Henry Huntly Haight (May 20, 1825 – September 2, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician. He was the tenth governor of California from December 5, 1867, to December 8, 1871.

Early life

Childhood and education

Haight was of English and Scottish parentage. The son of Fletcher Mathews Haight and Elizabeth Stewart (MacLachlan), Henry H. Haight was born in Rochester, New York. He was the second of twelve children and the third generation of lawyers. He traced his ancestors to Cameron of Lochiel and to Jonathan Teal Haight of England.

Growing up, Haight was fond of poetry. He attended the Rochester Collegiate Institute before entering Yale in 1840 at 15. Haight graduated with honors from Yale University in 1844.

He married Anna Bissell (1834-1898) on January 24, 1855, in St. Louis. Bissell was born in Missouri, the daughter of Capt. Lewis Bissell and Mary (Woodbridge) of Connecticut. The couple had at least one son, Dr. Louis Montrose Haight (1868-1942).

Political career

Early politics

Haight later joined his father in St. Louis, Missouri where he studied and later practiced law. While in St. Louis, the younger Haight became politically active and edited a "Free Soil" publication. Upon discovery of gold in California in 1848, he decided to head further west.

In 1856, Haight supported John C. Fremont's campaign for president. By 1859, Haight became chair of the state Republican Party. He led Abraham Lincoln's campaign in California, although in 1861, he told a friend he regretted supporting Lincoln.

At his July 9 speech at San Francisco's Union Hall, Haight denounced Reconstruction and its potential impact in California. He claimed Congress's policies put white Americans "under the heel of negroes" and warned that indiscriminate suffrage would allow Chinese to vote in California. Haight deemed Chinese people unworthy of voting as they would be manipulated by their railroad employers. As "pagans," "serfs" and members of a "servile, effeminate and inferior race," their suffrage rights would "pollute and desecrate" the democratic "heritage" of white Americans. Haight called for increased immigration from Europe to prevent Asian migration. "But if we are powerless to prevent the swarming of millions of Asia from pouring in upon us, we can at least keep in our hands the government of the country."

In September 1867, white Californians elected Haight in a landslide. Haight, with 9,000 votes more than George Gorham, carried the entire Democratic ticket into office.

thumb|right|Official state portrait

As Governor, Haight then used the powers of his office to prevent citizenship and voting rights from being extended to non-White California residents. Shortly after taking office, Haight wrote privately to President Andrew Johnson to thank him for his stance against Congress's Reconstruction policy. The 14th Amendment had been waiting on Gov. Haight's desk when he took office. Haight never transmitted to the state legislature the Constitutional Amendment to extend citizenship to all. A friend credited Haight with ending state subsidies for the railroads during his term as governor.

Reelection

In 1871, Haight lost his bid for reelection to Newton Booth. Haight returned to his Alameda estate and his law practice.

Alameda

After he was governor, he returned to his estate in Alameda, California.

Haight later served on the City of Alameda's Board of Trustees, including time as its first president. He also served on the UC Board of Regents. He was also selected for a state Constitutional Convention, but died in 1878.

Haight died on September 2, 1878, in San Francisco. He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.

Legacy

Haight is remembered with his portrait at the State Capitol and the Alameda Museum, as well as a public school and public street in Alameda was named after him. In 2019 the school was renamed for Love School (see below).

In 1892, Alameda named Haight Ave after H.H. Haight.

Though it is commonly thought to be true, Haight Street in San Francisco may or may not have been named after Haight himself; it is thought by some that the street was named after his uncle, the pioneer and exchange banker Henry Haight (1820–1869).

Rename Haight campaign

Henry Haight Elementary School in Alameda, California, is named after the former governor. On the 150th anniversary of Haight's inauguration speech, Rasheed Shabazz, a local journalist and activist wrote the school's PTA and asked them to create a petition to rename Haight. On December 12, 2017, Shabazz, addressed the AUSD School Board and asked them to consider renaming Haight Elementary due to white supremacist statements of Haight, citing Haight's inaugural address as governor. AUSD Superintendent Sean McPhetridge "...called on the school board to direct AUSD staff to create a School Renaming Committee" at that meeting. Parents of the school gathered signatures asking the school's principal to form a School Renaming Committee. AUSD proceeded to announce the formation of the Renaming Committee in February 2018.

The Coalition to Rename Haight created a website including primary and secondary sources, and a syllabus, about the life and times of Henry H. Haight.

On April 23, 2019, the Alameda Board of Education voted to rename "Haight Elementary School" to "Love Elementary School."

References

  • Henry Haight biography at the California State Library