Author: Alfredo Casuso

media contact: David Perry / (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

Future of Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument draws supporters
to Monday’s Arts Commission 2pm hearing at San Francisco City Hall

With no replacement site identified in city correspondence, supporters seek a written relocation plan as Embarcadero Park design advances

18 October 2026 – SAN FRANCISCO: Supporters of San Francisco’s Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument are calling for a permanent, visible and accessible home for the waterfront memorial as the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Civic Design Review Committee considers the proposed Embarcadero Park design on Monday, October 19, at 2 p.m., in City Hall, Room 416. Reporters and photographers are encouraged to cover the hearing, where supporters plan to speak during public comment and display signs supporting the monument. The committee is scheduled to consider Conceptual Design and Phase I approval for the park project.

The hearing follows an October 15 email to monument supporters from Mary Chou, the Arts Commission’s Civic Art Collection and Public Art Program Director, stating that the Recreation and Park Department is not proposing Embarcadero Plaza as a relocation site for the monument.

According to that correspondence, designers studied several locations within the park but encountered conflicts involving maintenance access, stormwater management, landscaping, visibility and accessible circulation. The Arts Commission is working with Recreation and Park and the Port of San Francisco to identify alternative sites for consideration by supporters and the artist. The email did not identify a replacement location or installation timetable.

“San Francisco made a promise when it dedicated this monument: that the Americans who stood up to fascism in Spain would have a lasting place in our city’s public memory,” said David Perry, a monument supporter who helped with its 2008 dedication. “We appreciate the work city staff are doing. Now we need a written commitment identifying where the monument will go, how the move will be funded and when it will be back on public view. It cannot get lost in the shuffle.”

Supporters are asking the committee to include a written requirement in its action for a permanent relocation plan developed with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) community and artist Walter Hood. That plan should identify a site, funding, a responsible city department and a firm installation timetable.

They are also seeking safeguards for handling and storage during any move, protection against vandalism, accessible and readable panels, and nearby space for commemorations and community gatherings.

The monument’s waterfront setting connects its story to San Francisco’s labor history. Participants in the 1934 waterfront strike later volunteered in Spain, and returning veterans continued their involvement in labor, civil rights and antiwar movements.

“A renewed waterfront should make room for the history that helped shape San Francisco,” Perry said. “These volunteers’ courage, and their lifelong commitment to social justice, deserve a place where people can encounter their story, read it and gather to remember.”

Meeting and coverage details

• When: Monday, October 19, 2026, at 2 p.m.; supporters are encouraged to arrive by 1:30 p.m.
• Where: San Francisco City Hall, Room 416, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place.
• Hearing: San Francisco Arts Commission, Civic Design Review Committee; Embarcadero Park design review.
• Coverage opportunities: Supporters with printed signs and public testimony about the monument’s future. Contact David Perry for background and interview coordination.
• Meeting information: Official city project update and meeting link.

About the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument:
Dedicated on March 30, 2008, at San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument honors the approximately 2,800 American volunteers who went to Spain to defend the Spanish Republic against fascism during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. Designed by Ann Chamberlain and Walter Hood, the monument combines onyx panels and steel on a concrete base. It was a gift from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives to the City and County of San Francisco and is part of the city’s Civic Art Collection. Its dedication brought surviving veterans together with families and supporters to recognize a legacy of international solidarity and the defense of democracy.

Photo for media use: Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument, San Francisco. Photo: Jim Heaphy / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Photograph taken May 6, 2013.

Save San Francisco’s ALBA Monument

Dear friends and colleagues: while everyone at the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives is suportive of the new plans for Sue Bierman Park at the foot of San Francisco’s Embarcadero, we are nonethless concerned that as of this past Friday, the San Francisco Arts Commission announced that their recommendation is NOT to include the ALBA monument as part of the current design. While we are grateful to everyone at the Commission, San Francisco Recreation & Park Department and the Port of San Francisco for their efforts, we also are insistent that this one-of-a-kind monumment to those volunteers who fought against, and in many cases died, opposing Fascism during the Spanish Civil War are not forgotten. Bottom Line: the ALBA monument, unveiled during the administration of then Mayor Gavin Newsom, must NOT get lost in the shuffle. 

