John F. Shelley
Shelleyc. 1964
35th Mayor of San Francisco
In office January 8, 1964 – January 8, 1968
Preceded by	George Christopher
Succeeded by	Joseph Alioto
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's5th district
In office November 8, 1949 – January 7, 1964
Preceded by	Richard J. Welch
Succeeded by	Phillip Burton
President of the California Labor Federation
In office August 7, 1947 – October 12, 1950
Preceded by	Charles W. Real
Succeeded by	Thomas L. Pitts
Member of theCalifornia Senate from the14th district
In office January 2, 1939 – January 6, 1947
Preceded by	Walter McGovern
Succeeded by	Gerald J. O'Gara
Personal details
Born	John Francis Shelley (1905-09-03)September 3, 1905 San Francisco,California, U.S.
Died	September 1, 1974(1974-09-01) (aged 68) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Genevieve Giles
Children	Kevin Joan-Marie
Education	University of San Francisco
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Coast Guard
Battles/wars	World War II

John Francis Shelley (September 3, 1905 – September 1, 1974) was an American politician who served as the 35thmayor of San Francisco from 1964 to 1968, the firstDemocrat elected to the office in 50 years, and the first in an unbroken line of Democratic mayors that lasts to the present (as of 2025^[update]). His tenure in theUnited States House of Representatives, immediately prior to his mayoralty (1949-1964), also broke a long streak of Republican House members (44 years) and began a streak of Democratic representatives from San Francisco (and, coincidentally, the5th district) that continues to the present (as of 2025^[update]).

John Francis Shelley was born inSan Francisco on September 3, 1905, the oldest of nine children of Dennis Shelley and Mary Casey Shelley.^[1] His father was an immigrant fromCounty Cork, Ireland (then part of theUnited Kingdom), who became alongshoreman in California.^[2] He grew up in theMission District of San Francisco,^[1] then "a tough working-class district," where he "acquired a deep-seated belief that 'working it out instead of fighting it out' was the best policy when disagreement was encountered."^[2] He attendedMission High School, where in 1923 he was elected student body president.^[2] He studied law and played varsity football at theUniversity of San Francisco while working as a bakery driver, earning his law degree in 1932.^[1]

After graduation (receiving his law degree in 1932), Shelley became a business agent for the Bakery Wagon Drivers Union.[1] In 1936 he became anAFL official, defeating an incumbent to become vice-president of the San Francisco Labor Council.^[3] He was the council's representative to the Pacific coast's first industrial development conference aimed at girls and hosted by several Northern CaliforniaYWCAs.^[4]

Shelley was elected president of the council in 1937.^[5] Shortly into his term, the council began organizing state agricultural and cannery workers under the AFL.^[6] Shelley was one of the leaders of the California People's Legislative Conference, a group supporting Washington state's minimum wage, while the Supreme Court was entertaining a constitutional challenge against it inWest Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish.^[7]

Beginning in the spring of 1937, Shelley faced two crises: growing labor unrest, and attempts by theCommittee for Industrial Organization to replace the AFL as bargaining agent for local unionized shops. Strikes and threats of strikes inNorthern California followed first thesit-down strike against General Motors and then strikes at severalWorks Progress Administration projects in theSan Francisco Bay Area.^[8] Shelley was active in settling several labor disputes, but despite his efforts 3,500 members of six unions went on strike against 16 leading San Francisco Hotels on May 1, 1937.^[9] On the same day, the AFL purged the CIO from the Alameda Labor Council owing to a jurisdictional dispute between the AFL Longshoremen and the CIO Teamsters,^[10] a move that the San Francisco Labor Council strongly disapproved of.^[11]

In the midst of the hotel strike, 2100 elevators and janitors in buildings citywide voted to strike, but the work-stoppage was postponed by the international to continue negotiating.^[12] Other unions voted to strike, including the milk wagon drivers.^[13] At theCalifornia AFL's "loyalty" convention in September, Shelley andGeorge G. Kidwell (his former superior in the Bakery Wagon Drivers' Union) were beaten up for introducing a resolution calling for the merger of the AFL and CIO.^[14] A decade later, Shelley was elected president of the organization, serving until 1950.

