M. Justin Herman
M. Justin Herman | |
---|---|
Born | Meyer Justin Herman August 4, 1909[1] New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Died | August 30, 1971 San Francisco, California, U.S. | (aged 62)
Nationality | American |
Other names | Justin Herman |
Alma mater | University of Rochester |
Occupation | Public administration |
Known for | Head of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency |
Spouse | Gladys Helen Heinrich (married 1934โ1971) |
M. Justin Herman (1909โ1971) was an American public administrator. From 1951 to 1959 he was head of the regional office of the Housing and Home Finance Agency in San Francisco, California.[2]: 18 From 1959 until his death in 1971, he was the Executive Director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.[3][1] Under his administration, large areas of the city were redeveloped; thousands of residents, many of them poor and non-white, were forced to leave their homes and businesses.[4][5]: 132
Early life and education
Meyer Justin Herman was born on August 4, 1909, in New Bedford, Massachusetts.[1][6][7][8] His father Samuel Lewis Herman owned a dry goods store,[7] and had emigrated in 1891 from the Russian Partition (now Poland).
Herman attended the University of Rochester and graduated (B.A. 1930) in economics; he was a member of the honor society Phi Beta Kappa.[7][9] In 1934, he married Gladys Helen Heinrich.[7][10]
Career
In his early career he worked at
After the war, he worked for various United States federal agencies.[8] From 1951 to 1959, Herman worked as a San Francisco Bay Area regional administrator for the United States Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA).[2]: 18 [11]
Herman was appointed executive director of the
Herman was responsible for the redevelopment, in two phases, of the
Herman died at the age of 62 of a
Reception
![The Embarcadeo Plaza (formerly Justin Herman Plaza) in 1988](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/I-480_from_Hyatt_Regency_ca_1988.jpg/220px-I-480_from_Hyatt_Regency_ca_1988.jpg)
The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials makes an annual M. Justin Herman Award.
While Herman's actions were largely supported by the elite of the city and by banks, businesses and the city government, his reputation among those he displaced from their homes was very low.[8] Sun-Reporter journalist, Thomas C. Fleming described Herman in 1965 as the "arch-villain in the black depopulation of the city",[2]: 19 while Reverend Hannibal Williams of the Western Addition Community Organization (WACO) said, "We didn't know who the devil was. But we knew who Justin Herman was and that was the devil for us".[5]: 133 [15]
In July 2017, San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced a resolution which would temporarily rename Justin Herman Plaza to Embarcadero Plaza until a new permanent name could be attached, citing Herman's role in displacing poor and minority residents from the Western Addition, Fillmore, Chinatown, and South of Market neighborhoods.[16] The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the resolution unanimously on September 19, 2017.[17] The new name would need to be decided by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission, which has jurisdiction over naming public spaces. Peskin stated the site's owner, Boston Properties, told him they would cover the cost (estimated at US$5,400 (equivalent to $6,712 in 2023)) of replacing the plaque bearing Herman's name.[18] The plaza is officially known as Embarcadero Plaza.[19]
See also
- Robert Moses
- Modernist architecture
- Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation
References
- ^ The San Francisco Examiner. p. 126. Retrieved 2022-11-02 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ ISBN 9780520914902.
- ^ David Habert (March 1, 1999) Fifty Years of Redevelopment: Lessons for the Future. Accessed July 2015.
- ^ a b c Fillmore Timeline 1860 - 2001. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Accessed July 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9780415806015.
- ^ Adams, Jerry (1962-09-02). "M. Justin Herman (continued 2/4)". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 127. Retrieved 2022-11-02 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e Adams, Jerry (1962-09-02). "M. Justin Herman (continued 3/4)". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 128. Retrieved 2022-11-02 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Adams, Jerry (1962-09-02). "M. Justin Herman (continued 4/4)". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 129. Retrieved 2022-11-02 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "8th Annual Commencement" (PDF). The University of Rochester. June 16, 1930.
- ^ a b "Obituary for M. Justin Herman". The Indianapolis News. 1971-08-31. p. 29. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
- ^ "City Starts Work on Redevelopment". Santa Cruz Sentinel. December 30, 1955. pp. 1, 10.
- ^ M. Justin Herman Memorial Award. National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. Accessed July 2015.
- ^ "Justin Herman โ Embarcadero Plaza". San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department. Archived from the original on 2015-09-07. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
- The San Francisco Examiner. p. 96. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
- ^ "The Fillmore: Reverend Hannibal Williams". PBS. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- ^ Dineen, J.K. (27 July 2017). "SF Supervisor Peskin ramps up drive to rename Justin Herman Plaza". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
- NBC Bay Area. September 19, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
- ^ Swan, Rachel (19 September 2017). "SF supervisors want Justin Herman's name yanked off plaza". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
- ^ "Embarcadero Plaza - Don Chee Way Hardscape | San Francisco Recreation and Parks, CA". sfrecpark.org. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
External links
- Video: Groundbreaking Ceremony in Fillmore District for Prince Hall Apartments (1970) KPIX News from the Bay Area Television Archive at San Francisco State University
- Video: M. Justin Herman joins Mary Rogers on a picket line (1971) KPIX-TV from the Bay Area Television Archive at San Francisco State University