A new exhibit is being readied at the San Diego Central Library. Voices on the Inside presents the written words of women who’ve been incarcerated.
The exhibit is created by Poetic Justice, an organization that provides writing workshops for women serving time in prisons and jails, including the Las Colinas Detention Facility in San Diego.
As their website explains: Poetic Justice’s in-person writing workshops are typically offered for 6-10 week sessions…the participants explore therapeutic writing prompts and community building activities. At the end of a session, the participants graduate and receive an anthology of their writing and a graduation certificate.
Many of the women share their innermost thoughts, filled with humanity and new wisdom and hope that otherwise might be ignored or dismissed. The exhibit will be filled with examples of what they’ve written.
The opening reception for Voices on the Inside will be held at San Diego Central Library on Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 2 pm. Learn more by visiting the Instagram page @capoeticjustice.
To see this new exhibit, simply walk into the Central Library and turn right when you reach the main elevators. Many faces and words await you.
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James W. Robinson was hanged for stealing a rowboat from San Diego Bay. He was convicted of grand larceny. He was buried in San Diego’s Old Town, a short distance from where the hanging took place.
Perhaps you know James Robinson from his nickname, Yankee Jim. The hanging ground where he was executed in 1852 is now occupied by the Whaley House Museum. The historically important Whaley House lays claim to being the most haunted house in America. Some say Yankee Jim’s ghost can still be seen in and around the museum.
A plaque was placed on the south side of the Whaley House earlier this year. I took photographs of it a couple days ago. It describes the hanging of Yankee Jim, shortly before Mr. Whaley bought the old hanging ground to build his house.
The plaque reads:
On the 18th of September, 1852, James “Yankee Jim” Robinson was the last man to be hanged at this site after being convicted of grand larceny. The simple gallows consisted of two posts, a horizontal beam, and a mule-drawn wagon. Catholic priests conducted the final ceremonies and Yankee Jim was allowed time to deliver a farewell speech to the crowd that had gathered. Undersheriff Crosthwaite gave the order, and a whip was applied to the mules, leaving Yankee Jim to hang. Mr. Thomas Whaley, present during the execution, purchased this property shortly afterward. By all accounts, he built his brick home where the gallows originally stood.
Many years ago I visited the El Campo Santo cemetery where Yankee Jim was buried. I documented many of the gravesites, including his. I revisited the early San Diego cemetery again after discovering the Whaley House plaque.
The grave marker, which appears to contain errors, reads:
James W. Robinson, who was known as “Yankee Jim”, suffered the extreme penalty for stealing the only rowboat in San Diego Bay. The verdict of the jury was as follows: “Your jurors in the within case of James W. Robinson have to return a verdict of guilty and do therefore sentence him, James Robinson to be hanged by the neck until dead. Cave J. Courts [Cave Couts], foreman of the jury.
The poor fellow could not believe that he was to be hanged until the very last moment. He appeared to think it all a grim joke over, at worst. A serious effort to impress him with the enormity of his evil ways. He was still talking when the deputy sheriff gave the signal. Then the cart was driven from beneath him, and he was left dangling in the air. Surely the punishment was far more wicked than the crime. Yet the example must have proved effective in discouraging theft.
Yankee Jim converted to Roman Catholic Church prior to his death, thus his baptismal name of Santiago (Spanish for James). His godfather was Philip Crosthwaite, the deputy sheriff who gave the signal for his execution.
Information compiled from the History of San Diego, by W. E. Smythe, and other sources.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Wearing a superhero costume is fun. But would you like to become a genuine superhero?
Help spread the word about human trafficking and join the effort to end it!
I met several superheroes today at Comic-Con who are doing just that. They are informing people that human trafficking is a serious problem in San Diego.
What is human trafficking? The SAFE San Diego website explains: Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery where perpetrators profit from the sexual exploitation and/or forced labor of men, women and children. It is a violation of basic human rights, and it is also a crime as defined by U.S. federal law and California state law. Furthermore, San Diego was identified by the FBI as of the top 13 high intensity child prostitution areas.
This same website explains how to identify possible human trafficking and what you should do if you spot it. It’s good to be informed, because you never know.
Please visit the SAFE San Diego website and spend a minute or two learning what you can. And spread the word! You’ll become a real superhero!
You may end up saving someone’s life.
