The Emperor Norton Trust is a nonprofit whose mission is to honor the life and advance the legacy of Joshua Abraham Norton (1818–1880), better known as the 19th-century San Francisco eccentric, Emperor Norton.
Originally known as The Emperor's Bridge Campaign, the Trust was launched in September 2013 as a project to carry forward the call of the August 2013 Change.org petition to name the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge — long known locally simply as "the Bay Bridge" — after Emperor Norton, who set out the original vision for the bridge with three newspaper proclamations published in 1872.
Subsequently, the organization created and has followed a larger public mission that includes research and documentation; education; and advocacy concerning the full life and legacy of Emperor Norton.
The Emperor's Bridge Campaign adopted a new name, The Emperor Norton Trust, in December 2019.
Background
In June 2013, a group of California state lawmakers introduced a resolution in the California State Assembly to name the Western crossing of the state-owned San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge — the section from Yerba Buena Island to San Francisco — for former Assembly Speaker and former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown.Wyatt Buchanan, "Bay Bridge May Carry Willie Brown's Name," San Francisco Chronicle, June 13, 2013.
Several weeks later, on 1 August 2013, writer John Lumea, then living in San Francisco, wrote and published a Change.org petition calling for the entire Bay Bridge, from Oakland to San Francisco, to be named after Emperor Norton, who in 1872 — with three proclamations published in the African-American-owned abolitionist weekly The Pacific Appeal — called for a bay-spanning suspension bridge linking Oakland to San Francisco via Goat Island, the present-day Yerba Buena Island."Bridge Proclamations," The Emperor Norton Trust.
The petition echoed an earlier, 2004 effort in which then-San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced a resolution to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors calling for the Bay Bridge to be named after Emperor Norton. Ultimately, the resolution passed by the Board called for only the bridge's new Eastern crossing — the "Oakland side," then in the early planning stages — to be named after Norton. This suggestion was not well received by the Oakland City Council, and the idea went no further.
In the six weeks from the launch of the Change.org petition until the final California State Senate vote approving the resolution naming the Bay Bridge's Western crossing for Willie Brown, the petition attracted 3,800 signatures. It also received media coverage from the San Francisco Chronicle,Debra J. Saunders, "Willie Brown Bay Bridge — Whether You Like It or Not", San Francisco Chronicle, 10 September 2013.Carolyn Said, "Wide Range of Causes Use Online Petitions" San Francisco Chronicle, 10 October 2013. San Francisco Bay Guardian,Justin Slaughter, "Petition to name Bay Bridge after Emperor Norton gains 1,000 signatures", San Francisco Bay Guardian, 13 August 2013.Editorial, "Forget the Willie Brown Bridge", San Francisco Bay Guardian, 9 September 2013. KQED (Bay Area NPR affiliate),Dan Brekke, "Bay Bridge? Willie Brown Bridge? Fight Over Span's Name Erupts", KQED, 13 September 2013. SFist,Andrew Dalton, "Effort To Rename Bay Bridge After Emperor Norton Revived By Online Petition" , SFist, 6 August 2013.Andrew Dalton, "The Willie Brown Bridge Must Be Stopped," SFist, 5 September 2013.Andrew Dalton, "The Willie Brown Bridge Is Moving Forward Despite Growing Opposition, Common Sense", SFist, 11 September 2012. Laughing Squid,EDW Lynch, "Petition Calls for San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge To Be Named After Emperor Norton", Laughing Squid, 7 August 2013. San Jose Mercury NewsMartin Snapp, "Move Afoot to Honor Historic S.F. Eccentric", San Jose Mercury News, 21 August 2013.Mike Rosenberg, "Bay Bridge Span, Against Gov. Jerry Brown's Wishes, Set to be Renamed, San Jose Mercury News, 10 September 2013. and the Los Angeles Times,Anthony York, "Gov. Jerry Brown Opposes Bid to Name Bay Bridge after Willie Brown", Los Angeles Times, 11 September 2013. among others.
The petition remains open and currently is at nearly 6,700 signatures.
Origins and first year
Encouraged by this response, Lumea set up a Facebook group on 26 August 2013 for a potential new organization that he called "The Emperor's Bridge Campaign."John Lumea, Post documenting creation of Facebook group for The Emperor's Bridge Campaign, Facebook, 26 August 2013.
A launch party for the effort was held on 28 September 2013 at Emperor Norton's Boozeland, an Emperor Norton-themed bar in San Francisco.
Over the course of its first year, the Campaign continued to engage in the call to name the Bay Bridge after Emperor Norton.Stuart Schuffman, "The Deeper Problem with 'Willie L. Brown, Jr., Bridge, BrokeAssStuart.com, 11 February 2014."The Bridge Name Game" in "Intelligence" roundup, San Francisco Bay Guardian (vol. 48, no 9), 27 November – 3 December 2013 issue, p.4. The organization identified a couple of state naming practices that it used to develop a naming approach that it saw as a more politically and financially realistic than a wholesale "renaming" of the bridge. Specifically, the Campaign observed: (1) while the State of California recognizes "Willie L. Brown, Jr., Bridge" as the official name for the Bay Bridge's Western crossing, the state also — separately and independently — continues to recognize the unofficial name "San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge" for the entire bridge system. (2) There exists the precedent of state-owned bridges for which the State of California recognizes multiple names, either multiple official names or some combination of official and unofficial names."Whys and Hows of Bridge Naming: A Primer" (points 8–9; 11), The Emperor Norton Trust."California State Bridges With Multiple Names, The Emperor Norton Trust.
