Results tagged “history”

Veteran San Francisco photographer Gerald Ratto will exhibit his rarely seen collection of photographs, Children of the Fillmore, 1952, which he captured with his Rolleiflex camera while a student at California School of Fine Arts (now known as the San Francisco Art Institute). The photography program was founded by Ansel Adams in 1945.

HISTORY: As part of the SF Museum and Historical Society's 2009 "Neighborhoods of San Francisco" program, author and historian Woody LaBounty will reintroduce the community to Beachside Bohemia: Carville-by-the-Sea and the Birth of the Outer Sunset District, which he researched extensively for his new book, Carville-by-the-Sea: San Francisco’s Streetcar Suburb. Carville-by-the-Sea, which was in its heyday in the 1890s, is one of the quirkiest and least-remembered communities in San Francisco’s history. There will also be a companion walk to this event with Woody LaBounty on Saturday from 2 to 4. Meet at the corner of La Playa and Lincoln Way.

Jeff Altman of Chicago discovered this beautiful old film reel of his grandfather's, entitled "Alameda 1958." Altman's grandfather, who is pictured in front of the camera and behind the scenes, had traveled to San Francisco via a navy aircraft. Altman also has a reel documenting his grandfather's voyage to SF, which he will be posting on Vimeo soon. (Background music by Air -- "Alone In Kyoto.")

ART: Women's Art Movement (W.A.M.) explores the scary and sweet sides of pop-surrealism in their latest group show, Dollhouse Monsters invade Polk Gulch. The participating artists of W.A.M. will be disguised in pre-Halloween costumes for the festivities, and encourage attendees to dress in costume as well. Everyone who stops by the gallery will be entered in a costume contest to win an iPod. The exhibition runs through November 7.

For those of you killing time waiting to see if the Bay Bridge reopens on schedule, why not spend ten minutes watching this charming film, "The March of Progress," about the engineering marvel of the Key Route trains that once traveled back and forth on the lower deck of the bridge. The Key System served the East Bay from 1903 to 1960, and provided transbay service from the time of the bridge's construction in 1936 until 1958 when the lower deck was opened up to eastbound auto traffic.

ART: Hayes Valley Art Coalition is celebrating the installation of Adaptations, a site specific sculpture created by San Francisco artist Mark Baugh-Sasaki, which is constructed of a steel skeleton filled with locally-sourced salvaged tree limbs. There will be food served by Marino Mexican and Seafood Restaurant and music by local Gypsy jazz trio Gaucho.

              

Nestled amongst the former mansions of the old railroad tycoons and silver kings on Nob Hill and directly across from the beautiful Grace Cathedral, Huntington Park is an urban oasis for retirees, freelancers, kids, canines, and the homeless alike.

SF Indie Fashion posted a compelling story that originally appeared in Action Orange yesterday, in which blogger Lisa Katayama visited a recently abandoned sewing factory located in the Mission. Katayama's friend Jenny spent much of her childhood playing in the factory, while her mother worked among a dozen or so other Chinese women making stacks of dresses for Macy’s at a wage of $2-3 per dress, which in turn sold for hundreds of dollars each.

Through Sunday, Wolfgang's Vault is exhibiting Bill Graham's prolific collection of San Francisco rock memorabilia in Backstage Pass: A Sweeping History of Rock 'n' Roll at the historic Old Mint Building, whose doors have been closed to the public since 1994.

Bobster1985 has a great collection of San Francisco archival footage. Here's a clip that shows a bit of San Francisco's progressive history during the Civil Rights Era. The full film can be seen at archive.org.

Santa Cruz County construction crews spotted a fossilized vertebrae sticking out of the ground at Mid-County beach last month, which paleontologists have since identified as the remains of a whale, likely dating back five millions years. There will soon be an excavation of the site, the location of which will not be revealed. The whale is thought to be between 15 and 20 feet long, and the rock that it's attached to comes from the end of the Miocene Epoch. Experts are hoping to find the skull, which will help them ascertain whether the animal was an ancient Baleen whale, along the lines of today's plankton-feeding Humpbacks, or a meat-eating toothed whale, more closely related to the modern Orca.

We recently discovered San Francisco City Guides' free walking tours last fall, which have been around for 30 years. They offer seasonally-themed tours throughout the year, including their annual Scavenger Hunt in the fall, as well as regular tours in various neighborhoods every day of the week.

Tomorrow night, the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society will host a panel discussion on the history of the Castro District at the Metropolitan Community Church at 7 p.m.

The above video is a collection of live footage captured during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake in San Francisco, which was created by the U.S. Geological Survey. Be forewarned that it's a bit unsettling (but not gory).

Yesterday in Sacramento, the State of California returned three paintings to the heirs of Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer, which were recently discovered to have been the subject of a “judenauktionen,” a coerced sale of Jewish assets by the Nazis, in 1935.

Timecapsule: February 1852

              

Back in the 1920s, the Fleishhacker Pool was the finishing touch in "the symbolic 'watering' of San Francisco," and the city of San Francisco had spared no expense. San Francisco banker Herbert Fleishhacker built the opulent public pool for an estimated $1.5 million, a grand amount at that time.

Timecapsule: February 1, 1849

On the reeking pavement, in the darkness of a moonless night under the dripping rain, and surrounded by a hastily gathered crowd of wondering strangers, Norton I, by the grace of God, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, departed this life. -- San Francisco Chronicle, January 9, 1880

Timecapsule: December 25, 1894

Timecapsule: December 9, 1912

Timecapsule: November 3, 1910

Timecapsule: October 31, 1963

Hey, Did you know that for the past thirty years, San Francisco City Guides has been offering sixty free walking tours a week (donations appreciated)? Well, we didn't, and we can't wait to check them out. We are especially intrigued by the Bawdy & Naughty and the Russian Hill Stairways tours.

Timecapsule: October 20, 1880

Timecapsule: October 15, 1863

Pal of SFist Julian (star second-grader at Starr King's Mandarin Immersion program -- ni hao, Julian!) picked up this "queer" dollar bill last week at 26th and Harrison in the Mission.

We perused the recent SFist post about the pitiable state of San Francisco's streets with a certain sense of nostalgia for the good ol' days. You know, the days before this newfangled "asphalt paving" even entered the scene.

Oh my God, we're so there. If there was ever a reason to kick it over at the Bayview Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Services, this would be it. Join us tomorrow in our quest for clinical obesity as we head over the the 27th Annual Black Cuisine Cooking Contest & Street Festival. We're not sure what to expect, exactly; the only -esque cuisine that comes to mind are peach cobbler, collard greens, and lots of butter. (You know, stuff that actually tastes good.)

Good news: Translink will be up and running on Muni in the late fall/early winter of 2007. Or at least, that's what Muni said last year, and surprise! It's still not working. (And before that, it was January of 2007.) Translink is the work of a company called ERG, Ltd (emphasis on the "limited"); and in the decades (decades!) that it's been bandied about, lots of other cities have managed to set up Translinks of their own. No wonder Scott Schroeder, BART's controller-treasurer, wants the MTC to cut its losses and just give up on the project.