Emperor Norton Welcomes the Stranger
The Emperor outlines his immigration policy in this timely Proclamation, published in the Pacific Appeal newspaper on 24 April 1875.
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An Empire of the Heart
A portion of remarks offered by Emperor's Bridge Campaign founder and president John Lumea at the Campaign's inaugural celebration of Empire Day in San Francisco's Redwood Park on 17 September 2015. The event was held to mark the 156th anniversary of Joshua Norton's declaration of himself as "Emperor of these United States" on 17 September 1859 and to welcome the 157th year of the Nortonian realm and reign.
Read MorePeremptory
An Empire Day meditation on one of least understood words of Emperor Norton's original Proclamation of 17 September 1859.
Read MoreThe Original Public Advocate
In the current San Francisco mayoral election, one of the challengers to sitting mayor Ed Lee has offered an anti-corruption plan that includes a proposal that San Francisco create a new elected office for a Public Advocate.
Other major cities already have Public Advocates; the level of authority depends on the city.
But the general idea is that the Public Advocate is a kind of official watchdog — someone who helps to ensure that the citizens are being treated fairly; that government agencies and private companies are properly maintaining basic utilities and services like streets, public transit, water, electricity and gas (and not gouging the people in the process); and that corruption that affects the general populace is called out wherever it is found.
Sound familiar? It should.
The original Public Advocate is Emperor Norton.
THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST BAY | Chamber Talk #2
The conventional wisdom is that Emperor Norton was solely a San Francisco figure — a creature of the streets, parks, libraries, lecture halls and newspapers of his adopted city. In fact, the Emperor was a very well-known presence in Oakland and Berkeley, as well, making weekly visits to both places — and sometimes staying for days or weeks at a time. Please join The Emperor's Bridge Campaign for a special event with local historian Richard Schwartz, exploring an overlooked — but important — part of the Emperor's story.
Read MoreJoin Us in a New Tradition: Empire Day
Cabinet card of Emperor Norton, c.1878, by Bradley & Rulofson. Collection of The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
Join The Emperor's Bridge Campaign as we celebrate the foundation of Norton's Empire on 17 September 1859 and the continuation of that Empire into the present and the future — a borderless Empire of the heart open to all who have eyes to see and ears to hear.
Please gather in Redwood Park, San Francisco — adjacent to the Transamerica Pyramid — on Thursday 17 September at 6 p.m. sharp.
We're calling it Empire Day — and we hope that this will mark the beginning of a new tradition.
Read MoreEmperor Norton's Fantastic San Francisco Campaign Benefit
The Emperor's Bridge Campaign is honored to announce that, on Sunday 6 September, our good friend Joseph Amster will be offering — as a fundraising benefit for the Campaign — a special edition of his regular Emperor Norton's Fantastic San Francisco Time Machine historical walking tour.
100% of all ticket sales for this event will go to The Emperor's Bridge Campaign.
Read MoreThe Snubs of 1934
The story of those who stood by Emperor Norton at his death in 1880 — and two prominent organizations that did not, when the Emperor was reburied in 1934. Includes images of original archival documents published for the first time.
Read MoreA Plaque for the Emperor (With His Birth Date in Bronze)
On a beautiful if blustery afternoon yesterday in Colma, about 40 friends of Emperor Norton gathered for the laying of a special historical plaque for the Emperor at Home of Peace — the cemetery of Congregation Emanu-El, where the Emperor attended synagogue every Saturday.
Read MoreMr. Hutchinson's Mementos
It long has been known that, upon Emperor Norton's death in January 1880, many of his personal effects — including his regimentals, a hat, his sword and his treasured Serpent Scepter, an elaborate walking stick given him by his subjects in Oregon — went to the Society of California Pioneers (only to be lost 26 years later in the earthquake and fire).
Many, but not all. This week, we discovered archival traces of an early 1880 donation to the Odd Fellows' Library Association of San Francisco. The donation — by David Hutchinson, Emperor Norton's longtime landlord at the Eureka Lodgings — included the stamp the Emperor used to place his seal on his proclamations. It might also have included the Emperor's final proclamation: written and sealed, but not yet delivered and published.
Read MoreA Jewish Memorial for the Emperor
Detail of 1866 photograph of the newly completed second synagogue building of Congregation Emanu-El, located on Sutter Street between Powell and Stockton in San Francisco. Emperor Norton attended services here every Saturday. After the interior of the building was destroyed by fire following the earthquake of 1906, the structure was rebuilt and continued to be used by the Congregation until the present third synagogue building was dedicated in 1926. Original photo: California Views Photo Archives.
Emperor Norton was an English Jew. In San Francisco, he attended synagogue services at Congregation Emanu-El every Saturday. But he was never given a Jewish funeral or burial.
Now — 135 years after his death in 1880 — those who admire and revere the Emperor have an opportunity to participate in an afternoon of activities — on Sunday 3 May 2015 — intended to help mend this historical tear in the fabric of the Emperor's story. The ceremonial highlight of the afternoon will be the laying of a special plaque for Emperor Norton at Home of Peace, Emanu-El's cemetery in nearby Colma, Calif.
Read MoreHappy Hour with the Emperor's Niece
1838 marriage record of Philip Norton and Anne Mary Ogilvie. Philip (b.1820) was the younger brother of Emperor Norton (b.1818) — and is the great great great grandfather of Julie Driver, the Campaign's special Happy Hour guest at Comstock Saloon, San Francisco, on 29 April. Source: 1820Settlers.com.
The Emperor's Bridge Campaign invites you to a Happy Hour featuring Norton genealogist — and the Emperor's niece — Julie Driver.
Read MoreAn Emperor Norton Essay with Legs
You're not likely to encounter a more thoughtful or potent meditation on Emperor Norton and what he means than this.
Read MoreFIELD TALK #1 | The Street Where He Lived: An Illustrated History of Emperor Norton's Commercial Street
The block of Commercial Street, in San Francisco, where Emperor Norton lived from 1863 until his death in 1880. This 1888 photograph captures the view looking east from Kearny Street. Source: California Views: The Pat Hathaway Photo Collection.
Join The Emperor's Bridge Campaign as we kick off our occasional series of Field Talks with a visit to the block of Commercial Street, between Montgomery and Kearny Streets, in San Francisco, where we'll explore the histories of the site (and its surroundings) where Emperor Norton lived from 1863 until he died in 1880.
Read MoreZpub, Emperor Norton Records & the Emperor's Birth Date: A Case Study in Good Intentions & Undue Influence
How two of the Emperor's most loyal subjects sought to celebrate him but — despite their best intentions — wound up leading a generation to get one of the most basic facts about him wrong.
Read MoreJoshua Abraham Norton, b. 4 February 1818
The following illustrated remarks were presented by Emperor's Bridge Campaign founder and president John Lumea at The Emperor's 197th Birthday, the Campaign's "party and presentation of recent findings" held on 3 February 2015 at the Eric Quezada Center for Culture and Politics in San Francisco.
Read MoreDoggies and Pyromaniacs for Emperor Norton!
This past Tuesday evening (3 February) was a "school night." So, The Emperor's Bridge Campaign was delighted to welcome some 55-60 guests — including many new faces! — to the Eric Quezada Center for Culture and Politics at 518 Valencia Street in San Francisco, for The Emperor's 197th Birthday, a "party and presentation of recent findings" in support of the Campaign.
Read MoreThe Fourth of February of the San Francisco of 1865
Emperor Norton's biographer, William Drury, maintains that "February 4th" had nothing at all to do with "His Majesty's Birthday." But was Drury right?
Read MoreThe Necropolis (and So Much More) of San Francisco
In 1934, Emperor Norton was (re)buried in Colma, Calif. But the connection of Colma to the life of San Francisco runs much, much deeper than simply providing real estate for burial plots. SF Weekly reporter Joe Eskenazi was up this past week with a really fine historical-observational piece that fleshes out everything that Colma has done for San Francisco, and why this matters.
Read MoreThe Emperor's 197th Birthday: A Party & Presentation of Recent Findings
John Tenniel's (1820-1914) illustration for the story of the Lion and the Unicorn, from Lewis Carroll's (1832-1898) novel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871).
Was Emperor Norton really born in 1819, as his gravestone says? Or was he born in 1818? At the next event of The Emperor's Bridge Campaign, we'll shed new light on the answer to this old question.
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