Access
Publication and Use Rights
Processing Note
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Historical or Biographical Note
Collection Scope and Content
Collection Arrangement
Related Materials
Title: Nancy Olmsted scow schooner slide show
Date: 1991 May 17
Identifier/Call Number: P92-108 (SAFR 23342)
Creators:
Olmsted, Nancy and
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (Agency : U.S.)
Physical Description:
81 items.
Repository:
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Historic Documents Department
Building E, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94123
Abstract: The Nancy Olmsted scow schooner slide show, May 17, 1991, (SAFR 23342, P92-108) is comprised of 80 black-and-white slides
and a VHS 1/2 in. videocassette, color with sound, of a slide show held in the J. Porter Shaw Library on May 17, 1991. The
slides are photographs in the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park collection, created by the Park's Photo Lab
for Nancy Olmsted 's slide presentation. The collection has been processed to the collection level and is open for use without
restrictions.
Physical Location: San Francisco Maritime NHP, Historic Documents Department
Language(s):
In English.
Access
This collection is open for use unless otherwise noted.
Publication and Use Rights
Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other
case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.
Processing Note
A digitized copy of the VHS video is available.
Note on Description: Dates refer to when the slides were presented, not the date the slides were created or the date the photographs
were taken. The descriptions in this collection guide were compiled using the best available sources of information. Such
sources include the creator's annotations or descriptions, collection accession files, primary and secondary source material
and subject matter experts. While every effort was made to provide accurate information, in the event that you find any errors
in this guide please contact the reference staff in order for us to evaulate and make corrections to this guide.
Please cite the title and collection number in any correspondence with our staff.
Preferred Citation
[Item description], [Location within collection organization identified by Collection Number/Series Number/File Unit Number/Item
Number], P92-108 (SAFR 23342), Nancy Olmsted scow schooner slide show, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Acquisition Information
SAFR-00620
The materials were received as a field collection from the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park's Photo Lab on
December 22, 1992. It was formally accessioned on January 14, 1993.
Historical or Biographical Note
Nancy Leigh Olmsted (born January 4, 1927) is a sociologist, historian and writer. She received her B.A. in Sociology from
San Francisco State University. She lived in Kentfield, CA for many years, as well as in San Rafael.
She was married to Roger Robertson Olmsted (September 9, 1927-August 6, 1981) who was a historian, preservationist, writer
and curator of the San Francisco Maritime Museum (SFMM). Nancy also served as an advisor and researcher to the SFMM . Roger
and Nancy collaborated on several books about San Francisco Bay Area history. The couple also served as historical and cultural
resource consultants in the San Francisco Bay Area; their work included projects on the city's waterfront.
Some of the books that Nancy worked on include: "To Walk with a Quiet Mind: Hikes in the Woodlands, Parks and Beaches of the
San Francisco Bay Area (A Sierra Club Totebook)"(1975);"Gold Rush ship in Levi's Plaza"(1980); "Vanished waters: A history
of San Francisco's Mission Bay"(1986, revised 2010); "Scow schooners of San Francisco Bay"(1988); "The Ferry Building: Witness
To A Century Of Change, 1898-1998"(1998); and "Simple pleasures begin with ferryboats"(1999).
In 1996, Nancy worked on a Waterfront Transportation Project Historic and Interpretive Signage Program in collaboration with
the artist Michael Manwaring, which was installed along 2.5 miles of The Embarcadero in San Francisco. This was funded by
a grant from Americans for the Arts, and California State's Transportation Enhancement Activities."The project includes 22,
13 foot high posts, vertical history stations and bronze inlays. The metal black-and-white-striped pylons are imprinted with
photographs, stories, poetry in several languages and drawings commemorating the waterfront's historical significance." ("Embarcadero,"
2012)
Sources:
Roger Olmsted obituary. San Francisco Chronicle, August 8, 1981, p. 14.
Unknown author. (2012, August 21). Embarcadero Interpretive Signage and Walkway. Art and Architecture " San Francisco: Accessible
Art and Architecture In the San Francisco Area. Retrieved September 4, 2012. http://www.artandarchitecture-sf.com/tag/nancy-leigh-olmstead
Collection Scope and Content
The Nancy Olmsted scow schooner slide show, May 17, 1991, (SAFR 23342, P92-108) is comprised of 80 black-and-white slides
and a VHS 1/2 in. videocassette, color with sound, of a slide show held in the J. Porter Shaw Library on May 17, 1991. The
slides are photographs in the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park collection, created by the Park's Photo Lab
for Nancy Olmsted 's slide presentation. The collection has been processed to the collection level and is open for use without
restrictions.
Contains 72 black-and-white slides used in a lecture about scow schooners of the San Francisco Bay Area and a videocassette
of this 2 hour slide presentation. The slides are reproductions of photographic material found in the San Francisco Maritime
National Historical Park collection and the slides were created by the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park's Photo
Lab on December 22, 1992. Many (or all?) of the photographs can also be found in the book "Scow Schooners of the San Francisco
Bay" by Roger Olmsted; as edited by Nancy Olmsted. There are also 8 slides in this collection that were not used during the
presentation.
The presentation was given by Nancy Olmstead and also features scow schooner historian Bob Cleek. Nancy brought Bob Cleek
in to speak because he knows technical details about how scow schooners were built and why they were built in particular ways.
Olmsted mentions that Cleek is a lawyer and also builds models of scow schooners that are in yacht clubs in the Bay Area.
During the presentation Nancy focuses on the historical background and influence on scows and Bob supplies supplementary commentary
about technical details.
Collection Arrangement
Slides in original order; the order they were presented in the slide show.
Related Materials
Related photograph and media collections:
The ALMA Sails! videocassettes (SAFR 23206, P91-061) Consists of (4) videocassettes containing the film "The ALMA Sails!:
The Last Scow Schooner" in various stages of the editing process. Color video with sound. Contains footage of ALMA (built
1891; scow schooner) under way on San Francisco Bay, California in 1991. Also contains footage of historic black-and-white
photographs showing ALMA, other scow schooners, and the San Francisco Bay area. Ken Lewin, Captain of ALMA, and Tom Savage,
First Mate, are interviewed. Narration discusses the use of scow schooners on San Francisco Bay. Research: Nancy Olmsted.
Related manuscript collections:
Roger Olmsted Master's thesis, November 7, 1955. San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, (SAFR 21393, HDC 1330) The
collection consists of Roger Olmsted's typescript copy of his Master's thesis from the University of Nevada, "The Scow Schooners
of San Francisco Bay, 1849-1949," from 1955. It contains the original glossy photographs.
Unprocessed collection. (SAFR-02218) Approximately 40 LF of research files created by Roger and Nancy Olmsted. Roger was a
historian and former curator of the San Francisco Maritime Museum. Files include photographs, manuscripts, publications, correspondence,
photocopies, etc.
- This material is located at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Published works:
Olmsted, Roger R. Scow Schooners of San Francisco Bay. 1st ed. Local History Studies v. 33. Cupertino, Calif: California History
Center, De Anza College, 1988.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Shipping--California--San Francisco Bay Area--History
Scow schooners--California--San Francisco Bay Area--History
Cleek, Bob
Alma (built 1891; scow schooner)
San Francisco Bay (Calif.)--Harbor
Black-and-white slides
Videocassettes
Lectures