San Francisco History Center Collection

San Francisco History Center Collection

The Daniel E. Koshland San Francisco History Center contains a research collection of books, newspapers and magazines, photographs, maps, posters, archives and manuscript collections, and ephemera, documenting all aspects of San Francisco life and history. The Center is also the archives for the City and County of San Francisco.
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San Francisco History Center Collection
Collection
Afro-American Oral Histories, pre-WWII
The "Afro-Americans in San Francisco prior to World War II : Oral history Project" was co-sponsored by the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library and the San Francisco African American...
Show moreThe "Afro-Americans in San Francisco prior to World War II : Oral history Project" was co-sponsored by the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library and the San Francisco African American Historical and Cultural Society. Twenty-five interviews were conducted between 1976 and 1979 with men and women in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lynn Bonfield served as the project coordinator; Albert Broussard and Jesse J. Warr III were interviewers. These primary source interviews have been frequently used since they were published and are cited in a number of scholarly books and articles.
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San Francisco History Center Collection
Collection
Insurance maps of San Francisco, California [cartographic material] / Sanborn-Perris Map Company
A rare six volume 1905 San Francisco Sanborn Insurance Atlas, showing the city as it was just months before the great earthquake and fire of 1906, is part of the collections at the San Francisco...
Show moreA rare six volume 1905 San Francisco Sanborn Insurance Atlas, showing the city as it was just months before the great earthquake and fire of 1906, is part of the collections at the San Francisco History Center at the Main Library. The base atlas was published in 1899/1900 and was updated manually several times by the publisher, the Sanborn-Perris Map Company of New York, with the last updates done in the fall of 1905. The 6 atlas volumes show the city in great detail, with building shape, height, construction materials, and many other details typical of fire insurance atlases of the period, including firehouses, stables, elevators, chimneys, steam boilers, firewalls, doorways, etc. Although these volumes were in fact damaged by the fire they remain largely intact with minor content loss in some of the volumes. The maps are in full color with a detailed legend.
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San Francisco History Center Collection
Collection
San Francisco Ephemera Collection
Consists of ephemeral materials, city records and clippings relating to the city of San Francisco and its citizens. Materials date from the 1850s to the present, the bulk from the 20th century....
Show moreConsists of ephemeral materials, city records and clippings relating to the city of San Francisco and its citizens. Materials date from the 1850s to the present, the bulk from the 20th century. Subjects cover a diverse array of San Francisco history and primarily pertain to: municipal government; city planning; urban policy; environmental engineering; transportation; social history; labor history; community relations; notable events; public events, fairs and celebrations; and various aspects of local popular culture. Subjects also relate to specific local entities, such as: businesses; schools, colleges and universities; political parties; and associations, groups and clubs. Specific places are also found here, including: buildings; public spaces; bodies of water; and transportation terminals.
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San Francisco History Center Collection
Collection
San Francisco Punk Archive
The San Francisco Punk Archive preserves and showcases materials that document the punk music and culture scene in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1977 to the mid-eighties. The archive contains...
Show moreThe San Francisco Punk Archive preserves and showcases materials that document the punk music and culture scene in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1977 to the mid-eighties. The archive contains fliers, posters, zines, photographs, and other ephemera that relate to the bands, venues, shows, and events that shaped the underground movement. Some of the bands featured in the archive are Tuxedomoon, the Avengers, the Sleepers, and Frightwig. The archive is constantly expanding through donations. The items displayed here are only a sample of what the San Francisco Punk Archive has to offer. To view the full collection, please contact the San Francisco History Center.
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