L.A. Rights Leader Honored on 100th Birthday

H. Claude Hudson, a leader in the civil rights movement for 75 years, was honored in Los Angeles on his 100th birthday Saturday.

“It’s no fun being a hundred. You have a lot of aches and pains,” said Hudson, who uses a walker to support his body. He was honored by 100 health workers, county officials and other guests at a party at the H. Claude Hudson Comprehensive Health Center.

At the ceremony, Hudson said he would not want to relive the past because “the struggle has been too long and too hard.” A dentist and banker, Hudson was an original member of the local chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, and was instrumental in desegregating the community’s public pools and beaches.