About The Emperor Norton Trust
Emperor Norton, c.1874. Detail of photograph by Thomas Houseworth & Co. studio. Collection of the California Historical Society.
THE EMPEROR NORTON TRUST is a nonprofit that works to honor the life and advance the legacy of Joshua Abraham Norton (1818-1880), the San Francisco eccentric and sometime visionary who is best known and remembered as Emperor Norton.*
Founded by John Lumea in San Francisco in 2013, and originally known as The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign, the Trust adopted its current name in December 2019.
The mission of the Trust includes biographical and cultural research and documentation; public education; cultural visioning; and advocacy.
The Emperor Norton Trust is the leading public resource on Emperor Norton.
To advance its mission, the Trust engages in a variety of efforts to ensure that Emperor Norton is even better-known and -loved in his adopted home of San Francisco and the Bay Area — and that he is embraced everywhere as a key herald and symbol of the spirit of progressivism, whimsy and humanity for which this city and region so long have been celebrated. This includes:
Original research and documentation about the life and legacy of Emperor Norton via published articles; our digital ARchive of Emperor Norton in Art, Music & Film (ARENA); and our interactive Emperor Norton Map of the World
Educational programming (Chamber Talks and Field Talks) and commemorative gatherings (see our Events pages)
Longer-term Projects (a compilation album of “Emperor songs”! books! more!)
Advocacy to name the clock tower of the San Francisco Ferry Building the “Emperor Norton Tower” — after 9-plus years of trying to persuade the California legislature to add “Emperor Norton Bridge” as an honorary name for the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge
RECIPIENT OF THE 2016 RON ROSS FOUNDER'S AWARD FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY ASSOCIATION
Join the Trust today as an Emissary of the Empire!
Or support us by making a donation.
PERMISSIONS AND ATTRIBUTION
Unless otherwise noted, all research published to this website of The Emperor Norton Trust — whether via articles on the Trust’s blog; via its Emperor Norton Map of the World; or via its ARchive of Emperor Norton in Art, Music & Film (ARENA) — was conducted and written by John Lumea for The Emperor Norton Trust.
Creators in any medium who wish to quote, adapt or otherwise use this research in any published work that draws on this research must secure permission from the Trust and provide appropriate attribution in the work.
For further information, please contact us.
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* The Emperor Norton Trust is organized as a “sole proprietorship in the public interest.” Nonprofit in spirit and in practice, the Trust is led by John Lumea and supported by a select group of Advisors. The Emperor Norton Trust is the evolutionary “next phase” of the larger enterprise that began with — and was expressed as — The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign from August 2013 to December 2019.