Winter 2023 Part 4

 

 San Deigo

San Diego is a city on the move in California. It has almost 1.4 million people. It's the 8th most populous city in America. Known for its harbor, U.S. Armed Forces headquarters, healthcare, and biotechnology, San Diego is one of the most technological-based cities in the world. It's the second largest city in the state of California after Los Angeles. It is located on the Pacific Ocean on the Southern California coast. Also, it borders adjacent to the United States/Mexico border. Its motto is Simper Vigilans or Ever Vigilant in Latin. It was created on July 16, 1769. Democratic Mayor Todd Gloria has power in the city. It has over 372 total square miles of land and water. A lot of people don't know that the city's airport, San Diego International Airport, is the busiest single-runway airport in the world. There are tourism, international trade, engineering, and other forms of research. The original people of the area are the Kumeyaay people (who are Native Americans). Right now, the population of San Diego County has 3,338,330 people. With its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches, and parks, it is a city with a growing healthcare and biotechnology center. San Diego being a major tourist attraction in America is easily to witness. For example, there is Balboa Park, which is often called the "Smithsonian of the West." It is the largest urban park with cultural institutions in America. In the park, there are 17 museums that deal with anthropology, art, aviation, natural science, and technology. Gardens and Spanish Colonial architecture are found in Balboa Park. There is the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. It has over a hundred shops and boutiques that line the streets with tons of restaurants. At the center of the Old Town is the Whaley House Museum Complex, which is made up of five historic buildings. The USS Midway Museum was named one of the top museums in the country by Trip Advisor. USS Midway is the longest serving aircraft carrier with 35 exhibits and a myriad of tours. 

San Deigo's History 

In the beginning, Native Americans first lived in San Diego. There was the La Jolla complex (known as the Shell Midden people). These human beings lived in the region between 8,000 B.C. and 1,000 A.D. There was the Kumyaay period of time, which lasted from 1000 A.D. to the 1770's. There were Yuman groups migrating from the east and settling in the area. These people were the Kumeyaay who made villages in the area. There was the village of Cosoy (Kosa'aay) which was the Kumeyaay village that the future settlement of San Diego would stem from in today's Old Town. Other villages would include Nipaquay (Mission Valley), Choyas (Barrio Logan), Utay (Otay Mesa), Jamo (Pacific Beach), Onap (San Clemente Canyon), Ystagua (Sorrento Valley), and Melijo (Tijuana River Valley). The Kumeyaaay in San Diego back then spoke 2 different dialects of the kumeyaay language. North of the San Diego River, the Kumeyaay spoke the Ipai dialect, which included the villages of Nipaquay, Jamo, Onap, Ystagua, and Ahmukatlatl. South of the San Diego River, the Kumeyaay spoke the Tiipai dialect, which was spoken in the villages of Kosa'aay, Choyas, Utay, and Melijo. The first European, to visit the region in San Deigo, was Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542.  His landing is re-enacted every year at the Cabrillo Festival sponsored by Cabrillo National Monument, but it did not lead to the establishment of a settlement.

More on Its Early Years

The bay and the area of present-day San Diego were given their current name sixty years later by Sebastián Vizcaíno when he was mapping the coastline of Alta California for Spain in 1602. Vizcaino was a merchant who hoped to establish prosperous colonies. After holding the first Catholic service conducted on California soil on the feast day of San Diego de Alcala, (also the patron saint of his flagship), he renamed the bay.  He left 10 days and was enthusiastic about its safe harbor, friendly people, and promising potential as a successful colony. Despite his enthusiasm, the Spanish were unconvinced. It would be another 167 years before colonization started. In 1769, Gaspar de Portolà and his expedition founded the Presidio of San Diego (military post) above the village of Cosoy, and on July 16, Franciscan friars Junípero Serra, Juan Viscaino and Fernando Parron raised and 'blessed a cross', establishing the first mission in upper Las Californias, Mission San Diego de Alcala. Colonists began arriving in 1774. In the following year, the Kumeyaay indigenous people rebelled against the Spanish, which resulted in the deaths of a priest and two others and burned the mission. Serra organized the rebuilding, and a fire-proof adobe and tile-roofed structure was completed in 1780. By 1797, the mission had become the largest in California, with a population of more than 1,400 presumably converted Native American "Mission Indians" relocated to and associated with it. The tile-roofed adobe structure was destroyed by an 1803 earthquake but replaced by a third church in 1813.

