James D. Phelan
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

James Duval Phelan (April 20, 1861 – August 7, 1930) was an American politician, civic leader, and banker. He served as nonpartisan
Mayor of San Francisco The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by t ...
from 1897 to 1902. As mayor he advocated municipally run utilities and tried to protect his constituents from the monopolistic practices of the trusts. He represented
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
in the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
from 1915 to 1921 as a Democrat. Phelan was a progressive supporter of the policies of
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
and was a leader in the movement to restrict Japanese and Chinese immigration to the United States.


Early years

Phelan was born in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, the son of James Phelan and Alice Kelly. James Phelan (1819–1892) was an Irish immigrant who became wealthy during the
California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
as a trader, merchant, banker and real estate investor. He founded the First National Gold Bank, later “known as the First National Bank of San Francisco.

This was not only the “first national bank in California,

but also “the second gold bank in the nation.

This business venture was followed by his assistance in the “organization of the American Construction and Dredging Company.

This company’s purpose was to dredge the Panama Canal. In 1889, he established the Mutual Savings Bank Building, Mutual Savings Bank of San Francisco. Not only was this what James Phelan was born into, but Phelan’s father also “established a copartnership with him comprising all of his business interests.

Th
obituary
of James Phelan’s mother, Alice, was published in February of 1900 in The San Francisco Call. It is here where her birthright is recounted, stating that she came from “one of the most historic families of the ancient Irish nobility...the O’Mores of Leix.

Their family line was struck by great tragedy in the “fearful massacre of Mullagast” that almost took out their entire family. Alice eventually moved to Brooklyn, New York where she met her future husband, also originally from Ireland, James Phelan. It was after they met that he was to head west to “lay the foundation of the vast fortune which he afterward accumulated.” In 1881 Phelan graduated from the Catholic Jesuit college in San Francisco, University of San Francisco, St. Ignatius College. He had two sisters, Alice Phelan Sullivan and Mary Louis Phelan.


Career

Phelan studied law at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
and then became a banker. He was elected Mayor of San Francisco and served from 1897 until 1902, in three 2-year terms. He pushed for the reform City Charter of 1898 in San Francisco. He served as the first president of the
League of California Cities The League of California Cities is an association of cities within the state of California, founded in 1898. Most of the state's 482 cities are represented in the league. The League publishes ''Western City'', a monthly magazine, and holds an annu ...
, which was created in 1898. Phelan was elected as a Senator of the United States and served from 1915 to 1921. During this time, Phelan established himself as a leader in what fellow anti-Japanese agitator V. S. McClatchy described as the "holy cause" of Japanese exclusion. He remained active in the anti-Japanese movement after leaving office, securing then-presidential candidate
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
's support for restricting Japanese immigration in 1912 and helping to push through California's discriminatory
alien land law The California Alien Land Law of 1913 (also known as the Webb–Haney Act) prohibited "aliens ineligible for citizenship" from owning agricultural land or possessing long-term leases over it, but permitted leases lasting up to three years. It affe ...
in 1913. Phelan was also an advocate for excluding Chinese from the United States. He promoted the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and wrote an article "Why the Chinese Should Be Excluded"(1901) in the
North American Review The ''North American Review'' (NAR) was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which it was inactive until revived a ...
, to increase support for the extension of these laws. In a debate with Imperial Chinese Consul Ho Yow, Phelan mentioned that the Chinese were an undesirable population because they had strong ties to their native country and were incapable of assimilating to the American society. This debate occurred just nineteen months after the outbreak of plague in San Francisco's Chinatown. Phelan mentioned that the Chinese had different mindsets and that after twenty years, they remained unchanged in their values. He concluded that American progress would be stunted if the United States continued to allow Chinese immigrants to remain in the country, and that the Chinese workers were taking work away from white workers.


Water and land rights

In the 1900s, Phelan bought land and water acreage in various places around the San Francisco Bay Area, and he obtained the rights to the water flow of the
Tuolumne River The Tuolumne River ( Yokutsan: ''Tawalimnu'') flows for through Central California, from the high Sierra Nevada to join the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. Originating at over above sea level in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne ...
in
Hetch Hetchy Valley Hetch Hetchy is a valley, a reservoir, and a water system in California in the United States. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River. For thousands of years bef ...
. Ethan A. Hitchcock,
Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...
under President
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
, tried to stop Phelan, but Roosevelt decided that the wild area could be used for "the permanent material development of the region."Brechin, Gray. WRCA News, October 2000, Volume 7, Number 3
''Populist Rhetoric, Private Gain''
. Retrieved on July 2, 2009.
Phelan's plans for the region included publicly funded water and electricity for a geographical entity he called "Greater San Francisco." With his
Bohemian Club The Bohemian Club is a private club with two locations: a city clubhouse in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco, California and the Bohemian Grove, a retreat north of the city in Sonoma County. Founded in 1872 from a regular meeting of journal ...
fellows, Phelan sought to annex land at the perimeter of
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
.


San Francisco Plague

In 1900, San Francisco citizens distrusted government for previous waste of taxpayers' money as well as previous refusal to enhance community resources. Government officials refused to invest in public health because health was seen as a personal concern or even a commodity. For this reason, citizens had a lot of hope in Mayor Phelan, who had previously declared the need for healthier living conditions as well as the need for "health departments to provide salutary environments." During his tenure as the Mayor of San Francisco, Phelan and his administration were faced with dealing with the plague of 1900–1904 that infected the city's Chinatown community. Prior to the plague outbreak in Chinatown, Phelan was an active advocate for improving public health in San Francisco. On October 25, 1897, Phelan addressed the California health board in San Francisco and stated that government intervention was needed in order to establish healthier living conditions. He argued that public health departments required more funding to help improve living conditions. Furthermore, in 1899, Phelan continued his strong advocacy for public health and the prevention of disease through city measures. Later that year, in a shocking move, he opted instead to support an $18-million-dollar bond to create a new hospital, schools, and city parks. On September 1899, Phelan and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors further defunded the cities health department. The San Francisco health department was only allocated $155,960 with two-thirds of that going towards the operation of a municipal hospital. Shortly after, the health board members were released from their duties due to political in-house fighting and excessive patronage. After being sworn in, Phelan's new health department board members discovered that the department was broke and that within the first six months of fiscal year 1899-1900 the department had already spent the majority of its budget. Through the defunding and mishandling of the department, Phelan and his administration left the health department and the city ill-prepared for what was looming around the corner. On June 1900 San Francisco's city hall received the news that
Joseph J. Kinyoun Joseph James Kinyoun (November 25, 1860 – February 14, 1919) was an American physician and the founder of the United States' Hygienic Laboratory, the predecessor of the National Institutes of Health. Biography Early life Joseph James "Jo ...
had instituted a travel ban in hopes of preventing the spread of the plague to the rest of the country. Mayor Phelan confirmed the news by stating that Kinyoun had notified him personally about the travel ban. Phelan went on to blame the federal court ruling that restricted the ability of the local government to deal with the plague. In order to improve sanitary living conditions in Chinatown, Governor
Henry Gage Henry Tifft Gage (December 25, 1852 – August 28, 1924) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat. A Republican, Gage was elected to a single term as the 20th governor of California from 1899 to 1903. Gage was also the U.S. Minister ...
proposed to hire inspectors and workers to eradicate the plague. Gage requested for Mayor Phelan and his administration to match the state's $25,000 contribution. However, Phelan informed Governor Gage that the city did not have the resources to match the state's contribution. After meeting with Governor Gage, Phelan and his Board of Supervisors agreed to contribute $6,000. On the summer of 1901, Mayor Phelan publicly announced that he would not run for another term. "During his final address before leaving office, Phelan praised the health board, claiming that because of its vigilance the city 'was saved from Oriental infection.'" Phelan concluded by thanking the federal government and their efforts to help the city endure the crisis. Although the San Francisco Plague in Chinatown was reported in journalism, the material printed was prone to exaggerations, biased information, and focused on making the Chinese population look substandard. Newspapers were heavily averse to the Phelan administration and believed the health officials were corrupt and wasteful. For this reason, publications refused to print public health initiatives to prevent disease outbreaks and instead would focus on the community's lack of sanitation. Acts of racism were apparent because publications were heavily inclined to use offensive images and headlines to attract attention of readers.


