History
Ms. Ella Hill Hutch Born in Kissimmee, Florida, the seventh child of Reverend John Franklin Theodore Hill, Hutch left home right after high school to seek a better place in the world. She headed west for Los Angeles but somehow ended up in San Francisco. The South's loss was the North's gain.
However, in 1946 when Hutch arrived at the city by the Golden Gate, "The same problems were here that I left behind, discrimination against black people," she said.
Unlike others who migrated here, Hutch decided to do everything she could to battle against racial discrimination and prejudice.
As she grew more mature, she became involved in union work, especially after becoming a member of the International Longshoreman's Workers Union.
She was a member of the democratic Central Committee but also fought for the right of Paul Robeson to sing in San Francisco, boycotted the Washington Redskins because of their lack of African American players and battled rip-off landlords.
In 1974 and again in 1976, she was selected the Woman of the Year by the Golden Gate Business and Civic Women's Club.
"I like politics," Hutch once told reporters. "It is my life's blood."
She became so enamored with politics that she decided to run for the Board of Supervisors. In 1977, Hutch ran and won a seat in District 4 and was re-elected when she ran again in 1980.
From a teenager who had come to the city alone in 1946, Hutch had grown into the Bay Area's most powerful black woman.
While on the board, she showed an interest in senior housing and unemployment among teenagers. She also fought for the building of the Fillmore Center.
Prior to coming to the Board of Supervisors, Hutch was on the BART Board, being elected in 1974.
Even though she was a Democrat and fought against prejudice, she was considered a middle-of-the-roader and was endorsed by the Police Officers' Association at election time.
Her death, alone, in her apartment, shocked the city.
Ella Hill Hutch was 57 years old when she passed but she left a legacy of hard work and achievement.