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William Kent | |
|---|---|
 Kent, 1905–1928 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia | |
| In office March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1917 | |
| Preceded by | Duncan E. McKinlay |
| Succeeded by | Clarence F. Lea |
| Constituency | 2nd district (1911–13) 1st district (1913–17) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1864-03-29)March 29, 1864 |
| Died | March 13, 1928(1928-03-13) (aged 63) Kentfield,California, US |
| Political party | ProgressiveRepublican;Independent |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Thacher Kent |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
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William Kent (March 29, 1864 – March 13, 1928) was an American politician, conservationist and philanthropist fromMarin County,California. He served three terms as a U.S. Representative from Northern California between 1911 and 1917, and was instrumental in the creation ofMuir Woods National Monument.
Kent was born inChicago,Illinois, on March 29, 1864.[1] His parents, Adaline Elizabeth Dutton and meatpacking magnate Albert Emmett Kent (A.E. Kent)[1] moved the family to Marin County in California in 1871, where his father had purchased 800 acres of valley land that would later become the town ofKentfield, California.[2][3]
He graduated fromYale University in 1887, where he was a member ofSkull and Bones.[4]
Following graduation from Yale, Kent returned to Chicago and took up his father'sreal estate andlivestock businesses, where he had inherited, among other interests, atenement block adjacent to theHull House settlement.[3] After he was attacked as a slumlord in an 1894 speech by a Hull House resident, Kent donated the tenements to Hull House, which would later raze the property to build one of the first publicplaygrounds in the United States.[5][3]
Kent became a donor and volunteer at Hull House, and served on its Board of Trustees, where he would meetJane Addams and other leading Chicago reformers.[5] Kent subsequently ran successfully foralderman in 1895 and founded the Municipal Voter's League of Chicago in 1896, a group that used publicity to push corrupt politicians from office.[6][3]
In 1907, Kent returned to California from Chicago and entered federal politics by winning election in 1910 as a progressiveRepublican to the62nd United States Congress. For the63rd and64th Congresses, Kent was re-elected as an Independent. In total, Kent served in Congress from March 4, 1911, to March 4, 1917.[7]
Kent was a vocal proponent of anti-Asian and exclusionary immigration policies throughout his political career.[8] Campaigning in 1910, Kent told theAsiatic Exclusion League that "I have made a large part of my campaign on the Asiatic Exclusion idea, comparing it with the racial troubles brought on by the needless importation of negroes."[9] In Congress, Kent pushed legislation barring Asian immigrants from owning land, becoming U.S. citizens, and entering the United States altogether.[8] Kent also supported legislation instituting a literacy test for prospective immigrants, explaining he would "rather have a test of blood and race, and confine our immigration to northern Europe, but failing that, the literacy test."[10]
In 1916, Kent was the lead sponsor of legislation in the House of Representatives establishing theNational Park Service, with companion legislation in the Senate sponsored byReed Smoot. The legislation passed the House of Representatives on July 1, 1916, passed the Senate on August 5, and was signed by PresidentWoodrow Wilson on August 25, 1916.[11]
Kent was also responsible for the establishment of Muir Woods National Monument on 611 acres of land alongRedwood Creek that Kent and his wifeElizabeth Thacher Kent had originally purchased in 1905 for $45,000 in an effort to preserve the property's groves ofold-growth redwoods.[12] After a local water company began condemnation proceedings in 1907 in an effort to create a reservoir on the site, Kent quickly deeded 295 acres of the property to theU.S. Department of the Interior for the establishment of anational monument under the recently passedAntiquities Act.[13][14] Established as a national monument by PresidentTheodore Roosevelt on January 6, 1908, Kent asked the site be named in honor of conservationistJohn Muir.[12]
Beyond Muir Woods, Kent's efforts to preserve land on Marin County'sMount Tamalpais led to the creation of theMarin Municipal Water District in 1912, which utilized land donated by Kent for its watershed.[13]
Kent's efforts as a conservationist were not exclusive of development and growth. The establishment of Muir Woods as a national monument coincided with the development of theMt. Tamalpais & Muir Woods Railway as a popular tourist attraction, a business in which both Kent and his father had an interest in.[13] In Congress, Kent was a key proponent of 1913 legislation creating theHetch-Hetchy Reservoir, a stance that ultimately cost him his personal friendship with John Muir, whom Kent would call "a man entirely without social sense."[3]
After leaving Congress, Kent was appointed by PresidentWoodrow Wilson to theUnited States Tariff Commission in 1917. In lobbying the Wilson administration for his appointment, Kent alluded to a possible run forgovernor of California, writing Wilson allyNorman Hapgood that "I probably could secure the governorship here if I wanted it, but I do not like the idea of getting down to state matters when my view has been directed at national affairs."[15] Kent served on the Tariff Commission until his resignation in1920 to make an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate.[7][8]
Kent was married to Elizabeth Sherman Thacher on February 26, 1890.[1] Elizabeth Thacher Kent was the daughter of Yale professor and administratorThomas Anthony Thacher. Together they had seven children including sonsSherman Kent (Yale professor and alumnus of the US Central Intelligence Agency) andRoger Kent, who became aDemocratic politician. His daughter was prominent artistAdaline Kent.[1]Sherman Day Thacher was his brother-in-law.
Kent died on March 13, 1928, inKentfield, California, from pneumonia,[6] and his remains were cremated inOakland, California. He was survived by his wife, five sons, two daughters, and ten grandchildren.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | William Kent | 25,346 | 50.1 | |
| Democratic | I. G. Zumwalt | 22,229 | 44.0 | |
| Socialist | W. H. Ferber | 2,647 | 5.2 | |
| Prohibition | Henry P. Stipp | 329 | 0.7 | |
| Total votes | 50,451 | 100.0 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | William Kent | 20,341 | 37.3 | |||
| Democratic | I. G. Zumwalt | 18,756 | 34.4 | |||
| Republican | Edward H. Hart | 10,585 | 19.4 | |||
| Socialist | Joseph Bredsteen | 4,892 | 9.0 | |||
| Total votes | 54,574 | 100.0 | ||||
| Independentgain fromDemocratic | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | William Kent (Incumbent) | 35,403 | 48.1 | |
| Republican | Edward H. Hart | 28,166 | 38.3 | |
| Democratic | O. F. Meldon | 7,987 | 10.8 | |
| Prohibition | Henry P. Stipp | 2,068 | 2.8 | |
| Total votes | 73,624 | 100.0 | ||
| Independenthold | ||||
hull house william kent.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 2nd congressional district 1911–1913 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by John Raker | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 1st congressional district 1913–1917 | Succeeded by |
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