James "Sunny Jim" Rolph Jr. (August 23, 1869 – June 2, 1934) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to a single term as the 27th

governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The Governor (United States), governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constit ...

from January 6, 1931, until his death on June 2, 1934, at the height of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Previously, Rolph had been the 30th mayor of San Francisco from January 8, 1912, until his resignation to become governor. Rolph remains the longest-serving mayor in San Francisco history.

Life and career

Rolph was born in San Francisco, the son of Margaret (née Nicol) and James Rolph. He had four brothers, including Thomas Rolph, and two sisters. After attending school in the Mission District, he went to work as an office boy in a commission house. He married Annie Marshall Reid (1872–1956) and had at least one son: James Rolph III (1904–1980). Rolph entered the shipping business in 1900, by forming a partnership with George Hind. Over the next decade, he served as president of two banks, one of which he helped establish. Although he was asked to run for mayor in 1909, he chose to wait until

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

to run for mayor—a position that he would hold for nineteen years. As mayor, he was known as "Sunny Jim", and his theme song was "There Are Smiles That Make You Happy". In 1915 he appeared as himself in an early documentary film titled '' Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco'', which starred Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand and was directed by Arbuckle. In 1924, Rolph appeared as himself in a Slim Summerville comedy short film, ''Hello, 'Frisco''. Rolph knew of the power in San Francisco of the

Roman Catholic Church 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 ...

. Italians, Irish, French and Germans made up the majority of the population of the city. He established a deep friendship with Archbishop Edward Joseph Hanna. In addition to his mayoral duties and overseeing his shipping interests, he directed the Ship Owners and Merchants Tugboat Company and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. He also was vice-president of the Panama–Pacific International Exposition and president of the Merchants' Exchange. He resigned in 1931 to assume the office of governor of California. Rolph received considerable criticism for publicly praising the citizens of San Jose following the November 1933

lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...

of the confessed kidnapper-murderers of Brooke Hart, a local department store heir, while promising to

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

anyone involved, thereby earning the nickname "Governor Lynch." Four days before the lynching he had announced he would not call on the

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

to prevent the lynching, which was already being discussed locally. After violence erupted during the San Joaquin cotton strike in October 1933, Governor Rolph appointed a fact-finding committee to investigate the deaths of several strikers. When the committee met in Visalia on October 19, 1933, Caroline Decker, a labor activist who had taken part in other California agricultural actions, took testimony from the strikers who testified about the growers' assaults on striking workers.

Death

After suffering several heart attacks, Rolph died in Santa Clara County on June 2, 1934, aged 64, three years into his term. He was the second California governor to die in office, the first being Washington Bartlett in 1887. Rolph is buried at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Colma, California. He was succeeded as governor by Lieutenant Governor Frank Merriam.

Legacy

On September 7, 1934, the California Toll Bridge Authority passed a resolution "that...the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge be dedicated as a lasting memorial to the memory of James Rolph Jr." A 1993 survey of historians, political scientists and urban experts conducted by Melvin G. Holli of the University of Illinois at Chicago ranked Rolph as the twenty-third-best American big-city mayor to have served between the years 1820 and 1993.

References

External links

at The Political Graveyard
Biography from the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco
* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rolph, James 1869 births 1934 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in California American Episcopalians Republican Party governors of California Mayors of San Francisco Politicians from San Francisco American bank presidents American businesspeople in shipping American pro-lynching activists

Life and career

Death

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links