Heroes of India Basin
The India Basin Waterfront Park was made possible through the Fulfilling a Promise Campaign, a $75 million private philanthropy effort to support the park's creation and activate Equitable Development Plan (EDP) commitments.
The Fulfilling a Promise Campaign Donor Recognition Program will celebrate donors to the initiative while following the EDP directives to "Design the park to preserve and celebrate Black culture and the neighborhood's cultural diversity." To this end, the donor recognition program will center the Bayview-Hunters Point community's history, culture, and stories by honoring Heroes of India Basin on signature elements throughout the park.
Below is background information on the Heroes of India Basin that have been chosen for donor recognition plaques within the park to date.
The information and inclusion of heroes in the program were vetted through extensive research with community leaders, content matter experts, and heroes' families and representatives whose contact information could be found. If you are or have a contact for the family member or representative of the heroes listed, please contact recparkpartnerships@sfgov.org or (415) 831-2700.
A. Philip Randolph (April 15, 1889 - May 16, 1979)
Plaque Location: A. Philip Randolph Shipwright’s Cottage
Proudly supported by The John Pritzker Family Fund
A. Philip Randolph was a civil rights activist and labor union leader born on April 15, 1889, in Crescent City, Florida.
He founded the United States' first major Black union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, which primarily represented railroad workers.
In the 1930s, he rallied for the end of racial segregation in the armed forces, leading President Harry Truman to sign an executive order in 1948 banning this discrimination. In 1963, he directed the March on Washington, which paved the way for the Civil Rights Act to be signed the following year. For their work in the march, he and his co-organizer, Bayard Rustin, were celebrated on the cover of Life Magazine's September 6, 1963, publication.
He and Rustin founded the A. Philip Randolph Institute in 1965 to continue fighting for social, political and economic justice for all working Americans. The institute has over 100 chapters throughout the nation, with the Bayview-Hunters Point chapter under the leadership of Jackie Bryant, serving as a critical leadership partner in the creation of India Basin Waterfront Park.
Mary L. Booker (June 2, 1931 - May 11, 2017)
Plaque Location: Mary L. Booker Boatyard Plaza
Mary L. Booker was an artistic director, community activist, and a fixture in the Bayview-Hunter's Point arts and culture scene.
Born on June 2, 1931, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Booker's family moved to South San Francisco shortly after World War II. She received an Associate of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing with a minor in Theater from City College of San Francisco.
She founded Infinity Productions, where she produced, directed, wrote, and acted in plays about civil rights and social justice issues. She often provided free acting workshops for the Bayview community and performed at the Bayview Opera House.
In 2007, the San Francisco Public Library honored her with the Unsung Hero Award for her work documenting the lives of Bayview Hunters Point residents through performing arts.
Her last performance was a year before her passing in 2016 when she starred in the American Conservatory Theater's production of "Crack. Rumble. Fly: The Bayview Stories Project."
Archie Green (June 29, 1917 - March 22, 2009)
Plaque Location: Archie Green Community Room
Archie Green, a journeyman shipwright, professor, proud union member, and folklorist, was born in Winnipeg, Canada.
After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley with a Political Science degree in 1939, he entered the Civilian Conservation Corps, building roads and firefighting in Northern California.
He then began working in the San Francisco Bay Area shipyards, becoming a journeyman shipwright and serving as a Navy Seabee during World War II.
In the 1970s, he initiated programs presenting workers' traditions at the Festival of American Folklife on the National Mall. He successfully lobbied for federal recognition of academic research into the folklore and art of working-class laborers. His efforts resulted in the passage of The American Folklife Preservation Act of 1976 and American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
After retiring from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1982, he returned to California. He supported the National Trust for Historic Preservation in identifying labor landmarks in San Francisco and served as the Secretary of the nonprofit Fund for Labor Culture & History.
His work helped to establish the India Basin Shipwright's Cottage as a historic landmark.
