Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Sara Wilde Houser, 1870-1948
By Haleigh Marcello, Graduate Student, Department of History, UC Irvine
Leader of the Socialist Party in Southern California, Member of the Women's Lawyer Club of California, Professional Woman's Club, Founded Phi Delta Delta Los Angeles County Suffrage Club and the Woman Suffrage League
Sara (sometimes spelled ‘Sarah') Isabelle Wilde Houser was born in 1870 near San Francisco, California. Houser's grandparents were “California pioneers,” among the first people of European descent to settle in the state. Houser's family apparently had deep roots in the county as well; she was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), and was related to Colonel W. Mead. Houser's father, Francis Brook Wilde, was a supporter of suffrage; it was reported that he paid for the meeting-place for the local suffrage movement.
Houser was one of the founding members of the University of Southern California's Law School. Houser graduated from the USC Law School in 1900. She was the second woman in California to be admitted to the Bar. After graduating, Houser became a member of the Women's Lawyer Club of California, the Professional Woman's Club, and founded the first legal sorority in America: Phi Delta Delta. Houser seemed to stop practicing law soon after her marriage to fellow law school classmate and co-councilor, Frederick Wilhelm Houser. They would both later work together on the case D.M. Tittle v. T.D. Mott, about a violation of contract – a case which went all the way to the Superior Court.
Sara Wilde and Frederick Houser were married on 1 January 1903. Frederick Houser later went on to become a Justice on the District Court of Appeals, and a California State Supreme Court Justice. They had two children. One of their sons, named Frederick F. Houser, later went on to serve as a Superior Court Judge, and Lieutenant Governor of California. Their other son, Rodman W. Houser, was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy.
Houser was an early advocate of women's suffrage and was an active member of the Los Angeles County suffrage club and the Woman Suffrage League. In 1904 she was voted to be an alternate delegate to a California state suffrage convention. In addition to her activities as a suffragist, Houser was also involved in Socialist circles, a Red Cross member, and advocated for pensions for stay-at-home mothers. She also ran a boarding house in her home with the help of her sister, Kate Wilde Barber.
Sara Wilde Houser died on 22 March 1948 at the age of 78 at her home in Alhambra, California. It was reported that she died peacefully, in her sleep.
Sources:
California Legislature. “House Resolution No. 87.” Journals of the Legislature of the State of California, Volume 2. Sacramento: California Legislature, 1948.
https://books.google.com/books?id=t8ESZAmaCMkC&&q=sara+wilde+houser&dq=sara+wilde+houser&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiL_NiCxJziAhVUgp4KHRMOB-oQ6AEILzAB
“Chapter IV: California.” History of Women Suffrage, Vol. 6: 1900,1920, edited by Ida Husted Harper. New York: National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1922.
https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cdocument%7C2533029.
Daughters of the American Revolution. History of California State Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1891-1938. Oakland: Lederer, Street, & Zeus Company, Incorporated, 1938.
https://books.google.com/books?id=FKEOAQAAIAAJ&dq=sara+wilde+houser&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=wilde.
“Death Claims Distinguished State Jurist.” San Bernardino Sun, 13 October 1942.
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SBS19421013.1.2&srpos=5&e=------194-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Frederick+W.+Houser%22----1942---1.
Katz, Sherry. “Socialist Women and Progressive Reform.” California Progressivism Revisited, edited by William Deverell and Tom Sitton. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.
“F. F. Houser, 85; Superior Court Judge, Lt. Governor, Legislator.” Los Angeles Times, 29 December 1989.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-29-mn-1144-story.html.
“Houser Declared Well Equipped for Associate.” Eagle Rock Sentinel, 15 October 1926.
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=ERS19261015.2.32&srpos=24&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-sara+wilde-------1.
“Houser, Frederick Wilhelm.” Who's Who in Law, edited by J.C. Shwarz. New York: J.C. Shwarz, 1937.
https://books.google.com/books?id=iI8jAQAAMAAJ&&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
“In Memoriam: Honorable Frederick W. Houser.” Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California, September 30, 1942 to April 23, 1943, edited by B.E. Witkin and WM. Nankervis, Jr. San Francisco: Bancroft-Whitney Company, 1943.
https://stanford.app.box.com/v/frederick-houser.
“Law School Reception.” Los Angeles Herald, 14 October 1898.
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH18981014.2.173&srpos=18&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-sara+wilde-------1.
“Law Students Organize.” Los Angeles Herald, 13 June 1897.
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH18970613.2.130&srpos=2&e=------189-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Frederick+W.+Houser%22-------1.
Los Angeles Assembly District 74, Los Angeles, California. 1910 United States Federal Census. Digital image. HeritageQuest Online, 8 May 2019.
https://search.ancestryheritagequest.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1910USCenIndex&indiv=try&h=180775686.
“Love and Politics in Comedy of Errors,” Los Angeles Times, 17 January 1903.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/380028297/?terms=Sara%2BWilde%2BHouser
“Mrs. Houser, Pioneer Woman Lawyer, Dies.” San Bernardino County Sun, 23 March 1948.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12701408/houser_sara_wilde_pioneer_woman/.
“Program Prepared.” Los Angeles Herald, 26 November 1899.
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH18991126.2.177&srpos=11&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-sara+wilde-------1.
“Sara Isabel Wilde.” Geni. Accessed 10 May 2019.
https://www.geni.com/people/Sara/6000000072434924913.
Southern California Review of Law and Women's Studies, vol. 10, 2000.
https://books.google.com/books?id=IzpMAQAAIAAJ&q=sarah+wilde+houser&dq=sarah+wilde+houser&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi16O3IoPnhAhXR31QKHZg1CssQ6AEIWzAI.
“Suffrage Workers of County Convene.” Los Angeles Herald, 6 October 1904.
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19041006.2.172&srpos=30&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-sara+houser-------1.
Sullivan, Meg. “Laying a Legal Foundation.” USC News, 11 November 1996.
https://news.usc.edu/12523/Laying-a-Legal-Foundation/.
“Superior Court.” Los Angeles Herald, 23 June 1902.
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19020623.2.163&srpos=3&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-sara+houser-------1.
“Women Plan to Adopt Foreigners.” Los Angeles Herald, 9 September 1918.
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19180909.2.66&srpos=8&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-sara+houser-------1.
“2354 – Alter Rooming House.” Southwest Builder and Contractor, 4 January 1918.
https://books.google.com/books?id=uU5RAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.