That's when the original "Emperor's bridge campaign" began — with this Proclamation from Emperor Norton, published in the Pacific Appeal newspaper on 6 January 1872, setting out the original vision for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
In 2017 and 2018, The Emperor's Bridge Campaign urged state and local lawmakers representing San Francisco and Oakland to take the opportunity of the Emperor's 200th birthday last year to call upon the California legislature simply to add "Emperor Norton Bridge" as an honorary name for the bridge in 2018 — leaving in place all existing names.
Alas, that didn't happen.
BUT...
2019 brings a new symbolic opportunity for the decades-long movement to place the Emperor's name on his bridge:
17 September 2019 is the 160th anniversary of Joshua Norton's declaration of himself and his Empire on 17 September 1859.
In general, it's important that every California state Senator and Assemblymember hear from their constituents who would like to see this happen this year.
Especially, though...
If you are a resident of San Francisco or Oakland, now is a great time to start reaching out to your state Senators and Assemblymembers; Supervisors; and Councilmembers.
Two rules of thumb:
- Personal conversations, phone calls and snail-mail letters are much more effective than emails.
- Stay positive!
It's impossible to over-stress the importance of this second point. The positive case for the "Emperor Norton Bridge" stands — and must stand — on its own. This is not an opportunity to indulge in disparaging any existing bridge naming or honoree of such a naming.
Please do not do this. As a matter of law, protocol and precedent, it is not necessary to remove any naming of any part of the Bay Bridge in order to add a naming for the Emperor. Moreover: Negative appeals will not be well-received in Sacramento — and they will only make it more difficult for the Campaign to maintain the state and local relationships on this issue that we've worked so hard to build over the past few years.
Many thanks for your help!
:: :: ::
To assist with your personal advocacy, we've put together a sample letter, which you'll find on our website here.
Please send us any questions — and let us know about the progress of your efforts — via our contact page here.
You'll find the complete "toolkit" for this project — including background on previous efforts and a detailed explanation of our approach — via
:: :: ::
As to the bridge Proclamation that got it all started — and whose 147th anniversary we celebrate today...
You can learn more, and see all three of the "bridge Proclamations" the Emperor issued that year, on our website here.
See how the Proclamation originally appeared in the Pacific Appeal at the California Digital Newspaper Collection here.
And note the Emperor's second Proclamation that day, published just below the first — against "outrages perpetrated on the Chinese" in Los Angeles.
Emperor Norton's being on the right side of the Chinese question — being on the right side early and often — and, on multiple occasions, doing so at personal physical risk to himself — is one of the many reasons why he deserves the official honor and recognition of the "Emperor Norton Bridge."
:: :: ::
As always, please urge any and all Emperor-saluting friends who have yet to sign the petition to sign today!
Thanks so much!
JOHN LUMEA
The Emperor's Bridge Campaign