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THE MONTHLY MEMORIAL

JAMES ROLPH, JR.
"SUNNY JIM"
1869 - 1934

The dapper and highly gregarious James "Sunny Jim" Rolph was San Francisco's longest-running mayor ever. Wildly popular, he ruled the roost for 19 years, over an unparalleled period of prosperity for the city, from 1911 through 1930. Before hitting city politics, he was a Mission District kid made good, going from office boy to shipping magnate and bank president in short order. A fancy dresser with panache to spare, "Sunny Jim" adopted the tune "There are Smiles That Make You Happy" as his theme song, keeping a brass band on the payroll to play it at his public appearances. Rolph showed an equal flair for rebuilding the city in style after the earthquake and fire of 1906. Virtually all of San Francisco's major municipal projects (the Civic Center and most other major city buildings, the Hetch Hetchy water system, the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges, and the San Francisco Airport, to name just a few) were planned and/or completed during his tenure.

In 1919, Rolph presided over the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, a world's fair which celebrated both the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, and the rebirth of San Francisco after the disasters 1906. Although it is little remembered today, the PPIE was one of the most important things to ever happen to San Francisco. The Civic Center was built for it, Van Ness was kept wide after 1906 to accommodate its parades, and a reef at the northwest corner of town was filled in to provide it with 635 acres of free real estate, now known as the Marina District. The PPIE cemented California’s position as a major vacation destination for the rest of the country, and even occasioned the nation’s first transcontinental highway to transport early motorists from New York all the way to San Francisco, the Lincoln Highway (now known as US 80).

Rolph loved to have a good time, and San Francisco had a good time with him, as parades, parties, and civic celebrations multiplied during the 1920's. Prohibition was almost totally ignored within city limits, the economy was strong, the arts flourished, and San Francisco was growing into its own as a world-class city. Riding high on his popularity and considerable achievements, Rolph won the California gubernatorial election in 1930.

Despite starting out his governorship with high hopes, Rolph couldn't have taken the job at a worse time. The effects of the Great Depression were just getting serious, and Rolph found himself blamed for many of the state’s financial woes that he hadn't done anything to cause. In fact, he had been so focused on running San Francisco for so long that he had let his own business interests flounder, and was now in bad financial shape himself. There were unexpected duties inherent to the position which crushed his spirit, such as deciding who among the death row inmates to grant pardons to (or not). These and other grave problems wore Rolph down spiritually and physically. After a period of failing health, including several heart attacks, a stroke, and possibly an undiagnosed neurological disease, James Rolph, Jr. died in 1934.

After so many years of the good life, Rolph’s wife Annie found herself a destitute widow, unable to pay for the funeral expenses. But San Francisco had not forgotten Sunny Jim. His body was brought back to lie in state in the rotunda of City Hall, and later the city paid off $1.5 million in debts against his estate. In his will, with nothing of his wealth or health left to leave after giving so much to his fellow citizens, Rolph wrote of his "grateful appreciation" at being elected to serve as mayor so many times, and closed "I wish I would have had an estate to give great gift[s] to all the charitable institutions of San Francisco. Good Bye, Good Luck, God Bless You All."

prepared by Tricia Roush