In 1804, the Province of Las Californias split between the provinces of Alta California and Baja California, with San Diego being governed by Alta California from the regional capital in Monterey. Later, by 1821, Mexico defeated the Spanish forces in the Mexican War of Independence and created the Province of Alta California. The San Diego Mission was secularized and shut down in 1834. The land was sold off. 432 residents petitioned the governor to form a pueblo. Juan Maria Osuna was elected the first alcalde ("municipal magistrate"), defeating Pío Pico in the vote. Beyond the town, Mexican land grants expanded the number of California ranchos that modestly added to the local economy.

Its Independence as a City

The original town of San Diego was located at the foot of Presidio Hill, in the area which is now Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. The location was not ideal, being several miles away from navigable water. Imported goods and exports (primarily tallow and hides) had to be carried over the La Playa Trail to the anchorages in Point Loma. This arrangement was suitable only for a very small town. In 1830, the population was about 600. In 1834, the presidio was described as "in a most ruinous state, apart from one side, in which the commandant lived, with his family. There were only two guns, one of which was spiked, and the other had no carriage. Twelve half-clothed and half-starved-looking fellows composed the garrison, and they, it was said, had not a musket apiece." The settlement composed about forty brown huts and three or four larger, whitewashed ones belonging to the gentry.

In 1836, the Alta California and Baja California territories merged as the Department of Las Californias as part of the reforms made under Las Siete Leyes formalized under then President Antonio López de Santa Anna. San Diego was losing its population by the 1830's. The Kumeyaay Native Americans had tensions with the Mexican government. Between 1836 and 1842, ranchos were abandoned as the Kumeyaay pillaged the countryside, with an initial attack on El Cajon in 1836 and Tijuana falling into Kumeyaay hands in 1839. San Diego was first attacked circa 1836–1837 when a Mexican expedition to rescue two hostages failed and a large force of Kumeyaay launched an attack on the town but were caught off guard when an armed merchant vessel, Alert, docked on the bay fired upon the Kumeyaay warriors forcing the Kumeyaay to retreat. Sir Edward Belcher of the British Navy on board the HMS Sulphur on its way to fight in the First Opium War in Qing China, docked in San Diego Bay in October of 1839 and noted that it would appear that San Diego would soon be taken by the Native Americans or another nation. In June 1842, it culminated in a Kumeyaay raid on San Diego in an attempt to expel the Mexican settlers, after doing so to the Californios in the surrounding rancho countryside. While the siege failed, the Kumeyaay managed to control much of the south, east, and most of the north of the settlement, with the town becoming dependent on sea access to maintain connections to the rest of Mexico. Together with Quechan resistance in the east, the Kumeyaay cut off Alta California from all land routes to the rest of the Mexican republic between the Colorado River and the Pacific Ocean up until the Mexican-American War, further threatening Mexican control of the southern Alta California coast

During the Mexican-American War, control of the city changed three times. The United States forces once took control in July 1846. Later, Californio forces controlled the area. By November 1846, Americans controlled San Diego permanently with help from the USS Congress. The Americans met the Mexican and Californio armies in the Battle of San Pasqual in December and were defeated, making it the only American defeat in the war. Following events near San Gabriel in early January 1847, peace returned to California. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo caused much of Mexico to go into American hands. The residents of California became U.S. citizens as California was part of the Union in 1850. San Diego was incorporated on March 27 as a city. It was part of San Deigo County. San Diego had the Tax Rebellion of 1851. The Cupeno and Kumeyaay rebelled against people wanting authorities to pay a $600 tax on properties. In 1850, with California being admitted into the Union, William Heath Davis, an American-Hawaiian pioneer, envisioned a thriving city on the bay and spent $60,000 to develop a 160-acre subdivision which included the city's streets, Pantoja Park, a warehouse, a wharf at the foot of today's Market Street, and ten. New England saltbox houses shipped in from Maine. It was completed by August 1851 but was seldom used. In 1853, the steamer Los Angeles collided with the wharf. The damage was never repaired. Unused and poorly built, the damage was not worth fixing. Davis tried unsuccessfully to sell it. Finally, in 1862, the Army destroyed it, using timbers for firewood. San Deigo gradually grew to have railroads and a storm port system. Its downtown developed further. In 1906, the San Diego and Arizona Railway of John D. Spreckels was built to provide San Diego with a direct transcontinental rail link to the east by connecting with the Southern Pacific Railroad lines in El Centro, California. It became the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway. In 1933, the Spreckels heirs sold it to the Southern Pacific Railroad.

San Diego grew to 148,000 from 1900 to 1930. San Diego was called the Gibraltar of the Pacific because America used its strategic location to help get Guam, the Philippines for a time, and Hawaii. The opening of the Panama Canal helped supplies and other shipments to travel into San Deigo. It evolved into a major location for naval, marine, and air bases (as advocated by Congressman William Kettnew). The Navy developed greatly during World War I in America. By the time the Marine Base and Naval Training Center opened in the early 1920s, the Navy had built seven bases in San Diego at a cost of $20 million, with another $17 million in the pipeline. The city's 'culture of accommodation' determined the way the city would grow for the next several decades and created a military-urban complex rather than a tourist and health resort. With the reduction in naval spending after 1990, the Chamber turned its focus to tourism and conventions. San Diego had a great harbor and the weather; it seemed poised to become a world-class metropolis. Military institutions are all over the San Diego area. We have Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton near San Diego, the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, etc. By the early 1990's, twenty percent of the San Diego region's economy was dependent on defense spending. 

The Early 20th Century

Many people in the early 20th Century Progressive Movement were founded in San Diego. Many people wanted to eliminate corporate rule and bossism. Progressive Republicans resented the political power of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the role of "Boss" Charles Hardy. Reformers organized and fought back beginning with the 1905 municipal election. In 1906, they formed the Roosevelt Republican Club, and in 1907 reformers backed a Nonpartisan League. Led by Edgar Luce, George Marston, and Ed Fletcher, the Roosevelt Republican Club became the Lincoln-Roosevelt Republican League. The mayoral election of 1909 marked a sweeping victory for the League, as did the 1910 election of Hiram Johnson as governor.

In 1912, City Council restrictions on soapbox oratories led to the San Diego free speech fight, a confrontation between the Industrial Workers of the World on the one side and law enforcement and vigilantes on the other.

Marston was defeated for mayor in 1913 (against Charles F. O'Neall) and again in 1917 (against Louis J. Wilde). The 1917 race in particular was a classic growth-vs.-beautification debate. Marston argued for better city planning with more open space and grand boulevards; Wilde argued for more business development. Wilde called his opponent "Geranium George", painting Marston as unfriendly to business. Wilde's campaign slogan was "More Smokestacks", and during the campaign, he drew a great smokestack belching smoke on a truck through the city streets. The phrase "smokestacks vs. geraniums" is still used in San Diego to characterize this type of debate between environmentalists and growth advocates. San Diego hosted world fairs and had a strong tuna fishing industry. There is a strong philanthropy history in San Diego too. 