If you expand the following image, you should be able to read it…
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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
There’s a fascinating museum in San Diego that seemingly few know about. Occupying a modest, easily missed building near the intersection of El Cajon Boulevard and College Avenue, the San Diego Police Museum is packed wall-to-wall with displays that lovers of history shouldn’t miss!
I visited the museum for my very first time a while ago and was amazed at the quality and variety of exhibits.
Photographs, documents, equipment and artifacts trace the earliest days of the San Diego Police Department right up to the present.
There’s a mid-20th century police Communication Center. There’s a simulated jail cell, and a real police motorcycle. There are different uniforms from the past.
There are old newspapers with headlines about crime in San Diego. There are memories of past police chiefs. There is standard law enforcement gear dating back to the 1800s, and even a Tommy Gun, like those that were once used by gangsters.
There are displays concerning horse mounted officers, bike teams that were established in the early 1920s, and four-legged K-9 officers. There’s recognition of how diversity has played a more and more important role in the San Diego Police Department through the years.
There are old police badges and hundreds of patches. There are even artifacts from charity football COP’er Bowls and sports trophies won by officer athletes and bodybuilders.
And there are medals won by police heroes. They ran toward danger in the service of others.
And covering one wall: a memorial to fallen officers.
For more details about the museum, including its hours of operation, check out the SDPD Museum website.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Don’t get me wrong. I love Balboa Park. I go almost every weekend.
Balboa Park is full of amazing beauty, culture, entertainment and history. It’s not only San Diego’s crown jewel, but one of the greatest urban parks anywhere in the world.
But lately the park is out of control.
I usually don’t write too critically about anything. The nature of my fun photo blog is optimistic. Cool San Diego Sights is not political or controversial. Which makes this particular post hard to publish. But I’ve seen enough.
Things have gotten out of control in Balboa Park. Unregulated vendors have taken over, turning its plazas and El Prado into a kind of swap meet. Anyone who has visited lately has experienced it.
Every single person I’ve spoken to about this “swap meet” is fed up, too. Many of these people are Balboa Park volunteers.
I’m told by people more knowledgeable than me that city leaders, who should act responsibly, have cancelled meetings concerning the situation.
Emergency access is hampered. Food vendors can seemingly dish out anything. Vendors frequently fight over spaces and park rangers must be called to deal with it. And the architecture and wonder and beauty of a very special place is almost lost behind the garish clutter.
Those I’ve spoken to who’ve criticized Balboa Park’s “swap meet” tell me they’re fine with the presence of a few vendors. And I agree. You know–the way it used to be. It’s festive and fun and adds color to the park–but this?
Balboa Park is also out of control after dark.
Once night falls, Balboa Park is practically taken over by vagrants and drug use. As visitors make their departure, the park becomes something quite different.
I’ve seen open alcohol and drug use on El Prado, in museum doorways, on benches, in dark places. I’ve seen the increased graffiti. Multiple windows have been broken at the International Cottages. Two of the cottages, I’m told, have had to hire security guards. We all heard about the stabbing near the Lily Pond a few months ago.
Lately two different people told me they’re afraid to walk through Balboa Park after dark. I don’t blame them. Perhaps that’s why Balboa Park empties of most visitors at nightfall and the park’s vibrancy fades.
Where is the leadership?
UPDATE!
It has come to my attention some people interpret this blog post as an attack on the vendors. Of course it isn’t! When I visit the park, I often enjoy a Chips Galore ice cream (or two) myself.
I’m being critical of a chaotic, unregulated situation that now appears out of control. Balboa Park is a very special place. It’s a National Historic Landmark, after all, along with places like Mount Vernon, the Apollo Mission Control Center and Martin Luther King’s Birthplace. Beyond the obvious safety and aesthetic concerns, and the fact that the park restaurants and museum cafe’s are hurt, is there no point when there would be too many vendor tables and tents jammed into the park?
ANOTHER UPDATE!
Proposed legislation that would address this situation made the news today, less than a week after I wrote my original post. The legislation is a compromise. It tries to address the concerns of both street vendors and those affected by them. It strives to be a win-win for all parties, and is the long-awaited first step in a process that will hopefully satisfy everyone.
From what I read, it sounds like the “swap meet” appearance of Balboa Park will be addressed, particularly during the busy summer months when the park receives numerous visitors.
Occasionally during my walks around San Diego I stumble upon a mystery. Often there’s a solution to the mystery that I eventually discover; other more difficult mysteries remain unsolved.
