Alpheus "Al" Eugene Sunderland (1866-1940) was a banker, businessman, movie star manager, Woodman, Rotarian, city trustee, and mayor of Fresno. Sunderland is the father of actress Ninette "Nan" Sunderland.
Sunderland was born on October 5, 1866, to Edwin Riley Sunderland and Mercy Cronkite in Pavilion, New York the first of two children. The Sunderland Family would reside in the Pavilion area for several years before the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri. Sunderland began working at 15 years old indicating he completed school to the eighth grade before the family moved. Sunderland would begin as a billing clerk for Armour Packing Company where he learned business and accounting that would prove beneficial in later years. Sunderland would move again to Clovis, California where Sunderland would get a job at the Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company. In 1889, Sunderland would marry Lillian May Gilliam and purchased land near Temperance Colony. An accident at the planing mill on site cost him his left eye and Sunderland was left without work just prior to the Panic of 1893. Sunderland was fortunate to have land and began practicing viticulture which allowed him to become familiar with other local grape and raisin growers of the area. Sunderland was heavily involved with the fraternal benefit society Woodmen of the World up to becoming the Consul Commander for the local lodge as well as the head banker for the Pacific Woodmen division of the society. Sunderland would bring his previous accounting experience and understanding of viticulture farming to start work for a packing house as their secretary. His work in the packing house, viticulture farming, and philanthropy with the Woodmen of the World would continue throughout his political offices.
Civic career
City Board of Trustees
Sunderland would run in April 1905 as a Fresno City Board of Trustee, the precursor to the Fresno City Council, in the 7th Ward. Sunderland, along with several others on a unity ticket of good government with incumbent Mayor L. O. Stephens. The Stephens ticket was viewed as a continuance on the promise from the 1901 municipal election to clean up city streets and keep the local party bosses out of city hall. The election would be a mixed result where portions of the unity ticket, such as Sunderland, would win but Stephens would lose to W. Parker Lyon.
Trustee Sunderland fought for equal treatment of all parts of the city. The most notable event came from the growing mistreatment of the southern part of Fresno in which multiple ice production plants had been set up and allowed to build. These plants were allowed to run excess from ice production into the sewers causing houses in this part of the city to have sewage back ups or run into the streets causing flooding and standing water in the neighborhoods. Sunderland demanded that these plants must be held accountable for their actions and that the northern part of the city would never allow for this type of unsanitary conditions.
Sunderland would find himself at odds with the majority of board of trustees over the amount of liquor licenses in the city. The majority of the board trustees were in favor of restricting, regulating and even elimination of liquor establishments in the city. Trustee Sunderland, along with trustee J. Q. Anderson, and Mayor Lyon favored leaving the licenses alone. This would culminate in a board meeting in February 1908 where the board majority made a motion to cap the amount of liquor licenses in the city at 30 from the current 75 establishments with a license and raise the license fees from $400 (equivalent $11,265 in 2020) to $1000 (equivalent $28,163 in 2020). Sunderland and Anderson balked at this plan and being asked to be put on the record whether they wanted a "wet" or "dry" city in regards to liquor establishments then decided to resign rather than vote on the motion.
School Board
After resignation, Sunderland continued to remain active in civic affairs including working to reestablish a group of residents to push for new playgrounds and better equipment at the current city parks. This committee was reformed at the request of Fresno City Schools superintendent C. L. McLane and then Mayor Alva E. Snow. Sunderland would return to the ballot in 1913 to run as Fresno City Board of Education President and win to succeed Frank A. Homan