Shelley served in theUnited States Coast Guard duringWorld War II and was a member of theCalifornia State Senate from 1939 to 1947. During his tenure, he fought unsuccessfully to confirm the nomination of labor leaderGermain Bulcke as a member of theSan Francisco Harbor Commission.^[15] Shelley ran forLieutenant Governor in1946, but was defeated byGoodwin Knight. Shelley would then make his mark as a leader of the California delegation to the1948 Democratic National Convention, when he helped marshal his state's votes to support a strong civil rights plank. Shelley entered theUnited States House of Representatives in 1949 and served until 1964, when he stepped down to be inaugurated Mayor of San Francisco after winning theNovember, 1963 election by nearly a 12-point margin against his nearest opponent,Harold Dobbs (50-38.5%).^[16]

Prior to his election as a U.S. congressman, Shelley was included in theFBI's Custodial Detention (DETCOM) files. The FBI's "DETCOM Program" "was concerned with the individuals 'to be given priority arrest in the event of ... an emergency.'" Priority under the Detcom program was given to "all top functionaries, all key figures, all individuals tabbed under the Comsab program", and "any other individual who, though he does not fall in the above groups, should be given priority arrest because of some peculiar circumstances".^[17]

A memo by Warren Olney III alerted FBI DirectorJ. Edgar Hoover to the fact that Shelley was recently elected and remained targeted, along with fellow San Francisco congressmanFranck R. Havenner, to be arrested by the FBI as a security risk in case of a Soviet attack.^[18] A July 23, 1962 FBI search slip on Shelley is check-marked for "subversive references only" and remains heavily redacted with numerous unreleased documents.^{[citation needed]}

Shelley's term as mayor was filled with challenges, including strikes over discriminatory hiring practices against African-Americans at the Palace Hotel, a public nurse strike in 1966, and a threatenedSan Francisco Symphony Orchestra strike in 1967. Shelley was mayor during theSummer of Love, a time of radicalism in theHaight-Ashbury and turmoil throughout the city, including Black rage toward the "auto row" on Van Ness Avenue. He was faced withriots inBayview-Hunters Point on September 27, 1966, after a white police officer fatally shot a black youth accused of auto theft. Shelley declared a state of emergency in the city for six days. After the riots ended, Shelley took several public steps to improve relations between city government and the African-American community. He appointed the city and county's first African-American supervisor,Terry Francois.

Shelley took an aggressive stance against several prominent anti-development mobilizations during his tenure, including movements in opposition to development at theYerba Buena Gardens and in theWestern Addition. Shelley bowed out of running for a second term in office; his stated reasons were health-related, but it was thought that prominent political forces in the city's establishment wanted a more stringently pro-development mayor in office.

Shelley's son,Kevin Shelley, was a member of theSan Francisco Board of Supervisors from 1990 to 1996, a member of theCalifornia State Assembly from 1997 to 2003 and served asCalifornia Secretary of State from 2003 to 2005. Shelley's daughter, Joan-Marie Shelley, was a French teacher for 30 years atLincoln High School andLowell High School inSan Francisco Unified School District and carried on the family tradition of labor union leadership, serving as vice-president (1978-1984) and president (1984-1989) of the San Francisco Federation of Teachers and as the founding president (1989-1997) of the United Educators of San Francisco, a merger of the local American Federation of Teachers and local National Education Association unions.^[19]

DemocratJohn F. Shelley won the special election to replaceRepublicanRichard J. Welch, who died in office. Data for this special election is not available.^[20]

• "John F. "Jack" Shelley Papers"(PDF). San Francisco Public Library.

• United States Congress."John F. Shelley (id: S000327)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Join California John F. Shelley

• 1905 births
• 1974 deaths
• American Roman Catholics
• Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California)
• Mayors of San Francisco
• Democratic Party United States representatives from California
• Democratic Party California state senators
• University of San Francisco alumni
• United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II
• 20th-century mayors of places in California
• 20th-century members of the California State Legislature
• 20th-century United States representatives

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