Earthquake recovery efforts

During the
1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...
Phelan was a member of the Committee of Fifty, called into existence by Mayor Schmitz to manage the crisis. Afterward, when Dr.
Edward Thomas Devine Edward Thomas Devine (May 6, 1867 – February 27, 1948) was a professor at Columbia University and American University who advocated for social welfare. Background Edward Thomas Devine was born on May 6, 1867, on a farm near Union, Iowa to Joh ...
, representing the
American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...
by appointment of President Roosevelt, was responsible for Relief and Red Cross Funds, ex-Mayor Phelan was allowed to assist Devine, thus keeping the money out of the hands of Schmitz and
Abe Ruef Abraham Ruef (September 2, 1864 – February 29, 1936) was an American lawyer and politician. He gained notoriety as the corrupt political boss behind the administration of Mayor Eugene Schmitz of San Francisco during the period before and after t ...
. Phelan became Chairman of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Relief and Red Cross Funds when Devine was relieved of his post in July 1906.


U.S. Senate

As a
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
, Phelan ran for the U.S. Senate against
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Joseph R. Knowland and Progressive
Francis J. Heney Francis Joseph "Frank" Heney (March 17, 1859 – October 31, 1937) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. Heney is known for killing an opposing plaintiff in self-defense and for being shot in the head by a prospective juror during the Sa ...
. He was elected to the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
in 1914 and served from March 4, 1915, to March 3, 1921. Although he had toned down his anti-Japanese rhetoric during World War I, when the United States had allied with Japan, in 1919, Phelan once again began to speak out against the "
Yellow Peril The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror and the Yellow Specter) is a racist, racial color terminology for race, color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. As a ...
," delivering a speech in favor of Japanese exclusion before a special session of the state legislature. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1920, defeated by Republican
Samuel M. Shortridge Samuel Morgan Shortridge (August 3, 1861January 15, 1952) was a Republican Senator from California. Early years He was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa and moved to California as a child with his family, which settled in San Jose in 1875. He pr ...
, coming in second with 40% of the vote. His defeat may have been the result of his racially tinged campaign; one of his reelection campaign posters contained the headline "Keep California White." (This poster is displayed at the
Japanese American National Museum The is located in Los Angeles, California, and dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. Founded in 1992, it is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affil ...
). During his time in the Senate, he was chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Railroads during the
64th Congress The 64th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1915, to M ...
and of the U.S. Senate Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation of Arid Lands during the
65th Congress The 65th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1917, to ...
.


Later life

After his time in the Senate, Phelan returned to banking and collected art. He remained active in the anti-Japanese movement, collaborating with McClatchy and the Japanese Exclusion League of California to successfully ban Japanese immigrants from entering the country with the
Immigration Act of 1924 The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from the Eastern ...
. First National Bank of San Francisco merged with
Crocker National Bank Crocker National Bank was a United States bank headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was acquired by and merged into Wells Fargo Bank in 1986. History The bank traces its history to the Woolworth National Bank in San Francisco. Charles ...
in 1925. Phelan died at his country estate ''
Villa Montalvo The Montalvo Arts Center is a non-profit center for the arts in Saratoga, California, United States. Open to the public, Montalvo comprises a cultural and arts center, a park, hiking trails and the historic Villa Montalvo, an Italian Mediterran ...
'' in Saratoga in 1930. He is buried in the family mausoleum in Holy Cross Cemetery in
Colma, California Colma (Ohlone for "Springs") is a small incorporated List of municipalities in California, town in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,507 at the 2020 census. The town w ...
.


