This project's scope appears to be opening up very wide.  This is not necessarily a bad thing; rather, just time consuming with sorting through relevant chunks of information.

For example, as stated before, the Preparedness Day parade was part of a larger national effort led by former President Theodore Roosevelt.  The Preparedness movement requires research relevant to the San Francisco bombing as Roosevelt made public statements against Mooney and Billings in the context of Preparedness.  Special thanks to the research librarians at the California Historical Society for locating one of Roosevelt's pamphlets indicating such.

Along with United States edging closer and closer to involvement in the Great War, the Preparedness movement based itself partly on the continued border agitation with Mexican bandits.  The United States military went on a manhunt for Pancho Villa in early 1916 after Villa and his "dorados" raided Columbus, New Mexico.  In order to establish Pancho Villa's reasoning for raiding Columbus and murdering United States citizens in Mexico, I must explain Mexico's internal struggle leading to such a state of civil war.

I don't want to assume a reader knows everything (or nothing) about an event from the past.  It is my task to present a proper amount of back story for a fluid, logical storyline that allows a reader to understand the scope and context of the bombing without overwhelming him or her with completely pointless information with regard to the topic at hand.  I will not, however, gloss over major events that made a subsequent event possible.

Aside from Preparedness, the local San Francisco personalities involved present a special challenge:  sources.  Surprisingly very little is published regarding the bombing outside of the arrest and prosecution of Mooney and Billings.  Historians wrote even less about Mayor Rolph, Police Chief White and District Attorney Fickert.  The most prominent contemporary sources I found to date are the local newspapers.  Locating physical sources outside of old newspaper microforms will be a task. I would like to extend my gratitude for the ongoing efforts of staff at the California Governor's Gallery for assisting me with my search (Mayor Rolph went on to become Governor Rolph).

Interesting find:  Mayor Rolph proposed in June 1916 to San Mateo County mayors and supervisors to merge the City and County of San Francisco with San Mateo County.  Rolph argued that San Francisco's international name recognition would only increase the prominence of municipalities in San Mateo County.  The proposal did not pass, obviously, as San Francisco remains its own City and County.

Researching the Preparedness Day Parade bombing, I realize that this story is truly larger than just the parade itself.  For instance, what was the initial reason for the parade?

The history of the Preparedness movement is fascinating in itself.  It pits former President Theodore Roosevelt against President Woodrow Wilson.  Over the course of several years, Roosevelt publicly criticized and disparaged President Wilson regarding the state of American military readiness.  An ongoing Mexican civil war threatened to spill over into America through the raids on American soil throughout the American Southwest and killings of Americans in Mexico by General José Doroteo Arango Arámbula, better known as Pancho Villa.  The Mexican civil war coupled with the Great War in Europe and the sinking of merchant ships all across the Atlantic Ocean led many Americans to demand a heightened state of military preparedness should another nation present a present danger to American sovereignty.

Former President Roosevelt takes very pointed attacks at President Wilson and others not willing to increase American military might, referring to "professional pacifists" as moralists not willing to take a stand against immoral behavior by others.  The press apparently had a field day whenever Roosevelt made a speech promoting preparedness, as his speeches made headlines noting his criticism of Wilson.

As I begin to outline the research to come in this project, I realize that this story is one told from many points.  To date, I found only three accounts (found through internet and library research) dedicated solely to this incident. With these accounts, two deal with the trial of Thomas Mooney and Warren Billings in particular (Curt Gentry's Frame-up and Richard Frost's The Mooney Case, both written in the 1960s).  The third account (John Rangel's Fremont Older and the 1916 San Francisco Bombing: A Tireless Crusade for Justice, published just this past November) deals with one newspaper publisher's quest to see the convicted men freed.

Multiple subsequent investigations since found Mooney and Billings innocent of the crime and the trial unfair.  It is not my goal to simply repeat findings of previous investigations conducted by commission, legal research or historical inquiry.  Rather, I want to tell this story from a place of neutrality: beginning with San Francisco's social setting in 1916 and the significance of a Preparedness Day Parade.

I aim to present this incident from a narrative view, rather than simply present the facts of the incident.  I want the reader to understand the men and women involved: from the victims and bystanders who witnessed the bombing to Mayor "Sunny Jim" Rolph.  Also, the reader will understand the larger implications of the incident as it reverberated nationwide.

I hope to keep you all interested in the topic as I go along and look forward to presenting interesting aspects of my research on this page.

Stay tuned!