For example, wealthy heiress Ellen Browning Scripps underwrote many public facilities in La Jolla, was a key supporter of the fledgling San Diego Zoo, and together with her brother E. W. Scripps established the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Another notable philanthropist of this era was George Marston, businessman, and owner of Marston's Department Store. Wanting to see Balboa Park become a grand city park like those in other cities, he hired architect John Nolen on two occasions, in 1908 and 1926, to develop a master plan for the park. In 1907 he bought Presidio Hill, the site of the original Presidio of San Diego, which had fallen into ruins. Recognizing its importance as the site of the first European settlement in California, he developed it into a park (planned by Nolen) with his own funds and built the Serra Museum (designed by architect William Templeton Johnson). In 1929, he donated the park to the city, which still owns and operates it; it is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. San Diego did much better than other parts of the country during the Great Depression. By the end of the Great Depression, San Diego's population grew 38 percent from 210,000 to 290,000 people. Its naval services grew. There were plants being formed and aircraft developing at a rapid pace. World War II brought prosperity to the city. San Diego had 340,000 people during WWII. The San Diego Aqueduct was created to give fresh water to people including the military. Navy and Marine facilities help to win the war effort during WWII. Tourism and universities increased in San Diego. The University of California and San Diego State University are some of the most prominent universities in America. 

San Deigo's Civil Rights History

Many people don't know that the city of San Diego has a long Civil Rights Movement spanning over 100 years.  As early as 1917, W.E.B. DuBois traveled to San Diego to promote the Western states involving the NAACP. Many early leaders in the movement were ex-slave and Bethel A.M.E. Church co-founder Solomon Johnson and businessman Edward W. Anderson, the first black person in Southern California to file a racial discrimination lawsuit. Many black people in San Diego were always eager to fight for black freedom. Back in the early 20th century, black people in San Diego weren't allowed to go into certain restaurants, or drink soda water, or go to the beach in the city. This was said by NAACP branch president Elijah J. Gentry. The Klan was present in San Diego back then harming black people and Mexican immigrants too. Back in 1923 at Ocean Beach, black people had their homes burned to the ground as they fled for their lives. They were saved by a policeman. Later, an elderly black woman had her house destroyed by fire after being warned by racists to leave. Edward W. Anderson (1871-1954) filed a lawsuit to promote civil rights in California. Anderson won his 3 cases but lost on appeal. Anderson had victories in promoting anti-discrimination policies in San Diego. The Unruh Civil Rights Act helped many people in California. After WWII, civil rights leaders fought. Segregated housing existed in San Diego. Dr. Martin Luther King did visit San Diego on March 29, 1964. He worked with San Diego NAACP President Hartwell W. Ragdalse. 

Dr. King opposed housing discrimination in Western states. By 1964, there was a CORE protest calling for Bank of America to hire black bank tellers. Today, CORE is much more conservative. Yet, back in the 1960's, CORE was a progressive organization. Harold Brown was at the CORE protest. Myrtle Cole has been a person who wanted people to know about San Diego's vast civil rights history too. Today, many positive changes have existed in America, but we have a very long way to go. Even in 2022, we have the far-right backlash restricting voting rights, hating ethnic studies being taught to students and the effects of the January 6th insurrection terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol. San Diego didn't create an oversight board for investigating police brutality until the 1980's. In our time, we have to realize that to have freedom, we have to fight for it. We will continue to advance the Dream and advance our rights too. 

Post-War Events

Japanese Americans, Filipino Americans, and other Asian American communities have a huge role in forming businesses and other institutions in San Diego. The Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District celebrates this history. San Diego saw the unjust internment of Japanese Americans too. Many racists wanted to shut down Asian businesses during this time. Up through the 1950s the downtown area was a focus of civic and cultural life, featuring elegant hotels like the U.S. Grant and the El Cortez, as well as Marston's, an upscale department store. During the 1970s that focus shifted to Mission Valley with its modern shopping centers. The hotels fell into disrepair, Marston's closed, and the downtown area developed a seedy reputation. The transformation of the downtown areas from a zone of poverty and poor housing to a major tourist attraction with large numbers of jobs began in 1968 with the creation of the Centre City Development Corporation. Its urban renewal project focused on the Gaslamp Quarter beginning in 1968, with the goal of making the area a national historic district and bringing upper- and middle-class tourists and suburban residents to downtown San Diego. 