Tomorrow — Monday, October 19 at 2pm — The Civic Design Review Committee of the San Francisco Art Commission, will meet at City Hall, Room 416 to hear current plans. We urge all possible to attend in person, and express their strong support for preserving the ALBA monument and making sure it retains a place of maximum visibility and respect. Below is an opinion piece I wrote earier this year.

https://www.davidperry.com/newsroom/san-francisco-must-keep-faith-with-the-abraham-lincoln-brigade.html

Today, on the anniversary of his birth, we celebrate the life and legacy of Rainbow Honor Walk honoree Oscar Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900).

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Wilde was one of the most brilliant literary figures of the 19th century, renowned for his dazzling wit, irreverent humor, and enduring masterpieces, including The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest. A celebrated playwright, poet, and champion of individuality, Wilde challenged Victorian society’s rigid conventions of morality, sexuality, and artistic expression.

In 1895, Wilde was convicted of “gross indecency” for his relationships with men and sentenced to two years of imprisonment. Although persecution shattered his career and health, his extraordinary literary legacy endured. Today, Wilde is celebrated not only as a literary genius but as an international LGBTQ icon whose life reminds us of the enduring importance of authenticity, freedom, and the courage to live and love openly.

Read the tribute by historian Bill Lipsky in the San Francisco Bay Times at the link below:

https://sfbaytimes.com/oscar-wilde-work-of-genius

www.RainbowHonorWalk.org

In Honor of Indigenous People’s Day, Rainbow Honor Walk Honors We’wha

In honor of Indigenous People’s Day, the Rainbow Honor Walk celebrates the life and legacy of We’wha (c. 1849–1896), a remarkable Zuni artist, spiritual leader, cultural ambassador, and one of the most historically significant Two-Spirit figures in Native American history.

Born around 1849 in what is now New Mexico, We’wha was a lhamana, a traditionally recognized gender role within Zuni society encompassing both masculine and feminine social and ceremonial responsibilities. Respected within the community, We’wha became an accomplished weaver, potter, and keeper of Zuni traditions, helping preserve and share Indigenous cultural knowledge during an era of increasing pressure from European-American settlement and forced assimilation.

In 1886, We’wha achieved national prominence during a visit to Washington, D.C., where they moved among the capital’s social elite, met President Grover Cleveland and First Lady Frances Cleveland, and helped introduce Americans to Zuni art and culture. We’wha also contributed to the Smithsonian’s understanding of Zuni traditions through demonstrations, explanations, and the sharing of cultural artifacts.

We’wha died in 1896, leaving an extraordinary legacy of artistic achievement, cultural preservation, and Indigenous gender diversity. Although the exact dates of We’wha’s birth and death are unknown, their place in history is unmistakable.

www.RainbowHonorWalk.org

#RainbowHonorWalk #IndigenousPeoplesDay #Wewha #TwoSpirit #Zuni #NativeAmericanHistory #IndigenousHistory #LGBTQHistory #LGBTQHeritage #SanFrancisco #CastroDistrict #HistoryMatters

National Coming Out Day Profile: Bob Crewe

“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” one of the most enduring pop standards of the 20th century, was written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio and became a defining hit for Frankie Valli. BMI later ranked it No. 5 on its list of the Top 100 Songs of the Century, citing more than six million radio and television airplays.

Crewe, the brilliant songwriter-producer behind many of the Four Seasons’ greatest hits as well as “Lady Marmalade,” was gay at a time when openness could have damaged a career. Later accounts, including comments from those associated with Jersey Boys, have framed the song as a gay love song; one oft-repeated anecdote says Crewe wrote it after gazing at a sleeping boyfriend. That story is evocative, but it is best described as a reported anecdote rather than a definitively documented origin.

What is clear is that Crewe’s life and legacy carried deep LGBTQ significance. After Jersey Boys became a major success, he used proceeds to create a foundation supporting gay rights, people with AIDS, and access to music and art for underserved children. He died in 2014, leaving behind a body of work that helped define American pop — and a personal story that later generations could understand more openly than his own era allowed.