Terry Francois’ legacy in San Francisco: civil-rights law, City Hall firsts, and lasting landmarks

A pioneering appointment that reshaped City Hall

Terry A. Francois, a civil-rights attorney who became the first Black member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, remains a central figure in the city’s modern political history. He joined the board on September 1, 1964, when Mayor John F. Shelley appointed him to fill a vacancy, placing a prominent fair-housing advocate into a government that, until then, had not included an African American supervisor.

Francois later won election in his own right and served through the era of at-large supervisor elections, leaving office when the city transitioned to district elections in January 1978. His tenure spanned a period of intense debate over civil rights, policing, redevelopment, and the city’s physical future—issues that continue to shape San Francisco’s politics and neighborhood identities.

From New Orleans to a San Francisco legal career

Born in New Orleans in 1922, Francois completed undergraduate studies at Xavier University and later earned an MBA at Atlanta University. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and moved to San Francisco after the war, graduating from UC Hastings College of the Law in 1949.

In the years before his appointment, Francois built a local profile as an attorney and civil-rights organizer. He held leadership roles in the NAACP’s San Francisco chapter and pursued legal and direct-action challenges to discrimination, including a 1963 arrest during a housing-discrimination protest outside a real estate office.

Key policy fights: housing, development, and transportation

On the Board of Supervisors, Francois became a consequential vote in several high-stakes disputes. Among the best-known was a 1965 vote that helped defeat a proposed freeway through Golden Gate Park, a decision often cited as part of San Francisco’s broader turn against extensive freeway construction.

His record also included strong support for urban renewal in the Western Addition, a position that put him at odds with critics who argued redevelopment would accelerate displacement of Black residents and small businesses. The controversy foreshadowed later citywide conflicts over redevelopment, eminent domain, and neighborhood change.

Later years and recognition in the city landscape

Francois left elected office as San Francisco adopted district-based supervisor elections, returning to private practice. In 1988, he changed his party registration from Democrat to Republican and endorsed George H. W. Bush in the presidential race, a move that drew attention in a city known for Democratic dominance.

He died of cancer on June 9, 1989, at age 67. In 1992, San Francisco renamed China Basin Street as Terry A. Francois Boulevard, embedding his name into the city map near the Mission Bay waterfront—an area that would later undergo large-scale redevelopment.

• First Black supervisor in San Francisco history (appointed in 1964)
• Long tenure spanning major civil-rights and redevelopment battles
• Commemorated in a prominent street name adopted in 1992

Francois’ public career illustrates how civil-rights advocacy, land-use politics, and electoral change intersected in San Francisco during the 1960s and 1970s.