Since the 1980s the city has seen the opening of the former Horton Plaza shopping center, the revival of the Gaslamp Quarter, and the construction of the San Diego Convention Center. In recent decades, there has been controversy action of gentrification. There was the development of Petco Park. 30,000 people live in downtown San Deigo. There is Hillcrest neighborhood development. San Deigo annexed many areas too. In 1972, San Diego was the city of the 1972 Republican National Convention. It was held again in 1996 at the San Diego Convention Center. The largest annual convention held in San Diego is San Diego Comic-Con International, founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention in 1970. According to Forbes, it is the "largest convention of its kind in the world." In our time, San Diego is very much diverse ethnically, and there is nothing wrong with that. Diversity is part of our strength as Americans. 

As the Cold War ended, the military shrank and so did defense spending. San Diego has since become a center of the emerging biotech industry and is home to telecommunications giant Qualcomm. San Diego had also grown in the tourism industry with the popularity of attractions such as the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San Diego, and Legoland California in Carlsbad.  

San Deigo in the 21st century

By the 21st Century, San Diego saw massive construction. By 2001, the San Diego River Park Foundation was formed. There was the rebirth of the San Diego Convention Center in 2001, and Petoc Park was opened in 2004. Now, San Diego is the center of an emerging biotech industry. It is home to the telecommunications giant Qualcomm. San Diego is a large center of the tourism industry. Tons of people in America visit the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San Diego, and Legoland California in Carlsbad. In 2006, San Deigo was revered back to a Mayor-council form of government on a five-year trial basis. This form of government was made permanent in 2010. The October 2007 San Diego County wildfires caused hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate, which exceeded the number evacuated from New Orleans during the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. In 2017, the Chicano Park murals were named a National Historic Landmark. This was born out of protests in 1970. It is home to the largest collection of outdoor murals in U.S. In 2017, the San Diego Seals team was created, and they join the National Lacross League. Todd Gloria became the first person of color (and member of the LGBTQ community) to be Mayor of San Diego. In 2022, Sesame Place San Diego opened up in Chula Vista, California. By 2023, San Diego will host the 2023 World Lacrosse Championship. 

San Diego's Culture

The culture of San Diego is very much diverse. It is heavily influenced by cultures from Mexican culture, African American culture, Asian American culture, Western culture, and other forms of culture. One major part of San Diego's culture is about the U.S. military. Many people from all across America have worked in the military system in San Diego. Tourism is one large part of the city too. Many tourist attractions in the city include:  SeaWorld, Aquatica San Diego, the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park, Belmont Park, Balboa Park, and nearby Legoland. San Diego's Spanish influence can be seen in the many historic sites across the city, such as the Mission San Diego de Alcala, Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, and Balboa Park. Cuisine in San Diego is diverse, but there is an abundance of wood-fired California-style pizzas and Mexican and East Asian cuisine. Annual events in San Diego include Comic-Con, the San Diego/Del Mar Fair, San Diego Pride, Street Scene Music Festival, etc. San Diego has been a military town for more than 100 years. Present-day reflections of that tradition include tributes to military history such as the USS Midway Museum and Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, as well as numerous smaller memorials throughout the city. Annual events celebrating the military include Fleet Week and the Miramar Air Show. Because of its ethnic and cultural mix, San Diego has a wide range of cuisines. 

One can find Mexican, Italian, French, Spanish, Filipino, Vietnamese, Greek, Latin, German, Indian, Central and East Asian, Middle Eastern, African American, and Pacific Islander food throughout the city. In addition, there are numerous seafood restaurants and steakhouses. The city's long history and close proximity to Mexico have endowed the area with an extensive variety of authentic Mexican restaurants. Regional homemade specialties, border fare, and haute cuisine are all readily available. There are foods like fish tacos, enchiladas, California-style pizza, Southeast Asian specialties of all kinds, seafood, local wines, tomatoes, strawberries, etc. Breweries are very commonplace. The arts are strong with many art museums like the San Diego Museum of Art, the Timken Gallery, the Mingei International Museum featuring folk art, the Museum of Photographic Arts, and the Museum of the Living Artist are located in Balboa Park. The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) is located in an oceanfront building in La Jolla and has a branch located at the Santa Fe Depot downtown. Music is found in the city with many artists. Southeast San Diego has a large African American cultural base too. 

By Timothy