Stanley B. Wilson

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Stanley Brock Wilson (October 11, 1869 – January 27, 1937) was a Canadian‑American labor leader, newspaper publisher and Methodist preacher. He served on the California State Board of Education from December 21, 1918, to November 9, 1923, after being appointed by Governor William Stephens.

Born in Arnprior, Ontario, he was the second of eight children of William Wilson, an Irish immigrant, and Martha Wilson. He moved to the United States at 18 and settled in San Diego County. He spent the 1890s building his career as a preacher and newspaper publisher in Ramona, where he bought and edited The Ramona Sentinel in 1897. He earned the nickname “pugilist preacher” after two fistfights and later became active in Republican politics, supporting McKinley in 1898. He worked in various state roles and, by 1903, settled in Los Angeles and led the Los Angeles Typographical Union.

In 1906, Wilson helped form the Public Ownership Party and ran for mayor of Los Angeles. His platform called for banning corporate lobbyists from city hall, restricting liquor sales, and establishing an eight‑hour workday for city workers. He finished in fourth place with a little over 12 percent of the vote; Arthur C. Harper won the election.

Wilson continued his publishing career, including work on The Western Comrade, and remained active in public life. He married Georgia M. Baxter in 1891, and they had two daughters, Charlotte and Ethel. In 1913, his daughter Charlotte briefly faced an annulment case after a marriage to Floyd De Hay.

He died in Los Angeles in 1937 at age 67 and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. He served on the California State Board of Education until 1923.