On June 7, 1946, California Governor Earl Warren led the Clamper and Whiskerino Torchlight Parade, which opened the Gold Rush Revival Celebration in Auburn.
This was only the second time a California governor attended the celebration. The first was in 1936 when then-Governor Frank Merriam led the opening parade.
Governor Warren also officiated the crowning of the Gold Rush Revival Queen, Hazel Vieira, later that evening.
He served as governor of California from Jan. 4, 1943, until Oct. 5, 1953, when he became chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.
As chief justice, he helped the court reach a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education, upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He also transformed criminal law by handing down significant judgements in Gideon v. Wainwright, which established a criminal defendant’s right to an attorney in felony cases; and Miranda v. Arizona, which required police to inform those under arrest of their constitutional rights.
Earl Warren retired from the Supreme Court in 1969. He died in 1974 and in his posthumously published memoirs, he wrote that he deeply regretted his role in the internment of Japanese citizens after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“Whenever I thought of the little children torn from home, school friends and congenial surroundings, I was conscience-stricken. It was wrong to react so impulsively, without positive evidence of disloyalty…”
Photo: Governor Earl Warren (center) with members of E. Clampus Vitus No. 3 and their goat mascot in Auburn before the start of the parade on June 7, 1946.
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