Bay City News
via San Francisco Chronicle (California)
Former Oakland Fire Chief Samuel Golden, who headed the fire department from 1981 to 1986 and was the city’s first black fire chief, died Sunday, department officials said today.
Oakland’s current fire chief, Daniel Farrell, said today that Golden joined the fire department “when it wasn’t very popular for African Americans and other minorities to come to the department.”
Farrell, who is also black, said Golden “addressed that need and championed that cause and made it possible for a large number of African Americans, like myself, and women to come to the department.”
Full Story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/baycitynews/archive/2006/01/30/chief30.DTL