On this basis, the organization introduced the option of simply adding "Emperor Norton Bridge" as an honorary name for the Bay Bridge, leaving in place all existing names for the bridge and its parts (spans, tunnel, pedestrian/bike path, etc.).See point number 11 at "Whys and Hows of Bridge Naming: A Primer", Emperor Norton Trust.See third FAQ at "Frequently Asked Questions", Emperor Norton Trust.
While The Emperor's Bridge Campaign remained active on the bridge-naming front, it expanded its mission to include historical research and documentation, and public education, about the full life and legacy of Emperor Norton.
Via its Web site and social media channels (Facebook and Twitter), as well as in public talks, the Campaign began to document its historical discoveries about Emperor Norton and to highlight art, music, film and other creative efforts that are inspired by him.
The Emperor's Bridge Campaign also began to produce public commemorative events to mark and celebrate various aspects of the Emperor Norton story."Raise a Tannenbaum Toast with Emperor Norton," second item in "Drink Here Now: Five Places to Sip This Week," 7x7.com, 4 December 2013.Stuart Schuffman, "A New Tradition: Toast the Union Square Xmas Tree with Emperor Norton!" BrokeAssStuart.com, 5 December 2013."The First Annual Tannenbaum Toast," The Bold Italic, December 2013."The Emperor's Garden Party," The Bold Italic, September 2014.
The Campaign incorporated as a nonprofit in late 2014.Rachel Swan, "The Emperor's Bridge Campaign Is Now a Nonprofit" , SF Weekly, 11 November 2014.
Research program
Since launching the organization in 2013, founder John Lumea has written and published more than 200 research articles on different aspects of Emperor Norton's life and legacy.The Emperor Norton Trust, Original Research & Commentary, Emperor Norton Trust.
Lumea's research has garnered particular attention in three areas of general interest:
Emperor Norton's birth date
When Emperor Norton's remains were moved in 1934 from their original resting place at the Masonic cemetery, in San Francisco, to Woodlawn cemetery, in Colma, Calif., a new granite headstone was created that memorializes 1819 as his birth year. Over time, Emperor Norton's grave has become a frequently photographed pilgrimage site, and this has shaped the conventional wisdom about when Norton was born.
But, the two later book-length works about Emperor Norton — Allen Stanley Lane's Emperor Norton: The Mad Monarch of America (1939) and William Drury's Norton I: Emperor of the United States (1986) — maintain that Norton was born in 1818.
In late 2014 and early 2015, The Emperor's Bridge Campaign undertook its first large project of original research: an effort to pin down Emperor Norton's precise birth date. At an event in February 2015, Lumea presented the Campaign's case for 4 February 1818 as the most likely date.John Lumea, "Joshua Abraham Norton, b. 4 February 1818," Emperor Norton Trust.
Based on this research, the Campaign in January–March 2018 produced Emperor Norton at 200, a 6-week series of talks, exhibits and special events in San Francisco celebrating the Norton bicentennial. In co-producing specific events, the organization was joined by the California Historical Society, the Mechanics' Institute, the San Francisco Public Library and the Society of California Pioneers.Carl Nolte, "City to Celebrate Emperor Norton's 200th Birthday, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 February 2018."America's Emperor, San Francisco's Treasure: Who Was Emperor Norton? article and 12-minute podcast, KQED, 1 March 2018.Joe Kukura, "The Emperor's Birthday", SF Weekly, 1 February 2018. At the Campaign's request, the City and County of San Francisco lit both San Francisco City Hall and Coit Tower in gold on 4 February 2018.Adam Brinklow, "San Francisco City Hall turns gold to remember Emperor Norton", Curbed SF, 6 February 2018.
In March 2020, the Campaign — newly renamed The Emperor Norton Trust — presented its research to the Library of Congress, which responded by changing its official birth information for Emperor Norton (Joshua Abraham Norton) from "1819" to "1818" and specifically to "1818-02-04", reflecting the specific birth date."Library of Congress & Emperor Norton Trust Update Emperor Norton's Birth Year from 1819 to 1818, The Emperor Norton Trust, 5 March 2020.
Printers of Emperor Norton's bonds
In May 2017, Lumea published an essay on the two printers of the promissory notes that Emperor Norton sold from 1870 until his death in 1880: Cuddy & Hughes and Charles A. Murdock & Co. Cuddy & Hughes also was the printer of the Pacific Appeal newspaper during the period, 1870–1875, when the paper published some 250 of Norton's proclamations.John Lumea, "Notes on His Majesty's Printers," 2 May 2017, The Emperor Norton Trust.
Reporting on this and related research by Lumea has been the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, a nonprofit, founded in 1980, that advances numismatic scholarship, i.e., research on historical currency and coin. In the case of Emperor Norton, NBS's interest extends to Norton-related ephemera.Numismatic Bibliomania Society, "Notes on His Majesty's Printers," 7 May 2017, coinbooks.org.Numismatic Bibliomania Society, "When Was the First Emperor Norton Scrip Issued"? 14 July 2019, coinbooks.org.Numismatic Bibliomania Society, "The 1953 Emperor Norton Medals," 5 April 2020, coinbooks.org.Numismatic Bibliomania Society, "Grand Order of the West Knight Companion Medal," Notes from E-Sylum Readers (item 6), 12 April 2020, coinbooks.org.Numismatic Bibliomania Society, "Summary: Emperor Norton Treasure Hunt Material," Loose Change (item 2), coinbooks.org.
In October 2018, Heritage Auctions cited Lumea's May 2017 essay (see above) in its listing of a July 1878 Emperor Norton note.Heritage Auctions, "Rare and Impressive Emperor Norton I 1880 5% Convertible Note" (description), 1 October 2018, currency.ha.com
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