BILL NUMBER: HR 28	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Nunez

                        MARCH 28, 2008

   Relative to the Arthur Ohnimus Collection.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
             HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST



   WHEREAS, The Assembly is in receipt of a generous donation made by
the late Assembly Chief Clerk Arthur Ohnimus and his wife Bernice
Wemple Ohnimus Crutcher that consists of historical items; and
   WHEREAS, The items in the collection offer an insight into the
history of the Legislature, San Francisco politics, California
political figures of the 20th century, and the Ohnimus and Wemple
families; and
   WHEREAS, Arthur Allen Ohnimus was the son of Louis Juan Ohnimus
and Grace D. Pierce, and was born on June 3, 1893, in San Francisco's
South of Market neighborhood. He was raised in the Western Addition,
and attended Hearst Grammar School, Sacred Heart College, and Saint
Ignatius College; and
   WHEREAS, Arthur Ohnimus's father was a San Francisco city
official, and also was a wildlife expert, who built the Stowe Lake
Boat House in Golden Gate Park in 1894. His father was also
superintendent of the Woodward Gardens Amusement Park and the Monarch
grizzly bear exhibit; and
   WHEREAS, Arthur Ohnimus's mother, Grace (Pierce) Ohnimus, was a
famous actress and later managed the boat house in Golden Gate Park
for over 30 years; and
   WHEREAS, Arthur Ohnimus was employed by the Assembly beginning in
1915 as Insurance Committee clerk and subsequently, in 1917, as a
stenographer and later as a bookkeeper, and in 1919 and 1921, Arthur
Ohnimus was employed as Assistant Minute Clerk and thereafter, later
in 1921, he was elected Minute Clerk; and
   WHEREAS, In 1921, Arthur Ohnimus graduated with a law degree from
Saint Ignatius College in San Francisco and was admitted to the State
Bar of California in 1922; and
   WHEREAS, Arthur Ohnimus was first elected Chief Clerk of the
Assembly in 1923, and due to the part-time nature of legislative
sessions at that time, he held simultaneous employment as a Deputy
District Attorney in San Francisco from 1924 to 1944 and as a Deputy
Attorney General from 1944 to 1957; and
   WHEREAS, As Chief Clerk of the Assembly, Arthur Ohnimus oversaw
the modernization of the Legislature, including the installation of
the electronic voting system, public address system, and increased
legislative staffing levels in the postwar era; and
   WHEREAS, The expanding state population and increased volume and
complexity of legislation prompted the Assembly Committee on Rules in
1957, to appoint Arthur Ohnimus as its first Chief Administrative
Officer, the Assembly's first full-time staff position; and
   WHEREAS, As Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Clerk, Arthur
Ohnimus created the Assembly's first job and salary classifications,
supervised all Assembly employees and some of the first Assembly
Fellows, argued for full-time legislative staff to cope with the
growing population of the state; and oversaw the construction of the
Capitol building annex; and
   WHEREAS, During his tenure as Chief Clerk of the Assembly, Arthur
Ohnimus served in a nonpartisan capacity under four Democratic and
eight Republican Speakers; and
   WHEREAS, Arthur Ohnimus retired at 70 years of age on October 4,
1963, after serving 45 years as an Assembly employee, with 37
cumulative years of service as Chief Clerk; and
   WHEREAS, Recognizing his expertise in parliamentary procedures,
the Assembly Committee on Rules in February 1964, contracted with
Arthur Ohnimus to consult with the committee in the revision of the
Assembly Rules; and
   WHEREAS, Arthur Ohnimus, only two years into his retirement, died
on March 13, 1965, at 71 years of age; and
   WHEREAS, The future wife of Arthur Ohnimus, Bernice Marguerite
Wemple, was born in Milford, California on February 26, 1913, and
graduated from Lassen Union High School on June 12, 1930; and
   WHEREAS, Under the crossfiling system, Bernice's father, N.V.
Wemple, served as a Republican and as a Democratic Assembly Member
representing Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, and Sierra Counties in the 46th
Regular Session of the Legislature (1925-26) and the 47th Regular
Session of the Legislature (1927-28); and
   WHEREAS, Bernice pursued a career as a secretary, graduating from
the Armstrong College of Business Administration with a Private
Secretarial Curriculum on April 8, 1932, and was soon hired as a
secretary and bookkeeper by the Chrome Alloys Manufacturing Company
in Oakland; and
   WHEREAS, In January 1933, Bernice was employed as a stenographer
by the California State Senate, working for Senator Dan E. Williams,
26th Senate District, and Senator John L. Moran, 18th Senate
District; and
   WHEREAS, On August 2, 1933, Bernice was hired by the State Board
of Equalization, where she would be employed for the next 35 years;
and
   WHEREAS, Bernice married Arthur Ohnimus on December 27, 1943, in
Santa Monica, California; and
   WHEREAS, For decades, Bernice Ohnimus was affectionately referred
to as "Cookie" by her family, friends, and Capitol denizens; and
   WHEREAS, Arthur Ohnimus was an avid collector of political
memorabilia, beginning in his boyhood years in San Francisco at the
turn of the century; and
   WHEREAS, During their 22 years of marriage, Arthur and Bernice
Ohnimus collected many legislative documents, mementos, souvenirs,
photographs, scrapbooks, and political memorabilia dating back to the
1890s; and
   WHEREAS, Bernice carefully organized and stored Arthur Ohnimus's
historical items, safekeeping them for the next 42 years; and
   WHEREAS, Bernice married Anson H. Crutcher, Sr., on June 8, 1968,
in Reno, Nevada; and
   WHEREAS, Anson H. Crutcher, Sr. was the former Chief of the State
Police and the field representative for State Board of Equalization
member Paul R. Leake; and
   WHEREAS, Bernice Ohnimus Crutcher retired from the State Board of
Equalization on August 28, 1968, after having worked for many years
for various divisions within the board, including service as
secretary to board Member Paul R. Leake; and
   WHEREAS, Only two years into their marriage, Bernice's husband
Anson H. Crutcher, Sr. died on October 10, 1970 in Elko, Nevada at 57
years of age; and
   WHEREAS, In 1973, the Legislature adopted Assembly Concurrent
Resolution 93, directing the Department of General Services to plant
a redwood tree in Capitol Park in honor of Arthur Ohnimus; and
   WHEREAS, In her later years, Bernice lived in Applegate,
California and was a lover of horses and the foothills and was cared
for by Italene Allen; and
   WHEREAS, Bernice Ohnimus Crutcher passed away on September 29,
2007, at 94 years of age; and
   WHEREAS, On November 2, 2007, the Bernice Ohnimus Crutcher Estate,
under the guidance of Anson H. Crutcher, Jr., Lindsay Kayser
Hendricks, Steven Kayser, Dana Wemple, and Nancy Wemple, donated the
historical collection to the Assembly Office of the Chief Clerk so
that it may be archived and used for research; and
   WHEREAS, This collection includes many important letters, news
clippings, political and legislative memorabilia, campaign
literature, historic photographs, and personal effects, including a
dress made of the Assembly draperies, sewn by Nadene Kayser; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved that the Assembly of the State of California, That the
Assembly commends the Bernice Ohnimus Crutcher Estate and appreciates
the decades of public service that the Ohnimus, Wemple, and Crutcher
families have dedicated to the people of California; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.