Black History Lost and Found: Dorothy Jaymes and Accessible Transit

Black History Lost and Found: Dorothy Jaymes and Accessible Transit
By Jeremy Menzies

We continue to celebrate Black History Month by sharing the stories of SFMTA staff whose revolutionary work helped pave the way for future generations of Muni riders. Today, we look at the incredible contributions of Dorothy Jaymes, who played a critical role in helping advance accessibility on transit in San Francisco at a time when little was being done.

Employees standing in between shelving holding various items such as a umbrella, tennis racket and bicycles. The shelving is filled with additional various items.

Jaymes (left, holding tennis racket) with her assistant, Linda Westry in the Muni Lost & Found Department in 1977.

Born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Jaymes started her career in Muni’s Lost & Found Department in the 1970s. According to a 1977 article in the department newsletter, Trolley Topics, she took her job seriously, accounting for every lost item no matter how small or large.

Around the same time, protests by local disability rights advocates exposed the issues of poor access to public transit to local officials. The city responded in part by seeking contracts for new buses with passenger lifts in 1978 and by establishing the Elderly & Handicapped Program, to which Jaymes was a foundational contributor.

Group photo of employees. The back row of three staff is standing. The front row of three staff is seated. One emplyee is wearing a Muni work vest.

Members of Muni Elderly & Handicapped Office staff in 1985, with Jaymes at center.

By October 1979, Jaymes headed up the E&H Office and was responsible for processing applications for discounted transit fare cards. An early version of the Free Muni for People with Disabilities Program, this program lowered the cost of transit for people who needed it most.

Jaymes’ role in the office played a critical part in improving access to transit for all San Franciscans.

Employee smiling and holding a vintage card camera

Working out of a room in the Muni Photo Department, Jaymes wields an ID card camera in this 1979 photo.

She left Muni in 1990 and finished out her career with the City of San Francisco at the Planning Department, before retiring in the early 2000s. Jaymes returned to Louisiana in retirement and passed away in 2015 at age 89. One of her former San Francisco co-workers remembered her as “a wonderful woman who was strong and always stood up for the workers.”

So often, we only hear the stories of major figures and their brave breakthroughs in history. Capturing the full story begins with also celebrating and recognizing the contributions of our “unsung heroes,” whose daily work is still helping Muni riders today.

Published February 28, 2023 at 11:01PM
https://ift.tt/CEeZw87

Comments

Muni Adding More Service July 9

Muni Adding More Service July 9 By Mariana Maguire The 6 Haight/Parnassus was temporarily suspended in March 2020 and will be brought back into service July 9, 2022, along with the 2 Sutter and 21 Hayes. As the SFMTA prioritizes service equity and responds to changing travel patterns, we are planning to bring back additional routes that have been temporarily suspended since March 2020: The 2 Sutter (formerly 2 Clement), 6 Haight/Parnassus and 21 Hayes. The 6 Haight/Parnassus will return to its full pre-pandemic route, while the 2 Sutter and 21 Hayes will return in response to community feedback with changes to make the most of limited resources. System improvements like transit-only lanes and subway upgrades have helped us make transit service more reliable overall as we keep restoring routes. These changes are part of the 2022 Muni Service Network plan . Read more about what we heard from the public and how we incorporated feedback into the 2022 service proposal....

New top story from Time: These Are the Best Fantasy TV Show Adaptations to Watch Now

https://ift.tt/3eQcVRN Netflix’s Shadow and Bone , which dropped on April 23, marks yet another hit fantasy book series getting inducted into the TV adaptation circuit—or rather, two series in one, as the new show creates one cohesive narrative out of storylines from Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy and the first book in her Six of Crows duology. The series, starring newcomers Jessie Mei Li, Archie Renaux and Freddy Carter, flies by over the course of eight episodes of magic, espionage, violence and romance—in other words, all of the necessary ingredients to satisfy a fantasy fan. The good news for fans is that TV adaptations of fantasy series have become essential television in recent years, with more en route. (Look out for Amazon’s future Lord of the Rings show.) While we wait for season two of Shadow and Bone , however, here are the best fantasy TV show adaptations you can watch right now. Game of Thrones It’s been 10 whole years since Game of Thrones p...

