Earl Gage Jr.
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Earl Gage Jr. ( 1927 – July 30, 2017) was an American
firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...
. He was the first Black firefighter in
San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. He served as the only Black firefighter for 12 years. During his 28-year career, Gage promoted efforts to increase racial diversity.


Biography


Early life

Gage was born in 1926 in
Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...
. In 1945, Gage's family moved from Texas to San Francisco. He had 2 sisters and 4 brothers. Gage graduated from
San Francisco City College City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a public community college in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded as a junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local role, enrolling as many as 1 in 35 San Franc ...
and the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, with a
pre-med Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students mostly in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med ...
focus. He was drafted into the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
.


Career

The
San Francisco Fire Department The San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) provides firefighting, hazardous materials response services, rescue, technical rescue services and emergency medical services, emergency medical response services to the San Francisco, City and County of ...
hired Gage in 1955. Gage experienced racism in his career, especially during the twelve years in which he was the only Black firefighter. In the fire station bunks, firefighters soiled his mattress and threw it away. Crews were assigned rotating beds regularly, and some would refuse to sleep on a mattress used prior by Gage. As a result, Gage had his own mattress that he transported himself to the different stations. As early as 1969, Gage began calling for increased diversity in the department. As a result of the ongoing racism and threats to his safety, Gage moved from fighting fires to serving as director of community services. He was the first Black man to hold a departmental command position. During his work a director, which was supported by San Francisco Mayor
Joseph Alioto Joseph Lawrence Alioto (February 12, 1916 – January 29, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 36th mayor of San Francisco, California, from 1968 to 1976. Biography Alioto was born in San Francisco in 1916. His father, Giuseppe A ...
, he recruited firefighters and improved the diversity among staff. He hired Robert Demmons, who would become the city's first Black fire chief. He also developed training for entrance exams, loosening requirements to make it easier for recruits to pass the exams after feedback of the tests being too hard. Gage also re-launched two programs: field trips for children to visit fire departments and seasonal holiday decorations at firehouses. Gage also advocated for women to be let into the squad, but his requests were not met until after he retired. Gage retired, after 28 years, in 1983. Despite his retirement, in 1987 he was named in a
consent decree A consent decree is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt (in a criminal case) or liability (in a civil case). Most often it is such a type of settlement in the United States. The ...
to increase diversity, including both racially and by gender, in the fire department. After retirement, Gage became a
real estate broker Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...
.


Death and legacy

Gage died on July 30, 2017, in
Elk Grove, California Elk Grove is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. Located just south of the state capital of Sacramento, it is part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. As of the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 176,124. A 2021 C ...
. The service was held at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco. At Gage's funeral, Sherman Tillman, president of the San Francisco Black Firefighters Association, first proposed the idea of naming a street after Gage. In 2020, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to rename part of Willow Street after Gage. In 2022, the city honored Gage with a 15-foot full-color mural at Rosa Parks Elementary School. At the unveiling, Mayor
London Breed London Nicole Breed (born August 11, 1974) is an American politician who served as the 45th mayor of San Francisco from 2018 to 2025. She was supervisor for District 5 and was president of the Board of Supervisors from 2015 to 2018. Raised in t ...
stated that Gage "paved the way" for Black leaders in San Francisco, such as the first Black fire chief, Robert Demmons, the first Black mayor, Willie Brown Jr., and London Breed herself, the first Black woman mayor.


Personal life

In 1952, he married Blondell Wright, whom he converted to
Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
to wed.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gage, Earl Jr. 2017 deaths 1920s births 20th-century American firefighters 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people People from Beaumont, Texas People from San Francisco City College of San Francisco alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni United States Army soldiers American real estate brokers People from Elk Grove, California African-American Catholics