When you hear that San Francisco is spending $3 million of Mellon Foundation money to cull its civic monuments collection, you assume that collection must be full of statues depicting leaders of genocidal campaigns to eradicate native people, Waffen S.S. commanders, and a particularly vicious contingent of the Hessian troops that fought against the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. You’d be wrong. In fact, most of the 98 monuments owned by the city of San Francisco are notably inoffensive. They’re more or less what you’d expect 19th century San Franciscans to commemorate: assorted generals, early explorers, allegorical figures representing Native Sons and other Old West characters, civic leaders, and so on, with some weird and wonderful wild cards thrown in, including several people even experts in San Francisco history have never heard of.
I’ve gone through this mostly bland collection and offered some educated guesses as to which monuments will be marked for cancellation. A lot depends on how extreme an approach to moral uplift the city decides to take. If it goes down the ill-fated path of the school renaming crusade, expect quite a few monuments to be removed, or receive explanatory or apologetic curation (which can be legitimate, but can also be intrusive and gratuitous).
I’ve divided the 98 monuments into six groups. The first four range from most to least likely to be cancelled—“Grab Some Pine, Bronze!” (with apologies to the great Giants announcer Mike Krukow, who deserves his own statue), “Monumental Purgatory,”
“Obscure White Men of the 19th Century!” and “Not Going Anywhere.” I also have two special categories: “Unique Cases” and “Special Award for Stupidity”
Please make out check for $3 million to Gary Kamiya.
Let’s start with what the ones most likely to be removed.
Grab some pine, bronze! These monuments have either already been removed and aren’t coming back, or are circling the drain.
1. Francis Scott Key. During the George Floyd upheaval, his statue in the Music Concourse was toppled by mobs (along with Junipero Serra and President U.S. Grant) because the Maryland-born author of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was a slaveowner. Oh, say can you see his statue in San Francisco again? Not likely. Rumors that rogue San Francisco anti-monument groups piloted the ship that toppled the Key Bridge in Baltimore cannot be confirmed.
2. The Pioneer Monument. Eviscerated with the removal of the “Early Days” statuary group, which will never return.
3. Father Junipero Serra. His statue in Golden Gate Park was toppled, along with ones of Key and Grant. He won’t return unless the city miraculously changes its entire approach to its monument collection and realizes that simply erasing one of the most important figures in California history, however problematic, is profoundly wrongheaded.
4. James D. Phelan. Mayor Phelan was a major figure in the city’s history—a Wilsonian Progressive, a reformer (he supported municipally-owned utilities) and an ardent backer of the City Beautiful movement. However, he was also virulently anti-Asian (in particular anti-Japanese) and although that sentiment was widespread at the time, it will almost certainly doom him today. The city already changed the name of Phelan Avenue to Frida Kahlo Way.
5. Christopher Columbus. During the disturbances of June 2020, the city pre-emptively removed the massive statue of Columbus from below Coit Tower, where it had stood since it was donated by the Italian-American community in 1957. Like Serra, the “discoverer” of the New World will remain condemned to oblivion unless the city has a massive epiphany about the wisdom of removing towering and problematic historic figures. Amazingly, New York City seems not to have embraced genocidal imperialism and settler colonialism despite the presence of a 76-foot monument to the explorer above Columbus Circle.
Monumental purgatory. These monuments may or may not be removed; they may receive new curation.
1. The Dewey Monument. This is one of the trickiest ones for the arts poobahs at City Hall. If only because they need to demonstrate their fervent commitment to monument cleansing, and there aren’t that many egregious offenders on the list of 98, arts bureaucrats are likely to cast a baleful eye on anything having to do with the Spanish-American War, which is widely regarded as the U.S.’s first imperialist war. Admiral Dewey, who commanded the victorious U.S. fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay, was idolized in his day, but the city is likely to decide he does not “reflect San Francisco values.” However, the Dewey Monument is the most central and important monument in the city, standing in the dead center of Union Square, and it’s extremely unlikely the city will have the cojones to remove it. Look for curation, particularly about the brutal Philippine-American War.
2. The California Volunteers Monument. Douglas Tilden’s monument to the state’s volunteers to the Spanish-American war is a triumphalist and martial statuary group, depicting a fierce goddess of war and two soldiers, one fallen. Originally at Market and Van Ness, it was moved to Dolores and Market in 1925. It probably won’t be removed, if only because if it were removed, the Dewey Monument should also go. Curation likely.
3. General Ulysses S. Grant. Toppled by mobs (with Fr. Serra and Francis Scott Key) because he briefly owned an enslaved man. Grant is perhaps the most likely cancelled figure to be uncancelled (with apologetic curation).
4. Gen. Frederick Funston. Funston has two strikes against him: he led U.S. troops in the Philippine-American War, and his leadership during the 1906 catastrophe has been attacked, in particular his decision to declare martial law. The onetime hero has a street and a park named after him and was the first San Franciscan to lie in state at City Hall, but his City Hall bust could be headed for deep storage.
