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A guide to the Nancy Olmsted scow schooner slide show, 1991 May 17
P92-108 (SAFR 23342)  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • 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