James Baldwin (August 2, 1924 - December 1, 1987)
Plaque Location: James Baldwin Entrance
James Baldwin, an acclaimed writer and civil rights activist, was born on August 2, 1924, in Harlem, New York City.
At a young age, he was greatly influenced by his junior high French teacher and mentor, Countee Cullen, a notable poet during the Harlem Renaissance. The 1940s marked several turning points in Balwin's life and creative journey. Shortly after graduating from High School, he witnessed the Harlem Race Riots of 1943. He also met Richard Wright, a famous African American male writer at the time, who also became Baldwin's mentor.
In 1948, Wright helped Baldwin obtain a fellowship to write his first novel, which enabled him to leave for Paris. Baldwin expressed that this move was an escape from the racial and homophobic discrimination he experienced in his home country. Some of his most notable works document these experiences: Notes of a Native Son (1955) and Go Tell It On The Mountain (1953).
Upon one of his returns to the United States in 1963, he visited San Francisco, where he filmed the documentary "Take This Hammer." Baldwin highlighted the social conditions of Black residents in the Bayview and Fillmore, noting the similarity to the oppression observed in the Jim Crow South. He was active in the Civil Rights movement and befriended many notable activists, including Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X.
He died in his house in Saint Paul de Vence, France, in 1987 and is regarded as one of the most renowned writers on race and equality.
Sargent Johnson (October 7, 1888 - October 10, 1967)
Plaque Location: Sargent Johnson Front Porch
Proudly supported by Rebecca and Cal Henderson
Sargent Johnson was an abstract and modern artist and was one of the first African American artists with national acclaim to work on the West Coast.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he moved to San Francisco in 1915 to study painting, drawing, and his primary medium, sculpture, at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute). From early on, he was committed to using modern aesthetics to create positive representations of African Americans.
In the 1930s, the Public Work of Art Project commissioned Johnson to create a series of public art as part of the New Deal. His projects included a 30' x 14' frieze for the National Maritime Historical Park in San Francisco, a 14' x 125' glazed tile mural for the bathhouse of the former San Francisco Aquatic Park, and an architectural installation for the California School for the Blind in Berkeley.
He died in 1967 in San Francisco. His work is highly sought after and is exhibited internationally at museums, universities, and libraries.
The Big 5 Women of Bayview
Plaque Location: The Big Five Women of Bayview Bike Trail
Proudly supported by The Fisher Family
The Big Five Women of Bayview are a collective of activists who supported access to dignified education, employment, and healthy living conditions.
Opposing the wrongdoings in the community, they overturned unjust evictions and picketed businesses that refused to hire Black workers. In 1969, they collaborated with San Francisco State University’s Black Student Union on their 115-day strike that established the nation’s first Ethnic Studies department.
They were part of the Joint Housing Committee, 15 delegates who represented a section of their neighborhood. With a $34 million budget, they planned transforming junkyards and slaughterhouses to parks, housing, and childcare centers. President Nixon threatened to cut the budget in half in 1970. Consequently, they chose The Big Five of Ruth Williams, Julia Commer, Rosalie Williams, Osceola Washington, and Elouise Westbrook to lobby in Washington D.C. which got the investment fully returned.
A short documentary called “Point of Pride” was produced in 2014 to highlight the legacy. Many San Francisco businesses and civic spaces celebrate The Big Five of Bayview, including a mural in the African American Arts and Cultural District.
Linda Brooks-Burton (March 26, 1962 - September 19, 2013)
Plaque Location: Linda Brooks-Burton South Marine Trail
Proudly supported by Tambourine
Linda Brooks-Burton was a community activist who worked as the managing librarian of the southeast sector of the San Francisco Public Library system, including the Bayview branch.
She was passionate about collecting and celebrating the African American community's migration to the Bay Area, especially families who settled in Bayview-Hunters Point, to seek employment opportunities at the shipyard.
