RECENT RESEARCH — A newly unearthed photograph showing the north side of the 600 block of Commercial Street, San Francisco, in the aftermath of the earthquake and fires of 1906 reveals, for the first time, visual evidence of the fate of the building that housed the Eureka Lodgings, where Emperor Norton lived from 1864–65 until his death in 1880. Our analysis of the photo sharpens the focus on the identities and locations of the buildings along this stretch — and exactly what each building suffered in 1906. Includes our highly researched new infographic that can be used as a tool for understanding the history of this location.

The Emperor Norton Trust

TO HONOR THE LIFE + ADVANCE THE LEGACY OF JOSHUA ABRAHAM NORTON

RESEARCH • EDUCATION • ADVOCACY

PROJECTS :: Sartorial Public Service Announcements (SPSA)

Contact: Founder John Lumea

SPSA No. 1: Illustration by Lois Hanscom. Design and layout by Mark Hogan.

SPSA No. 1: Illustration by Lois Hanscom. Design and layout by Mark Hogan.

A Sartorial Public Service Announcement (SPSA) is one in a planned numbered series of wearable art projects — in the spirit of a proclamation, a declaration or a decree — to support and promote The Emperor Norton Trust (previously The Emperor's Bridge Campaign). 

The art for a given number in the series could find its way onto a pin, a patch, t-shirt, a tote bag or anything that can be worn or carried.

The Trust’s plan is for future SPSAs to be based on original art that we commission either directly or via a public competition.

The inaugural  SPSA is based on a rarely seen 1939 cartoon of the Emperor by Lois Hanscom (1915-1995).


For more information:

SPSA No. 1  

 


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© 2025 The Emperor Norton Trust  |  Site design: Alisha Lumea  |  Background: Original image courtesy of Erica Fischer