Norton the First: America's Emperor

Joshua Norton, an adventurous businessman born in England, and raised in South Africa, made his way to San Francisco during the Gold Rush of 1849. After years of building a successful business and becoming a prominent member of San Francisco society, Norton lost everything on a risky business deal.

Towards the end of the 1850s, Norton struggled to stay out of debt by selling off his assets, eventually filing bankruptcy, and disappearing from the city altogether. After being gone from San Francisco for a year or two,`Joshua Norton walked into the San Francisco Bulletin on September 17th, 1859 and gave them a proclamation declaring himself, Norton I, Emperor of the United States and the Bulletin decided to print it.

Despite his madness, Norton was coherent and intelligent on nearly any topic, including politics and current events. Norton was eccentric but charismatic enough to warrant the amused interest of San Franciscans. He became famous across the nation, a tourist attraction and a much beloved figure within the city.He was also a visionary, decreeing among other things, that a suspension bridge connect San Francisco to the East Bay sixty-four years before it was completed. The Emperor created and sold his own currency to locals and tourists, was said to have single handedly stopped a race riot in Chinatown, and by order of the police chief was saluted in the streets by police officers. When he died, thirty thousand people paid him homage in the city streets, making his the largest funeral in San Francisco history.

Emperor Norton’s spirit is still very much alive in San Francisco today. He not only helped build up this great city, but played a central role in creating its whimsical, inclusive nature.

In many ways the ups and downs of San Francisco mirror Norton's ownexperience. Our film sets out to tell the story of a magnetic and complex man, through recounting the history of the city that shaped his life. His unusual tale is still mostly unknown outside of the Bay and should be shared with the world. We already have a large amount of interviews shot with a variety of people including historians, authors, local business owners, and Emperor Norton aficionados, but many more interviews are needed. We also need funding to pay for illustration, animation, audio mixing, and a musical score to help re-create the world of 1860s San Francisco.