Zelda Wolpe, 89, longtime Los Angeles clinical psychologist who helped bring minorities into the Los Angeles County Fire Department through her development of nondiscriminatory testing. Wolpe was a pioneer in speech pathology, children's psychodrama and family therapy as well as an expert on the psychology of racism. In 1972-73, she became involved in a legal battle led by the Center for Law in the Public Interest to increase the number of minorities in the Los Angeles County Fire Department. She helped develop a test for prospective firefighters that eliminated questions that were not job-related. She backed changes in the physical exam, such as dropping a rule that said firefighters could not have flat feet, a requirement that effectively excluded most black applicants. "It was through her effort that things did change," said Assistant Chief Herschel Clady, who in the early 1970s was one of only nine black firefighters in the county. Wolpe was honored by the Stentorians, a black firefighters' association, for her contributions during that period, which also saw a federal court-imposed quota system on the county department. Wolpe also successfully fought City Hall in 1969 when she won a legal battle to avoid criminal prosecution for failing to repair landslide damage to her Encino home. She argued that responsibility for the slide belonged to a developer who built homes above her. Wolpe, in addition to working in private practice, was a former director of the child guidance clinic at White Memorial Hospital in East Los Angeles and taught at USC, and the California State University campuses at Northridge and Los Angeles. On Aug. 7 in Reston, Va., after a long illness.
Zelda Wolpe, 89, longtime Los Angeles clinical psychologist who helped bring minorities into the Los Angeles County Fire Department through her development of nondiscriminatory testing. Wolpe was a pioneer in speech pathology, children's psychodrama and family therapy as well as an expert on the psychology of racism. In 1972-73, she became involved in a legal battle led by the Center for Law in the Public Interest to increase the number of minorities in the Los Angeles County Fire Department. She helped develop a test for prospective firefighters that eliminated questions that were not job-related. She backed changes in the physical exam, such as dropping a rule that said firefighters could not have flat feet, a requirement that effectively excluded most black applicants. "It was through her effort that things did change," said Assistant Chief Herschel Clady, who in the early 1970s was one of only nine black firefighters in the county. Wolpe was honored by the Stentorians, a black firefighters' association, for her contributions during that period, which also saw a federal court-imposed quota system on the county department. Wolpe also successfully fought City Hall in 1969 when she won a legal battle to avoid criminal prosecution for failing to repair landslide damage to her Encino home. She argued that responsibility for the slide belonged to a developer who built homes above her. Wolpe, in addition to working in private practice, was a former director of the child guidance clinic at White Memorial Hospital in East Los Angeles and taught at USC, and the California State University campuses at Northridge and Los Angeles. On Aug. 7 in Reston, Va., after a long illness.
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