Legacy

* After Phelan's death, the Villa Montalvo estate was given to the people of
Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...
. It is now a center for the performing and visual arts. Some of his mementos and correspondence are on display in the library at Villa Montalvo. * Phelan Building in San Francisco, built in 1908. * Phelan Avenue, the main thoroughfare on the Ocean Campus of the
City College of San Francisco City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a State school#United States, public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local ...
, named after him was changed in 2018 to
Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...
Way after a public vote. * The small town of Phelan in the Californian High Desert of the Mojave Desert is named after him. * James D. Phelan Elementary School in the
Moreland School District The City of Merri-bek is a local government area in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. It comprises the inner northern suburbs between 4 and 11 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD. The Merri-bek local government area covers , and in June 2018, ...
in
San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
, was named for him. * The James D. Phelan awards, given to young California writers and artists, were established by a bequest in his will. * A dorm at the
University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...
used to be called Phelan Hall but was renamed in 2017 after protests by students concerned about Phelan's racist views. * In 1887, James D. Phelan's father bought an 11-acre parcel on Point Santa Cruz as a family summer retreat, called Phelan Park. The property stayed in the family until a great-niece, Alice Sullivan Doyle, died in 1932. A year earlier Mrs. Doyle had funded construction of the Mission Santa Cruz chapel replica, and she is buried in an alcove off the chapel. A large portion of Phelan Park was given to the
Oblates of St. Joseph , abbreviation = OSJ , founded = , founder = Bishop Joseph Marello , founding_location = Asti, Italy , headquarters = Rome, Italy , type = Clerical Religious Congregation , num_member ...
, and the rest is now Lighthouse Field State Beach. * In 1936 a bust statue was made by Haig Patigain and placed in City Hall in 1937 to honor James Phelan. * As mayor, he promoted bond issues for new sewer systems, city hospitals, and schools. * Despite his contributions to San Francisco’s economic and industrial growth, James D. Phelan's white nativist ideology has caused controversy as his life story is looked at from a social justice point of view. His infamous slogan while running for re-election in the US Senate, “Keep California White”, earned allies as well as enemies and he was defeated. Currently, many question if he deserves such an honored position.


See also

* John P. Irish, who opposed Phelan over the latter's anti-Japanese proposals


References

* Legacy of a Native Son: James Duval Phelan & Villa Montalvo (1993) by James P. Walsh and Timothy O'Keefe and * "Creating the Fortune, Creating the Family," Journal of the West, (April 1992), by James P. Walsh Works cited *Gordon Thomas & Max Morgan Witts: ''The San Francisco Earthquake'' (Stein and Day, New York; Souvenir Press, London, 1971; reprinted Dell, 1972, SBN 440-07631)


Further reading

* Cherny, Robert W. "City Commercial, City Beautiful, City Practical: The San Francisco Visions of William C. Ralston, James D. Phelan, and Michael M. O’Shaughnessy." in ''The Pacific World'' (Routledge, 2017) pp. 355-366. * Elrick, John. "Social conflict and the politics of reform: Mayor James D. Phelan and the San Francisco waterfront strike of 1901." ''California History'' 88.2 (2011): 4-27. * Hennings, Robert E. "James D. Phelan and the Woodrow Wilson Anti-Oriental Statement of May 3, 1912." ''California Historical Society Quarterly'' 42.4 (1963): 291-300. * Hennings, Robert E. ''James D. Phelan and the Wilson Progressives of California'' (1985
online review
* Issel, William, and Robert W. Cherny. ''San Francisco, 1865-1932: Politics, Power, and Urban Development'' (1986)


External links

*
Guide to the James D. Phelan Papers
at
The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

James D. Phelan Photograph Albums, 1902-1929
at
The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelan, James Duval 1861 births 1930 deaths 1906 San Francisco earthquake American white supremacists Anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California) American people of Irish descent Mayors of San Francisco Politicians from San Francisco University of San Francisco alumni Democratic Party United States senators from California California Democrats People from Saratoga, California Catholics from California