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“Party Like It’s 200”: Emperor Norton’s 200th Birthday Party | SF

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Wednesday, February 7, 2018 - 6:00 pm | Cost: FREE*
*Free, but an RSVP is required.

Mechanics’ Institute | 57 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94104

Event Details

Emperor Norton’s 200th Birthday Celebration

In 2015, The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign held its first birthday party for Emperor Norton — an event at which presented the original research showing that, most likely, Joshua Abraham Norton was born on February 4, 1818.

Previous biographers had offered 1818 as the year of Emperor Norton’s birth, but none had made the case for a specific date nor had they explained why the birth year — 1819 — inscribed on the Emperor’s gravestone is mistaken.

Emperor Norton’s 200th Birthday Celebration
February 2018 | Various Locations
Most events are free

Sunday, February 4, 2018 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Emperor Norton and to celebrate this momentous and high occasion, The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign is producing: Emperor Norton at 200 — a series of exhibits, talks, toasts and other special events in February 2018 and throughout the bicentennial year.

Schedule of Events

Will The Real Emperor Please Stand Up?
A Lecture & Pop-Up Exhibit in Celebration of the Emperor Norton Bicentennial
Thursday, February 1 | California Historical Society

Emperor Norton’s 200th Birthday Free Lunch
Sunday, February 4 | Comstock Saloon

Emperor Norton’s 200th Birthday Bash
Wednesday, February 7 | Mechanics’ Institute

The Literary Emperor
The Best Proclamations of Emperor Norton That You’ve Never Heard Of
Thursday, February 15 | San Francisco Public Library (Main Library)

Exhibits

The Emperor In The Library: A Rare Display
Thurs, February 1 | California Historical Society

Emperor Norton, Larger Than Life
January 28 – March 2, 2018
San Francisco History Center / San Francisco Public Library (Main Library)

Imperial; Five Portraits of Joshua Norton
January 24 – March 11, 2018
Society of California Pioneers Museum and Library

Join the Emperor’s Bridge Campaign, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that works to honor the life and advance the legacy of the 19th-century eccentric and visionary, Emperor Norton, as they host his annual birthday party.

Based on their research, they’re 99.9% certain that Joshua Abraham Norton — the future Emperor Norton — was born on February 4, 1818. They have made it their custom to celebrate the Emperor’s birthday every year with a party and cake.

A Party in Salute of Emperor Norton’s 200th Birthday
Wednesday, February 7, 2018 | 6 pm
Mechanics’ Institute, 57 Post St, San Francisco
FREE

This year, Emperor Norton turns 200 — so, with apologies to Prince, please join your fellow citizens of the Empire to Party Like It’s 200. Join for cake and a glass of bubbly to celebrate the 200th birthday of Joshua Abraham Norton, the San Francisco businessman who one day in 1859 proclaimed himself Emperor of the United States and (in 1862) Protector of Mexico.

The theme of the event is “a day in life of Emperor Norton” as Mechanics’ Institute’s 1866 building, formerly located on the site of the Institute’s current location, was one of the Emperor’s regular afternoon haunts: a place where he wrote many of his Proclamations — on Institute stationery — and where he is reputed to have played a mean game of chess.

Attendees are encouraged to dress according to the San Francisco style during the period of the Emperor’s reign: 1860s and 1870s. Bonus points for those dressed as other storied Mechanics’ Institute figures of the Emperor’s acquaintance. If Eadweard Muybridge, Andrew Smith Hallidie or Mary Ellen Pleasant is in your costume repertoire, now is your moment.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.


Cost: FREE*
*Free, but an RSVP is required.
Categories: **Annual Event**, *Top Pick*, Eating & Drinking, History, Other
Address: 57 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94104