It can be exciting to suddenly encounter the unknown!
Because it was too darn hot and muggy to be out walking today, and because I might not go walking for a few days, I thought we might travel back in time and review a variety of past mysteries. Several of these are still unsolved.
As always, if you know something that I don’t know, please leave a comment!
These mysteries still persist. Armchair detectives, get ready!
For the mystery of a vanished grave marker containing the name of an early San Diego character who was shot in the back, click here.
For the mystery of public art that few people see, that appears to be attributed to nobody in particular, click here.
For the mystery of old, faded signs on downtown San Diego buildings, click here.
For the mystery of musicians that were painted on downtown windows (and which have since vanished) click here!
The following mysteries were eventually solved!
For the mystery of an inexplicable lighthouse on an Old Town sidewalk, click here.
For the mystery of a fountain hidden in an almost never seen corner of Balboa Park, click here.
For the mystery of what seemed a forgotten Navy plaque on the Embarcadero, click here.
For the mystery of strange reflections on San Diego Bay, click here. (This mystery was my own photographic creation, but you might enjoy attempting to identify the reflections.)
For the infinite mystery contained in an ingenious invention that mimics the structure of the universe, click here and here.
And finally, for the mystery of a bloody crime scene that must be solved again and again, click here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
The East Village restaurant Neighborhood closed for renovations earlier this year. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, they have yet to reopen.
I walked past their boarded-up windows this afternoon and saw a mural had been painted on them. After a little searching on the internet, I see that artists Joshua and Ezra Andrade created the artwork last month.
Positive messages in the mural, which includes images of fighting, a knife and brass knuckles, include Ego is not Your Amigo, Better is Possible, Regulate Impulses, and Hood Must be Born Again!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
A couple weekends ago I walked a very short segment of the Sweetwater River Bikeway, from Hoover Avenue west to the Pier 32 Marina. You can revisit those photos here.
Today I returned to the Sweetwater River and walked east along the bikeway from Hoover Avenue all the way to Plaza Bonita.
I was struck by the contrasts.
The rocky-sided river channel, as seen looking down from Interstate 5, appears almost barren, but when you walk along the bike path you notice many plants among the broken rocks, and the ones that are deep-rooted were very green in the summer sunlight.
During the day bicyclists and runners passed me by as I slowly walked, and the nearby busy westbound lanes of U.S. Route 54 sometimes came into view. But late at night, the scene is obviously very different. There was graffiti which increased as I progressed east to Interstate 805. There was trash and frequent evidence of homelessness. As I came into the vicinity of Interstate 805, I passed several active homeless encampments. And the graffiti spoke of gang activity, with references to drugs and death.
But as I headed east, the river also became more alive. A marshy wetland appeared with discarded shopping carts and happily paddling ducks. Trees began to flourish along the banks, and eventually grew so thick they concealed a river full of reeds and lush greenery.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
This morning I saw several workers in Little Italy painting over ugly, newly scrawled graffiti.
During my walks around downtown, I’ve noticed that vandalism has increased during the current coronavirus lockdown.
The friendly guys painting over the illegal graffiti indicated that because the streets are emptier than usual, those who go about tagging buildings, walls, signs and other targets have become more active, as there are fewer eyes outside who might witness their activity. San Diego has had a substantial increase in the homeless population in recent years, and unfortunately that means gang members who move about the city selling meth and other drugs. I might be a bit naive on such matters, but I reckon at least some of this vandalism is the marking of territory.
In any case, it’s obviously a disturbing and disheartening situation.
I took some representative photographs this morning during my walk through Little Italy and along the waterfront.
Thank you to the unsung heroes–like those guys in the first and last photo–who work tirelessly to make our city not only less ugly, but safer for everyone.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
I AM POSSIBLE. A public mural expresses hope for at-risk youth.
A large mural has been recently painted in a neighborhood that is home to a significant population of at-risk youth. The public mural offers hope, positive reinforcement and inspiration. It reads simply: I AM POSSIBLE.
You can find this powerful new artwork painted at the corner of University Avenue and Marlborough Avenue in City Heights. It’s the creation of @midcitycanyouthcouncil and @channinfulton for #schoolsnotprisons.
This public art is a great example that other communities might follow.
For youth who feel trapped, or hopeless, or tempted to go down a self-destructive path, these beautifully painted words provide a constant visual reminder of life’s better possibilities.
Cool San Diego Sights! 