New top story from Time: Japan Opens Mass Vaccination Centers in Attempt to Curb COVID-19 Wave 2 Months Before Olympics

https://ift.tt/3u9TpoV (TOKYO) — Japan mobilized military doctors and nurses to give shots to elderly people in Tokyo and Osaka on Monday as the government desperately tries to accelerate its vaccination rollout and curb coronavirus infections just two months before hosting the Olympics. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is determined to hold the Olympics in Tokyo after a one-year delay and has made an ambitious pledge to finish vaccinating the country’s 36 million elderly people by the end of July, despite skepticism it’s possible. Worries about public safety while many Japanese remain unvaccinated have prompted growing protests and calls for canceling the Games set to start on July 23. Suga’s government has repeatedly expanded the area and duration of a virus state of emergency since late April and has made its virus-fighting measures stricter. Currently, Tokyo and 9 other areas that are home to 40% of the country’s population are under the emergency and further extension i...

China Reports No New Coronavirus Cases, For the First Time Since Pandemic Began The number of new asymptomatic cases of the coronavirus fell to 28 from 35 a day earlier, the NHC said. The number of new asymptomatic cases of the coronavirus fell to 28 from 35 a day earlier, the NHC said.

The number of new asymptomatic cases of the coronavirus fell to 28 from 35 a day earlier, the NHC said. from Top World News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2zdTamo https://ift.tt/3eA0x7w The number of new asymptomatic cases of the coronavirus fell to 28 from 35 a day earlier, the NHC said.

Before Covid-19 vaccine comes, global death toll may hit 2 million: WHO https://ift.tt/35S3sX3

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the global coronavirus death toll could hit two million before an effective vaccine is widely used. WHO emergencies head Mike Ryan on Friday said the figure could be even higher without concerted international action, the BBC reported.

New top story from Time: China Calls U.S. Policy ‘Misguided’ in High-Level Talks

https://ift.tt/3iPgwS0 TIANJIN, China — China came out swinging at high-level face-to-face talks with the United States on Monday, blaming the U.S. for a “stalemate” in bilateral relations and calling on America to change “its highly misguided mindset and dangerous policy.” Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng accused the administration of President Joe Biden of trying to contain and suppress China’s development, according to an official summary of his remarks in talks with visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. The fundamental reason why relations between the two face serious difficulties is because some Americans portray China as an “imagined enemy,” the Foreign Ministry quoted Xie as saying. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Sherman, America’s No. 2 diplomat, is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit China since Biden took office six months ago. She was having separate meetings with Xie, who is in charge of U.S.-China relations, and Foreign Minister Wang Y...

New top story from Time: DOJ Reportedly Investigating Whether New York Gov. Cuomo Manipulated Data on COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths

https://ift.tt/3u8AJab (ALBANY, N.Y.) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faced mounting challenges to his leadership on the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday as state lawmakers threatened to strip him of the power to issue emergency orders and federal investigators scrutinized his administration’s handling of nursing home data. The U.S. Justice Department has been examining the governor’s coronavirus task force and trying to determine whether the state intentionally manipulated data regarding deaths in nursing homes, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The people, who weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Cuomo administration had not been cooperative with prosecutors, especially in the early stages of the probe, and for months had not produced documents and other data the Justice Department had requested. The inquiry began months ago in the Justice Department’s civil division, and parts of it have ...

Van Ness Improvement Project Nears Completion

Van Ness Improvement Project Nears Completion By Nehama Rogozen After years of planning and construction, work on the Van Ness Improvement Project is progressing rapidly and the end is in sight! Construction is projected to be finished by the end of this year, with Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service running on Van Ness Avenue from Mission to Lombard beginning in early 2022. Work on the red transit lanes between Broadway and Pacific is almost complete. Crews have been busy on Van Ness Avenue. You may have noticed them building new medians and sidewalks, paving the roadway and installing poles that provide lighting and power to the BRT system. Most recently they have installed the red lanes that will allow buses to move Muni and Golden Gate Transit riders quickly along the corridor, without getting stuck in traffic. To ensure durability and reduce fading, these red transit lanes are made from poured red concrete, as opposed to red paint or thermoplastic on top of concrete. We are als...

FOX NEWS: Airport pianist gets over $70k in tips after stranger posts video of him playing Carlos Whittaker, an influencer and motivational speaker, helped tip a pianist who is suffering from kidney disease.

Airport pianist gets over $70k in tips after stranger posts video of him playing Carlos Whittaker, an influencer and motivational speaker, helped tip a pianist who is suffering from kidney disease. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3iP1wDx

Former DGP Bihar Gupteshwar Pandey to join Nitish Kumar's JDU today https://ift.tt/3mXlxsH

Former Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey is all set to join Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) today, ahead of Bihar Assembly elections. This comes days after Gupteshwar Pandey, who has been at the centre of the controversy surrounding the investigation into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, took voluntary retirement from services and triggered speculation of contesting the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.

My precise view

Search This Blog