Resolution strongly urging the Mayor and Board of Supervisors to support the current Filipino and Asian American immigrant communities’ initiative naming the former Bessie Carmichael Elementary School site (on Sherman and Folsom) as Victoria Manalo Draves Park.
WHEREAS, for many years, the City and County of San Francisco has failed to recognize one of its distinguished woman, Asian American/Filipino American, US Olympic athlete, namely: Victoria Manalo Draves; and,
WHEREAS, in the 1948 Olympic Games, Victoria Manalo Draves became the first woman in Olympic history to win gold medals in both springboard and platform diving events in the same games; and,
WHEREAS, in 1948, Victoria Manalo Draves became the first woman of Asian ancestry to win an Olympic gold medal in diving; and,
WHEREAS, to date, Victoria Manalo Draves is the only woman of Filipino ancestry to win an Olympic gold medal; and,
WHEREAS, Victoria Manalo Draves won the 1942 US Junior National Diving championship and the US National Diving Championships 1946, 1947, 1948 platform diving gold medal as well as 1948 springboard gold medal; and,
WHEREAS, Victoria Manalo Draves was recognized in the 1948 edition of Life Magazine as one of the top athletes at the 1948 Olympics; and,
WHEREAS, Victoria Manalo Draves has been inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Florida; and,
WHEREAS, Victoria Manalo Draves was born in San Francisco to an English immigrant mother and a Filipino immigrant father; and,
WHEREAS, Victoria Manalo Draves grew up in the South of Market (SOMA) and lived there for 23 years; and,
WHEREAS, Victoria Manalo Draves studied at the then Fairmont Elementary School, when Bessie Carmichael was the Principal; and,
WHEREAS, Victoria Manalo Draves graduated from San Francisco Junior College; and,
WHEREAS, Victoria Manalo Draves is an important role model to the more than 100,000 Asian American (more than 40,000 Filipino American) residents of the City and County of San Francisco; and,
WHEREAS, Victoria Manalo Draves faced immigrant discrimination when San Francisco’s Nob Hill diving club required that she drop her father's Filipino name, Manalo, and take her mother's maiden name, Taylor, in order to be acceptable to represent the organization; and,
WHEREAS, The South of Market Project Area Committee (SOMPAC), the SOMA advisory body of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, voted unanimously to name the new park after Victoria Manalo Draves; and,
WHEREAS, The San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission proudly recognizes the invaluable and tremendous contributions of Filipina and Asian-American immigrant, US Olympic athlete and Swimming Hall of Famer, SOMA resident and San Francisco citizen Victoria Manalo Draves, to the world of sports, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the San Francisco Immigration Rights Commission strongly urges the Mayor and Board of Supervisors to support the current Filipino and Asian American immigrant communities’ campaign naming the former Bessie Carmichael Elementary School site (on Sherman and Folsom) as Victoria Manalo Draves Park; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the San Francisco Immigration Rights Commission strongly urges the Mayor and Board of Supervisors to request the San Francisco Department of Recreation and Park to act on this urgent matter in an expeditious manner; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED That the Secretary of the Commission shall send a copy of this resolution to the Mayor’s Office, Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services (MONS), Mayor’s Office of Community Development (MOCD), Supervisor Chris Daly, Bay Area Hall of Fame, Board of Supervisors, and the San Francisco Department of Recreation and Park.
