Join the Tenderloin Museum and San Francisco’s Public Defender Office to explore the work and legacy of Jeff Adachi.
Join the Tenderloin Museum and San Francisco’s Public Defender Office to explore the work and legacy of the late Public Defender, writer, educator, and documentary filmmaker Jeff Adachi in celebration of the publication of Adachi’s latest book, The Case of San Francisco Public Defender Frank Egan - Murder and Scandal in the 1930s (Grizzly Peak Press, 2021), and the SF Public Defender Office’s 100-year anniversary. On June 2, 2021 at 6pm, TLM welcomes two of Adachi’s longtime friends and colleagues at the SF Public Defender’s Office--Chief Attorney Matt Gonzalez and Growth & Development Training Director Jacque Wilson, who will introduce the Frank Egan story and reflect on Jeff Adachi’s lasting impact on the Office and how it was informed by his writing and filmmaking practice--as well as Mutsuko Adachi who will share a few words about her husband Jeff and share his short documentary film “The Ride.”
A tireless worker and true Renaissance man, Jeff Adachi cultivated a keen and complex understanding of the power of narrative. In Adachi’s Frank Egan book, he reconstructs the sensational trial of San Francisco’s first Public Defender for the murder of 57-year-old Jessie Hughes with expert strategic storycraft and a painstaking grain of detail.
The story itself is enthralling, full of twists and turns that match the most hardboiled of true crime noir; indeed, as the events were unfolding in 1932, the media clamored for the next scoop, and daily Egan trial stories were incessantly streaked across the headlines. Since there were no known public records or transcripts of the trial, Adachi utilized the proliferate accounts of the trial in the Examiner, the Call-Bulletin, the Chronicle, and the San Francisco News to construct a study of this singular trial with the singular perspective of Adachi’s own experience as a seasoned trial lawyer and as the occupant of the office of the accused. The Case of San Francisco Public Defender Frank Egan is both a gripping and meta journey into the tumultuous beginnings of an Office that is a vital community resource and one that Adachi imbued with a culture of social justice, visionary thinking, and critical reflection.
Jacque Wilson will kick off the evening with an overview of The Case of San Francisco Public Defender Frank Egan, and Matt Gonzalez will present on Adachi’s legacy at the SF Public Defender’s Office. We will screen Adachi’s short documentary “The Ride,” then host a conversation and Q&A with Jacque and Matt to discuss the Egan case, the history of the Office, and the role of storytelling on the pathway to justice.
Support the Tenderloin Museum by purchasing a copy of The Case of San Francisco Public Defender Frank Egan - Murder and Scandal in the 1930s from our online store.