Announcement and details of the official dedication and celebration of “Emperor Norton Place” as the City and County of San Francisco’s commemorative name for the 600 block of Commercial Street, between Montgomery and Kearny Streets — where Emperor Norton is documented to have lived from sometime between summer 1864 and summer 1865 until his death in January 1880.
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Does the honorary naming of a block of street put to bed the entire 90-year-long civic naming enterprise on behalf of Emperor Norton?
Absolutely not!
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If one wished to honor Emperor Norton with a street name in San Francisco, the 600 block of Commercial Street would not necessarily be the most fruitful option — notwithstanding the fact that the 600 block of Commercial is where the Emperor laid his head for the last 14 or 15 years of his life.
But, the 600 block of Commercial is what the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has put on the table. Indeed, on Tuesday 11 April, the Supes are set to vote on a resolution to add “Emperor Norton Place” as a commemorative name for this block.
Comes a couple of questions:
At the level of both poetry and design, is “Emperor Norton Place” really the best name? What about “Emperor Norton Way”?
How about adding to the Commercial Street resolution a clause (not currently included) that explicitly requests signage — as the Supervisors’ resolution for “Tony Bennett Way” did in 2017?
Here are some suggestions for how to make a good proposal much better.
Details for submitting public comment in advance of the April 11th meeting are at the bottom of this commentary.
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A commentary advancing the case for naming the San Francisco Ferry Building clock tower the “Emperor Norton Tower” in 2023 — the 125th anniversary of the Ferry Building.
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At the end of May 2022, eight historians of San Francisco sent a letter to former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown urging the Mayor to publicly support The Emperor Norton Trust’s proposal that the California state legislature pass a joint resolution that simply would add “Emperor Norton Bridge” as an honorary name for the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge — leaving in place all existing names and signage for the bridge and its parts, including the “Willie L. Brown, Jr., Bridge” honorific for the West Crossing of the bridge.
The historians joined the Trust’s call that state lawmakers authorize the “Emperor Norton Bridge” naming in 2022 — the 150th anniversary of Emperor Norton’s three newspaper Proclamations setting out the vision for the Bay Bridge in 1872.
Read on for a link to the letter.
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For those who haven’t made a habit of “geeking out” on the subject, the California state legislature’s protocols and historical precedents for authorizing honorary names for state bridges like the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge can be difficult to parse.
This has led many who support adding “Emperor Norton Bridge” as an honorary name for the Bay Bridge to wonder, and even question, whether this is legislatively possible.
It is. Here’s our latest effort to break it down.
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On Saturday 12 November 2016, the Emperor Norton Bridge a.k.a. the Bay Bridge turns 80.
Please join The Emperor's Bridge Campaign for a celebration to wish the Emperor's bridge a happy birthday and to show your support for naming the bridge for Emperor Norton in 2022 — the 150th anniversary of the Emperor's proclamations in 1872 setting out the original vision for the bridge.
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The Emperor's Bridge Campaign proposes that the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge be additionally named for Emperor Norton in 2022 — the 150th anniversary of when Emperor Norton set out the original vision for the Bay Bridge in 1872. On 10 May 2016, Campaign president John Lumea sent to Campaign supporters and followers a letter outlining the bridge-naming proposal and options for pushing it forward.
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