5. Father William D. McKinnon. The chaplain of California volunteers in the Spanish-American War, McKinnon might be cancelled both because of his association with that war and his obscurity (depending on how the monument cleansers view obscurity).
6. Statue of King Carlos III. The King of Spain from 1759 to 1788, Carlos III was a proponent of Enlightened Absolutism. He is considered a successful monarch, but he was also one of the largest slave owners in the Spanish Empire. If arts bureaucrats are consistent, they’ll deep-six Carlos, even if it creates a diplomatic incident with their Spanish counterparts.
7. Sun Dial. This sculpture in bronze and cast stone may look like an innocuous sun dial. But it commemorates the first three navigators to sail the California Coast—Sir Francis Drake, Juan de Cabrillo, and Fortun Ximenez—all of whom could be considered to fall under the “they-opened-the-door-to-cultural-genocide” rubric of Serra and Columbus. Maybe the monument-cleansers will hope no one notices.
8. The Native Sons Monument. Also known as the Admission Day Monument, this 1897 monument initially stood at Turk, Mason and Market before being moved to Golden Gate Park, then later returned to Market Street near the Mechanics Monument. It was commissioned by Mayor Phelan and, like the other two monuments on Market (California Volunteers is the third) created by sculptor Douglas Tilden. It features an angel on top of a column, representing the “Genius of California,” holding a book inscribed Sept. 9, 1850, the date of admission. A miner with a flag, gun and pick represents the “youth of California,” and its native sons. It’s standard-issue late 19th century triumphalism. It’s a pretty major monument (although so was “Early Days”) and as such not likely to be removed. But because it does not depict “subaltern groups” and, when subjected to the baleful gaze of monument cleansers, implies that California’s native sons were all white males, it might be curated.
Obscure White Men of the 19th Century! The fate of these now-forgotten figures depends on whether arts bureaucrats decide to cull monuments not just because they are deemed offensive, but because they have embraced the principle that monuments should have a finite shelf life. The more obscure the monument, the greater the chance it will be deep-sixed.
1. Hall McAllister. McAllister was considered the greatest orator in the West. He tried and won more cases than any other California barrister of his time; his most famous defense was of Adolph Spreckels in the shooting of Michael de Young. (The prosecutor unsuccessfully warned the jury not to be swayed by his “melodious and persuasive eloquence.” )His wife was queen of San Francisco society in the 1860s and 1870s. But he’s forgotten today and may walk the plank.
2. James M. Seawell. Judge and Democrat, statue by Ralph Stackpole. Unknown and may soon become even more so.
3. Fairfax H. Wheelan. A philanthropist, Wheeler is best known (if you can say that of a totally forgotten figure) for accusing Mayor “Handsome Gene” Schmitz of graft. Uneasy is the plinth that bears Mr. Wheelan.
4. Edmund Godchaux. The Recorder of San Francisco, Godchaux is consummately obscure. I’ve never come across a single reference to him. By my lights, this qualifies him for a kind of Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern immortality, but whether the city will see it that way is unclear.
Unique cases.
1. William McKinley. The city probably won’t remove a statue of an assassinated U.S. president (see Garfield) but McKinley’s role in the Spanish-American War makes him suspect.
2. George Washington. It would make San Francisco too much of a laughing stock to cancel the Father of Our Country, but his monument may receive new curation noting that he owned slaves.
3. Juan Bautista de Anza. The city got rid of Serra and Columbus, so why not send the great explorer on a one-way trip to the (nonexistent) Strait of Anian? Or will they let him off with a curatorial spanking?
4. Abraham Lincoln. Will the city follow the lead of the San Francisco School Board and cancel arguably America’s greatest president because he allegedly mistreated Indians? That’s unlikely, but Honest Abe may have a curatorial can tied to his tail.
Special Class of Stupidity
1. Robert Louis Stevenson. The city’s provisional plan to remove the beloved writer’s venerable monument from Portsmouth Square, because the city’s most historic square doesn’t have enough monuments to Chinese, is the most moronic of all its ridiculous proposed monumental culls. (I wrote about this in an earlier post).
Not Going Anywhere
1. Lotta's Fountain. Commissioned by beloved Lotta Crabtree and the meeting point for 1906 earthquake survivors. Untouchable.
2. Benjamin Franklin. Despite his late-life Parisian randiness—which somewhat contradicted his weird earlier admonition to “use venery [sex] only for health and offspring”—and the fact he once owned slaves, the polymath Founding Father will continue to gaze over Washington Square.
3. James A. Garfield. Removing a statue of an assassinated president would be unseemly. See McKinley.
4. General Henry W. Halleck. Built the historic Montgomery Block and headed the Union Army in the Civil War. If the consulting firm the city has hired to scour its monuments does its job, it’ll find out that his law firm defended Californios in land cases.
