gordon jr., is my grandfather. 

In 1923 Walter Sr. began a new career. After graduating from Boalt he passed the California bar and began private practice from an office above the Wells Fargo building at the corner of University and San Pablo in west Berkeley. Walter Gordon was also President of the Alameda County NAACP from 1923 to 1933. During a 10-day period he recruited 500 new members. 

Walter Gordon continued his private practice until 1944. During that time and after he did a number of things. He continued his coaching and scouting work. He was a member of the executive board of the University YMCA. For six years he was a member of the Oakland YMCA board. He was vice-president of the Lawyer’s Guild of San Francisco and a member of the Commonwealth Club of California. 

In 1943 California Gov. Earl Warren, a longtime friend, named Walter Gordon to the Board of Prison Terms, on which he served until the adoption of the then new California Adult Authority. 

Then, in 1955, President Eisenhower appointed him governor of the Virgin Islands, a position he held for three years. In 1958, he was named U.S. District Judge for the Virgin islands, and he served on that court until his retirement in 1969 when he returned to Berkeley. 

In 1991, The Walter Gordon Memorial Fund was established at Boalt Hall for summer internships. 

Jonathan Wafer is a writer and a member of the Berkeley Police Review Commission.