She advocated for youth, families, and access to education and co-founded numerous local nonprofits, including the African American History Preservation Project, Bayview Footprints Network of Community Building Groups, and the Healing Arts Youth Center.
In 2015, the Bayview Library branch was renamed "Bayview Linda Brooks-Burton Branch Library" in her honor.
Oscar James (September 22,1946 - Present)
Plaque Location: Oscar James North Marine Trail
Proudly supported by Kaitlyn and Mike Krieger
Oscar James is a community activist who was born, raised, and currently resides in Bayview-Hunters Point, San Francisco. He has spent much of his life advocating for greater opportunities and a dignified living environment for his home community. James worked for the City and County of San Francisco for 40 years and has been a vital leader in his community’s senior services, healthcare, and youth organizations. In 1995, he attended an Environmental Justice Conference in Washington, D.C., where he learned about the implications and impacts of gentrification. This knowledge has been instrumental in the way he advises community-based organizations and advocates for the needs of his community. James is regarded as an invaluable historian of Bayview-Hunters Point, with extensive knowledge about the struggles that BVHP has endured and the promises that have been made but not kept. He has served on numerous boards and committees, with the most recent being the India Basin Waterfront Park Equitable Development Plan Leadership Committee and Campaign Cabinet. In many capacities, Mr. James has been a vital leader in the realization of the India Basin Waterfront Park. Upon learning that he was being inducted in the Heroes of India Basin Program, Mr. James said, “I encourage young people to pick up the hammer, so the dream continues.”
Arthur H. Coleman (February 18, 1920 - December 26, 2002)
Plaque Location: Dr. Arthur H. Coleman Overlook Terrace
Proudly supported by the Hellman Foundation
Dr. Arthur H. Coleman was a healthcare and civil rights activist born on February 18, 1920, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known as the first Black physician in Bayview Hunters Point.
Before settling in San Francisco in 1948, he graduated from Howard Medical College in 1941 and then served in an Air Force hospital during World War II. In 1960, he built the Arthur H. Coleman Medical Center and aided the community in applying for federal funding for the Bayview Community Health Services. The 5-year pilot program he developed provided free healthcare to residents and served as a model for low-income health services in the nation.
Although the start of his career faced struggles to attract doctors to the neighborhood, he tirelessly served the community 7 days a week and even made house call visits to patients. Bayview residents received care from him for decades of their lifetime, mourning his retirement and passing. On May 18, 2018, Supervisor Malia Cohen and the Historic Preservation Commission approved the Arthur H. Coleman Medical Center to be a designated San Francisco landmark.
David Johnson (August 3, 1926 - March 1, 2024)
Plaque Location: David Johnson Wetland Walk Bridge
Proudly supported by the Henner & Bogner Family Foundations
David Johnson was a renowned photographer who captured some of the only images of African American residents of the Fillmore before redevelopment caused displacement. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he developed a passion for photography after winning a camera in a contest as a child. A visit to San Francisco while he was serving in the U.S. Navy resulted in Johnson reaching out to acclaimed photographer Ansel Adams and becoming his first African American student at the California School of Fine Arts. Additionally, he captured historic images of Bayview-Hunters Point, which hang in the Zuckerberg wing of the San Francisco General Hospital. Johnson’s subjects included children, community members, activists, and musicians. He also photographed prominent African Americans in politics, society, and civil rights, including Langston Hughes, Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Willie Brown. In 1963, he was sent as a delegate to photograph the 1963 March on Washington.
His later years were dedicated to social and community work, including work at the University of California, San Francisco, recruiting minority workers. After retiring from UCSF, he obtained a master's degree in social work and became a social worker for foster families in California.
In 1999, Johnson’s photography career was renewed when his images of the Fillmore were showcased in documentaries and galleries across the country. In 2004, Johnson received the Certificate of Honor in Photography award from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and in 2016, he became the first African American photographer to have their work archived in the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.