5. Ball Thrower. Mom, apple pie and baseball. Even San Francisco surely won’t cancel those.
6. Thomas Starr King. The diminutive clergyman was a heroic orator who fought tirelessly for the Union. Untouchable.
7. Goethe and Schiller. Why exile the two great German Romantic writers? Unless the bureaucrats in their wisdom decide to emulate the vandals who threw paint on the statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza kneeling in homage before Cervantes.
8. The Mechanics Monument. This is the third of the major monuments on Market Street, all by Douglas Tilden. This one, funded by Union Iron Works founder Peter Donahue, depicts horny-handed sons of toil. In labor-friendly San Francisco they will not be relegated.
10. Robert Burns. You’re safe, laddie.
11. Portals of the Past. The atmospheric survivor of a Nob Hill mansion that was destroyed in the 1906 fire is safe.
12. Luisa Tetrazzini. The beloved opera star will stay.
13. Raphael Weill. The beloved department store owner and civic do-gooder isn’t going away.
14. Pioneer Mother. This monument has a fascinating history. A controversy arose over the two nude children, leading the sculptor to reduce the size of the boy’s genitalia. That eminently qualifies the monument as not aligning with San Francisco values, but arts poohbahs will give it a pass.
15. Giuseppe Verdi. Unless a cabal of diehard Puccini fans pack the commission, Giuseppe is safe.
16. Miguel Cervantes. See Goethe and Schiller. Safe.
17. Robert Emmet. Irish republican, executed 1803. Safe.
18. The Three Shades. A sculpture by Rodin depicting the souls of the damned. Unless this is deemed theologically suspect, safe.
19. Dennis T. Sullivan. Fire chief, died in the 1906 earthquake. Safe
20. General John J. Pershing. WWI general. Probably not enough dirt on him to cancel.
21. Ignatz and Sigmund Steinhart. Benefactors of the California Academy of Sciences and the Aquarium. Safe.
TRAVELLING, ONLY ANNOTATED THROUGH HERE.
22. William Shakespeare.
23. Edward Robeson Taylor Mayor of SF 1907-1910.
24. Roald Amundsen
25. Doughboy
26. California Theater Plaque
27. Volunteer Fireman Memorial
28. Sun Yat-Sen
29. James Rolph, Jr.
30. Carl G. Larsen Danish, father of sunset, philanthropist
31. Head of St. Francis
32. Florence Nightingale
33. Guglielmo Marconi
34. Sarah B. Cooper Memorial: she started free kindergartens
35. Andrew Furuseth Great sailors’ advocate
36. Thomas Edison
37. Leonardo da Vinci
38. William C. Ralston. Banker, built Palace Hotel, drowned mysteriously. Could find some dirt on him.
39. John McLaren
40. Angelo J. Rossi. Mayor, anti-labor in 1934 strike, not enough to whack him.
41. Ludwig Van Beethoven
42. Frank Marini. “Mayor of North Beach,” civic leader, philanthropist
43. St. Francis of Assisi
44. Kanrin Maru. Monument to a Japanese ship that visited.
45. Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla. Led Mexican war of independence.
46. St. Francis of the Guns. Bufano at City College
47. Hagiwara Family
48. Movement: The First 100 Years aka the Korea Monument
49. Peace Monument. Quest for peace, lands end
50. Simon Bolivar
51. The Holocaust
52. Redding School, Self-Portrait: Tribute to Father Boeddeker by Ruth Asawa and kids.
53. Bust of George Moscone
54. Untitled
55. International Longshoremen's & Warehousemen's Union
56. Salute to Liberty
57. Ashurbanipal: Persian king of yore
58. Mohandas K. Gandhi
59. Goddess of Democracy
60. John F. Shelley (unless they blame him for 1964 Hunters Point race riots).
61. George Moscone
62. Into the Light
63. Dianne Feinstein
64. Michael M. O'Shaughnessy
65. Willie L Brown
66. Abraham Lincoln Brigade
67. Harvey Milk
68. Swimmer's Waves –in pool, tribute to Charlie Sava
69. What is Missing? Maya Lin, 2009, environmental.
70. Adolph Sutro (unless they ding SF’s Santa Claus because his baths were segregated)
71. Spiral of Gratitude. Police officers lost in line of duty
72. First Responder Plaza
73. “Comfort Women's” Column of Strength
74. Bust of Gavin Newsom
75. Bow. Ship’s bow, faces Bay Bridge
76. Maya Angelou
Edmund Godchaux is noted here as "County Clerk"
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC18991104.2.81.4&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------#documentdisplayleftpanesectionleveltabcontent
Here as "County Recorder"
https://chineseexclusionfiles.com/tag/edmond-godchaux/
Here voters are urged to re-elect him
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner/30833526/
Here, cooking
https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/127823?v=uv#?xywh=-2733%2C-411%2C11366%2C8220
Seems to have been a single gent:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/158997222/edmond-godchaux#view-photo=278257079
Maybe those who are still living should be in a separate category? Hard to equate His Williness with Sutro.