By Kinen Carvala

Golden Gate Park’s Shakespeare Garden was dedicated on July 9, 1928, according to the San Francisco Examiner. Attendees at the dedication included Emilie Melville, a Shakespearean actress, and James D. Phelan, former senator and mayor of San Francisco.

A wall at the southern part of the garden includes a bust of William Shakespeare and plaques. Phelan donated the bust for the garden. Archibald Flower, mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s hometown in England, was also involved in donating the bust for the garden, according to the San Francisco Bulletin. The bust in Golden Gate Park is a copy of a bust in the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. Local records in Stratford-upon-Avon list Shakespeare’s infant baptism date as April 26, 1564, and his death date as April 23, 1616 (around age 52) according to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Shakespeare’s exact birth date is not recorded, though later admirers of Shakespeare have traditionally celebrated his birthday on April 23. Due to Shakespeare’s legacy in English literature, he’s sometimes called a “bard,” an archaic term for a poet.

Besides the six plaques of quotes, another plaque gives background on the bust. That nearby plaque names the original sculptor as Garrett Jansen, who was also known as “Gerard Johnson,” according to the U.K.’s National Portrait Gallery. Shakespeare may have personally commissioned the original monument from Gerard’s son, Nicholas Johnson, according to Shakespeare researcher Lena Cowen Orlin writing for Oxford University Press’s website. An inscription plate on the ground in front of the plaques states “The Garden of Shakespeare’s Flowers Established by The California Spring Blossom and Wild Flower Association 1928.”

A bench in the garden honors Alice Eastwood. She was president of the California Spring Blossom and Wild Flower Association, the organization behind the garden, according to The Western Journal of Education. Eastwood was also a botanist at the California Academy of Sciences for decades, according to the Academy.

Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582 and had three children with her. In 1599, the open-air Globe Theater opened, where Shakespeare was not only a playwright but also a co-owner. Shakespeare’s company also took over the more exclusive indoor Blackfriars Theater after 1608, according to the editors of the Folger Shakespeare Library Editions.

In 1623, a compilation of “Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories and Tragedies” was published with no fanfare, according to Professor of Shakespeare Studies Emma Smith. This compilation, later known as the “First Folio,” was the first time many of Shakespeare’s plays such as “Macbeth” or “Julius Caesar” appeared in print. Without this compilation, 18 of Shakespeare’s plays would have been lost like hundreds of other early modern plays by various playwrights. The First Folio reached its 400th anniversary in 2023.

The Garden has flowers mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays and six bronze plaques of Shakespearean plays’ quotes about flowers, according to the Oct. 8, 1967 San Francisco Chronicle. In 2008, two of the six bronze quote plaques were stolen, according to Phil Matier and Andy Ross’s May 7, 2008 column in the San Francisco Chronicle. Only two of the six installed bronze plaques have displayed flush edges, as of 2024.

“Twelfth Night,” first published in the First Folio, was performed in the Shakespeare Garden in August 1989, according to the Tenderloin Times, a neighborhood newspaper.

Friends of Recreation and Parks, a non-profit organization, completed a renovation of the Garden from Dec. 18, 1990, to June 13, 1991, as a donation to the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, according to a July 17, 1991, memo to the Finance Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The renovations included wrought iron gates, an irrigation system and formal flower beds.

The Garden is available to reserve as a wedding venue, according to the Rec. and Park website. During weddings, the Garden might be inaccessible to the public.

The Shakespeare Garden is between Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and the California Academy of Sciences. On MLK Jr. Drive between Nancy Pelosi Drive and Music Concourse Drive, a sign points out the concrete path leading to the Shakespeare Garden which is secluded among the trees.