Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Prebys donation aims to restore California pioneer “to his proper place.”

Museum Peace

No room for the cross in the public square: over the past two years, numerous statues of St. Serra have been toppled from their pedestals in public places. Clockwise from upper left: San Gabriel, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Elsewhere, as in Ventura and even at the San Luis Obispo mission, the statue was simply removed and placed elsewhere. And of course, Junipero Serra High in Tierrasanta was recently renamed Canyon Hills High School.
No room for the cross in the public square: over the past two years, numerous statues of St. Serra have been toppled from their pedestals in public places. Clockwise from upper left: San Gabriel, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Elsewhere, as in Ventura and even at the San Luis Obispo mission, the statue was simply removed and placed elsewhere. And of course, Junipero Serra High in Tierrasanta was recently renamed Canyon Hills High School.

Last week, the Contrad Prebys Foundation announced that it was donating $330,000 to aid in the restoration of the Junipero Serra Museum, home to the collection of the San Diego History Center. Given the controversy that has surrounded Fr. Serra — a Catholic missionary who was recently declared a saint by Pope Francis but even more recently declared a monster by a number of activists who condemned his behavior toward California’s indigenous population: forced labor, corporal punishment, and the promise of eternal hellfire for those who did not convert to Christianity — some observers were surprised by the announcement. Happily, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria was on hand at the donation ceremony to provide important context. “First of all,” said Gloria, “I would like to acknowledge that the Junipero Serra museum is built on stolen land, just like every one of the missions that Junipero Serra built as part of his effort to colonize California. Mind you, we’re not about to give that land back, or make any kind of reparations to the descendants of those despoiled peoples. But we thought it would be nice to acknowledge it, all the same. Second, I would like to thank the Prebys Foundation for its generous help in preserving San Diego’s history for future generations, here on the very site of San Diego’s original European settlement. By restoring this building that bears Fr. Serra’s name, we’re sending a clear message: that both Serra and the Eurocentric outlook that his work and this building represent are things of the past, which visitors to the museum can look back on and remember with an admixture of wonder and horror.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch

A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
Next Article

Bringing Order to the Christmas Chaos

There is a sense of grandeur in Messiah that period performance mavens miss.
No room for the cross in the public square: over the past two years, numerous statues of St. Serra have been toppled from their pedestals in public places. Clockwise from upper left: San Gabriel, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Elsewhere, as in Ventura and even at the San Luis Obispo mission, the statue was simply removed and placed elsewhere. And of course, Junipero Serra High in Tierrasanta was recently renamed Canyon Hills High School.
No room for the cross in the public square: over the past two years, numerous statues of St. Serra have been toppled from their pedestals in public places. Clockwise from upper left: San Gabriel, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Elsewhere, as in Ventura and even at the San Luis Obispo mission, the statue was simply removed and placed elsewhere. And of course, Junipero Serra High in Tierrasanta was recently renamed Canyon Hills High School.

Last week, the Contrad Prebys Foundation announced that it was donating $330,000 to aid in the restoration of the Junipero Serra Museum, home to the collection of the San Diego History Center. Given the controversy that has surrounded Fr. Serra — a Catholic missionary who was recently declared a saint by Pope Francis but even more recently declared a monster by a number of activists who condemned his behavior toward California’s indigenous population: forced labor, corporal punishment, and the promise of eternal hellfire for those who did not convert to Christianity — some observers were surprised by the announcement. Happily, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria was on hand at the donation ceremony to provide important context. “First of all,” said Gloria, “I would like to acknowledge that the Junipero Serra museum is built on stolen land, just like every one of the missions that Junipero Serra built as part of his effort to colonize California. Mind you, we’re not about to give that land back, or make any kind of reparations to the descendants of those despoiled peoples. But we thought it would be nice to acknowledge it, all the same. Second, I would like to thank the Prebys Foundation for its generous help in preserving San Diego’s history for future generations, here on the very site of San Diego’s original European settlement. By restoring this building that bears Fr. Serra’s name, we’re sending a clear message: that both Serra and the Eurocentric outlook that his work and this building represent are things of the past, which visitors to the museum can look back on and remember with an admixture of wonder and horror.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Rebecca Jade, Stoney B. Blues, Manzanita Blues, Blame Betty, Marujah

Holiday music, blues, rockabilly, and record releases in Carlsbad, San Carlos, Little Italy, downtown
Next Article

Houston ex-mayor donates to Toni Atkins governor fund

LGBT fights in common
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader