Some of the Mobs I Wrote About in MOBS

A timeline of San Jose’s St. James Park

I recently researched, wrote, and self-published, a lyric essay about MOBS in a local park (pictured above!). Below are some of the MOBS I explore.

The 1850s: Hunters & Toreadors

St. James Park was once the site of bull and bear fights. Hunters would capture grizzlies in the foothills, and toreadors would set them against bulls in a makeshift ring before crowds of hundreds.

1875: Spectators

You may have seen “notorious bandit” Tiburcio Vasquez’s face hanging on a flag over the dining area in San Pedro Square Market, just two-tenths of a mile from where his body once hung over spectators attending his public lynching.

The 1880s Loungers / The 1890s “The Tramp Element”

Journalists once lauded the park as an attractive resort for loungers and others who enjoy fresh air, shaded walks, and a sight of the pretty lawns, tastefully bordered with flowers. By 1893, local papers began lamenting that transient folks were taking possession of the place.

1889 to 1910: Suiciders

There were at least seven public suicides/near public suicides reported in the park in this decade, many of whom were poison-takers.

1901: Decorators & Carnival-Goers

When San Jose welcomed President and Mrs. McKinley during the Carnival of Roses, a committee of local ladies designed a monster bouquet as an offering. It was 25 feet high and 90 feet around, constructed from cartloads of blossoms.

1909: Lily-White Infants

The Native Sons of the Golden West, a racist organization who believed California was given by God to a white people, held a parade of ~500 babies.

1918: Masked Men

A group of men called the Knights of Liberty, who wore black gowns and black hangmen’s caps, chained “disloyalist” George Koetzer to the McKinley Monument’s canon and applied a thick coat of tar and feathers to his skin.

1922 / 1930 / 1994 / 2002 / & 2015: Women & Children

Failed, or fledgling, demands to make the park friendlier for imaginary mobs of women and children cropped up in the news over time. Most recently: signs near the deserted playground pronounce that Adults Must Be Accompanied By A Child.

1931: Cannery Strikers

During the summer of 1931, Santa Clara County cannery workers — many of whom were women and girls — walked out of their jobs to protest a 20–25% wage cut. They demonstrated at St. James Park.

1933: Lynch Mobs

Approximately 10,000 people (including my grandfather) jammed into St. James Park to witness the lynching of John Holmes and Thomas Thurmond, two accused kidnapper-slayers.

1966: Local Toughs

That May, these San Jose High School students were arrested for a double murder that began in St. James Park. The details of their crime (specifically what the papers reported versus what my father remembered) led me to research the role of the park in San Jose’s queer history.

1969: Demonstrators

Hundreds of demonstrators — many of whom were Chicanx youth — gathered in St. James Park to demand that a racist Santa Clara County Superior Court judge resign.

1981: Klansmen

20 Klansmen assembled in St. James Park, and 2,000 anti-racist activists pelted them with objects and drowned out their speeches during a counter-demonstration.

1986 & 1988: Developers

In a multi-million dollar renovation project, developers aimed to restore St. James Park to a Victorian setting, and, in doing so, removed the twenty-four-hour public restrooms there. Asked if these actions were to discourage the homeless from assembling in the park, an official said: I have to believe that, reading the master plan, it was because of a desire to develop a certain ambiance. It was determined that a restroom building didn’t work in that setting.