Reverend F. Douglas Ferrell was born February 21, 1915 in Gonzales City, Texas. He was the first African American to represent the Watts community in Los Angeles in the California State Legislature. He earned a doctorate in Divinity, was an ordained Baptist minister. He founded Tabernacle of Faith Baptist Church in South Los Angeles, and also served as vice president of the California State Baptist Convention prior to his Assembly election as a Democrat in 1962. His political philosophy was: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men would do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” He was an ardent advocate for civil rights and equal rights, and a staunch opponent of racial discrimination. His vocation as a pastor and legislator focused on youth and missionary causes. He fought for school integration in the Los Angeles Unified School District in the early 1960s. Reverend Ferrell died in 1982, at the age of 67.