Monday, March 11, 2019

Lamenting what we'll never know about Phyllis J. Stalnaker Harris

This is a post about Phyllis J. Stalnaker Harris.

She died 58 years ago, in January 1961, at the age of just 35. That probably would have been the end of it. An anonymous woman originally from the Midwest who died young after living a non-notable life in California, away from the spotlight.

But Phyllis was "revived." With the help of the internet. Decades after she or anyone else could advocate for her.

She didn't quite suffer the ignominy of becoming a full-blown meme. But her existence was nonetheless reduced to a punchline.

The image of Phyllis at the top of this post is a cropped-in version of her police booking shot from decades ago. It was featured on a wall at the San Diego Police Museum earlier this decade, and it appears to have been first noted on Twitter in November 2013.

But it really springboarded into the internet consciousness in October 2014, when her image was the main one accompanying an article on San Diego City Beat headlined "San Diego Police Museum seeks a new home." Phyllis is the dominant image and the lead of the story by Susan Myrland:
"She was a weedhead and a tramp. In 1944, that was enough to get Phyllis Stalnaker arrested. Her booking photo shows a pretty young woman sporting a jaunty striped top with a herringbone blazer and fashionably dark lipstick. She gives the camera a wary glance."
Weedhead and tramp. Ha ha, said some on the internet. Tweets, Pinterest posts, Tumblr posts, Reddit threads, Facebook posts ... many full of snark ... spread Phyllis' face across cyberspace. Weedhead, tramp. Weedhead, tramp. Weedhead, tramp. The only words tagged to her short life.

But of course that wasn't her whole life. Not hardly.

The thing is, we'll never know most of her history. But here's what is available, from online sources such as Find a Grave.

  • She was born Phyllis J. Stalnaker on October 19, 1925, in Nebraska (possibly in the vicinity of Columbus).
  • Her parents were Archie Laverne Stalnaker (1900-1946) and Mildred Clara Crawford Stalnaker (1907-2001). Mildred was a seamstress and member of the San Diego Zoological Society. She's buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.
  • She had a young brother, Gorden Rex Stalnaker, who lived from 1927-2007 and served in the Navy in World War II, and two other brothers: Darrell D. Stalnaker and Archie L. Stalnaker.
  • Shortly before her 15th birthday, she was seriously injured after being thrown from a horse. (That's per the October 10, 1940, issue of the San Diego Union.) That would have been about four years before her arrest.
  • At some point she married James Harris and they lived at 7575 Pacific Avenue in Lemon Grove, California (San Diego County).
  • She died on Jan 2, 1961, in San Diego, California. No cause of death was cited, though she was in a hospital when she died. Her service was in a mortuary, not a church. She's buried in Mount Hope Cemetery. According to her obituary, she had lived in San Diego County for 25 years at the time of her death. She did not have any children. Her three brothers were all living in Lemon Grove at the time of her death.
That's about it. There have been a half-dozen or so Reddit threads about her over the years, most of them riffing off her mug shot and charges. Rarely anything serious, although I did find this cached comment from about four years ago:
"Funny to some of us now because we take our freedoms for granted. But in 1944 in San Diego, charged as a tramp meant that the police officer didn't like her being where she was found on the streets. The law (CPC 647e) was only declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1983 (103 S.Ct. 1855, 1860] Rehnquist/White dissenting). Freedom isn't free. Rarely is it gained by blowing up foreigners around the world."
Rest in peace, Phyllis. I'm sorry we don't know more about your accomplishments, hobbies, favorite movie stars or happiest moments.

42 comments:

  1. Yes sad there is not enough respect for this woman.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It does look like she is about to smile in her mugshot.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Highlighted by Reddit, given flesh by you. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Her photo was posted this morning on Pictures in History. Thank you for adding to her story.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for making her something more than a Facebook post that says "Weed head, tramp."

    ReplyDelete
  6. oh for goodness sake. the entire point of the meme is the obvious fact that she was much more than the label law enforcement or society put on her. sheesh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope that people see that, have that take away. But I think the - actual - point of the meme was to make fun, using her misfortune to have a laugh.

      Delete
    2. I did not laugh. I felt sorrow thinking about how terribly she was treated .

      Delete
    3. Agreed, I'm sure she was so much more, if ever one, than a tramp and weed head.

      Delete
  7. It's funny: the San Diego police of that time may have done her a strange favor -- by labelling her that way, they elicit our sympathy for her, and seems a heroic free spirit. I think she has a really soulful look in her eyes. I wish I could've known her.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Imma use this quote: "Freedom isn't free. Rarely is it gained by blowing up foreigners around the world."

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't know how I came up on this thread. When I looked into it it just made me really sad. Thank you for sharing a little bit about her life. Unfortunately she probably died because of domestic abuse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How did you come to that conclusion? Do you know of any abuse suffered by this lady? Wish we knew more.

      Delete
    2. Isn't it far more likely that she died in childbirth?

      Delete
    3. There's nothing in the scant news clippings to support that she died in childbirth. And if she did, the child died too, without even being listed as a stillborn death anywhere. So I'm not sure about that hypothesis.

      Delete
  10. You look at those eyes - you see more than any earthly records could have collected; you see Phyllis J. Stalnaker's soul.

    There's Vivian Maier who recently became known post-mortem too - she and her body of work that immortalized dozens of individuals through single snapshots too. And there's Elizabeth Short of course - another one who died too young, whose life became reduced to two words: Black Dahlia. And now, as if by a delayed miraculous twist of fate, the world knows they exist.

    Their lives were prematurely ended and their dreams went unfulfilled for the most part - but their souls must be smiling now, in eternity.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I believe all us souls are attended to, whether we are honored at a funeral, or end up anonymously in a mass grave.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Phyllis has a lovely headstone, someone took care in doing that for her

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know about that. A headstone engraved with just "at rest" typically implies that the people paying for the headstone (usually the family) thought the person was a problematic and troubled soul, and that they're just happy the person is finally at rest now.

      Delete
    2. It could also mean that they couldn't afford anything bigger. Her realtives' headstones that are pictured are not much bigger/nicer.

      Delete
  13. The comments, "Weedhead" and "Tramp" are very unprofessional terms for police work. They are more personal insults than a description of violations of law. I've seen mugshots from around the country. Usually, only a photo and booking number are included. In fact, the comments may be considered Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI), that may not be released, except under very limited circumstances. Aside from being a disgrace to law enforcement, The San Diego Police Department may be liable for violation of law for releasing this type of information.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed. The comments below the photo are a disgrace. The San Diego Police Department should be ashamed it released the photo, and should remove it from official police files, the police museum, etc. Phyllis deserves some minimal dignity and respect. She was someone's daughter or sister. Could have been someone's mother or wife.

      Delete
    2. Those kind of vague charges were used all over the U.S for years,, i was arrested ( and convicted)for " Lounging in the Doorway" when i was 17 back in 1982- in the state where i live theres a catch all phrase that has been used to cover alot of differant types of offenses, its called "Disorderly Conduct", basically if a cop doesnt like you,you disagree with or walk away from him or if hes having a bad day,you can be charged with it- if memory serves me it came into effect in 1983 or 84 apparently after the Supreme court ruling in 83-

      Delete
    3. OK for those that missed it... This is hanging in the museum. Things were done a lot different. This shows how far we have come. Ya'll need to relax & un-bunch your panties. Join Phyllis in a toke...

      Delete
  14. This short bio grabs me as I have been thinking lately about how little of us is remembered or retained in memory after we die. My mothers father, William M. Hoag came to the US around 1900 from Scotland. He worked in a steel mill in Pittsburgh where he was badly injured. He died of tuberculosis of the spine in the early 1920's. We have exactly one picture of him. That is the sum total of what we know about our maternal grandfather. I hope everyone else is doing a better job of chronicling their family members in 2021,as well as their ancestors.DrLeery/Ohio

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. You make some good points. It’s like we slowly disappear after we die. Years pass and those that knew us pass on. Very little is known after that except photos which often end up at estate sales, thrift stores, and the garbage.

      Delete
  15. Police Report: Weed head, tramp. Case. Closed.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you for this, Chris. People's lives should be told with respect, not for laughter or to make a buck.

    ReplyDelete
  17. She was throw from a horse. It isn't unlikely she used weed for the pain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same as what I was thinking. That would make perfect sense as to why she would use it to alleviate her pain

      Delete
    2. They didn't call pot "weed" that often back then, and certainly didn't call users "weed heads". The whole thing smacks of fakery. Fail.

      Delete
  18. I'm surprised by the wording under the photo. You'd think they would have used more formal terminology, for instance "Narcotics, Vagrancy".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was the 40s & a war was going on... This wording was normal and accepted.

      Delete
  19. Thank you for her story. x

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks for giving this woman a proper eulogy.

    ReplyDelete
  21. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have no right to surmise what her life was like. Unfortunately, the authorities gave her a label and they didn’t even really know anything about her. Sad that you assume what she was like. She may have been a nice person and was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

      Delete
  22. And she lives on through the internet forever.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Freedom isn't free. Rarely is it gained by blowing up foreigners around the world."

    ReplyDelete