Guide to the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Collection SC0206

compiled by Stanford University Archives staff
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
2010
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu

Note

This encoded finding aid is compliant with Stanford EAD Best Practice Guidelines, Version 1.0.


Language of Material: Undetermined
Contributing Institution: Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: San Francisco Earthquake and Fire collection
Creator: Smith, Willet.
Creator: Wallace, W.B.
Identifier/Call Number: SC0206
Identifier/Call Number: 11663
Physical Description: 5.75 Linear Feet (8 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1906-1979
Abstract: Eyewitness accounts of the 1906 earthquake at Stanford; eyewitness account of earthquake damage to the Stanford and Hopkins houses in San Francisco; and magazine and newspaper accounts of the earthquake and its aftermath.

Access

Collection is open for research; materials must be requested at least 24 hours in advance of intended use.

Publication Rights

Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Collection (SC0216), Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection includes eyewitness accounts of the 1906 earthquake at Stanford; and eyewitness account of earthquake damage to the Stanford and Hopkins houses in San Francisco by Ah Wing, employee of the Stanford family (in Chinese with an English translation). Also included are magazine and newspaper accounts of the earthquake and its aftermath; and a 1908 map of San Francisco showing reconstruction of the city.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906
Stansky, Leo
Clark, George A. (George Archibald)
Marx, Charles David
Jordan, David Starr
Treat, Payson J. (Payson Jackson)
Otto Gerdes Fund
Burr, Myron Carlos
Smith, Edgar C.
Klauber, Laurence Monroe
Bishop, Beryl Boewell
Beymer, Jeannette Hayward
Wing, Ah
Evans-Wentz, W. Y. (Walter Yeeling)
Franklin, E. C.
Smith, Ernst Nathaniel
James, William, Mrs.
Mosher, Clelia Duel

 

Eyewitness Accounts Series 11112891

Box 1, folder 24

Bertheau, Rudolf Jordan: reminiscences from his scrapbook [copy] 1112897

Box 1, folder 1

Beymer, Jeannette Hayward: "When Our University Shook," reprinted from Stanford Review [typescript] 1112947 1931 Apr

Box 1, folder 2

Bishop, Beryl Boewell: typescript (carbon), signed and annotated by author 1112945

Box 1, folder 3

Burr, Myron 1112943

 

"Quake Notes: aftermath of the great shake up; Monrovians all safe." Monrovia Newspaper 1112949 1906 Apr 18

 

Telegram: Myron C. Burr to F. W. Burr [copy] 1112951 1906 Apr 20

Box 1, folder 4

Clark, George A. 1112941

 

Letter to family 1112953 1906 Apr 27

Physical Description: 4 page(s)
 

Letter to classmates 1112955 1906 Jun 2

Box 1, folder 4.1

Elwell, C. F. "I Was There; The San Francisco Earthquake, 1906," typescript of British Broadcasting Corporation talk. 1112939 1937 Feb 19

Box 1, folder 5

Franklin, E. C. (professor): Letter to "Billy" [William C. Stevens] 1112937 1906 Apr 26

Box 1, folder 6

James, Mrs. William: Letter to family, typescript [copy] 1112935 1906 Apr 18

Box 1, folder 20

Jossel, Talbert: "Reminiscences," newsclipping, Monterey, CA 1112905 1956 Apr 16-18

Box 1, folder 7

Klauber, Laurence M. ('08) 1112933

 

"Two Days in San Francisco: Year - 1906," privately printed 1115431 1958?

 

Reprinting of a letter to Alice Klauber with footnotes and supplement [2 copies] 1115433

 

"Two Days in San Francisco – 1906" with preface by Molly McClain, from Winter/Spring 2005 Journal of San Diego History [reprint] 1115435

Box 1, folder 26

Lyman, Georgina (A.B. 1907): newspaper edition of her letters to family following earthquake plus one photograph 1112893

Box 1, folder 8

Mosher, Clelia Duel: "What the earthquake did at Palo Alto: an illustrated letter," copy 1 (incomplete) 1112931

Box 1, folder 9

Mosher, Clelia Duel: "What the earthquake did at Palo Alto, and afterward: an illustrated letter," copy ,2 bound, illustrated (photographs, cyanotypes, postcards, maps, ephemera) in three parts 1112929

Scope and Contents

With "Notes and Comments" by Guy Miller, February 6, 1946.
Box 1, folder 23

Pierce, Garetta Hatch: Letter to family [photocopy] 1112899 [1906 Apr]

Box 1, folder 19

Show, Arley B., letters to E.V. Henler 1115479 1907 Mar 15 and Apr 29

Box 1, folder 10

Smith, Edgar C.: Excerpts from Genealogy and Personal Memoirs, "The Earthquake," [copy, newsclipping included] 1112927 1965 Apr 14

Box 1, folder 11

Smith, Ernest Nathanial: Letter to "Aunt Jessie," copy 1112925 1906 May 10

Box 5

Smith, Willett: letters to family 1654417 1906 Apr 20-May 20

Scope and Contents

Autograph postcard and 5 autograph letters, singed in pencil, to his mother and sisters in long Island, NY. 41 pages in all.
On the night before the quake, a young resident of Long Island, Everett Smith, arrived in the city with a friend and checked into a rooming house. At 5: 13 am the earthquake struck, and two days later, Smith manages to scribble the following note to his mother back home: "Got Out of the earth quake & fire all OK Am stopping in the sand hills on the beach. The town is completely gone. Good Bye. Willett"
In a series on six letters, Smith describes his experiences. On April 22, he writes: "I got here at six oclock with my friend and we went around town and took in the Sights and my friend and I looked for a rooming house for the night and we was going up to one of the big places but I dont know what told me it seems it was nature not to go and I didnt so I went down to the water front and got a room at a place I knew. We went to bed about 11 o'clock and must have been sleeping on the edge of the bed because I was thrown on the floor by the shock. I and my friend tried to get Out of the room and the door was jammed. We bursted it to splinters. The stairs and halls was full of flying transomes and plaster. We rushed downstairs and across to the docks and we was dodging live wires and bricks and everything. There we were in our underclothes. The house went in a heap. We got a pair a pants and a jumper out of a broken clothing store window ." "[W]hen we came to our senses from the fright the whole town was blazing in twenty different places." "The fire burned so fierce it drove us up town and we had to run. It seemed the fire just roared."
Smith writes vividly of the horrors he witnessed, describing conditions everywhere as such that "it can never be put in prim it was so terrible.' "Thousand of families have not got a blanket to put over them. The suffering is terrible with the women and children. I guess a thousand or more was killed by falling houses and pneumonia has set in and the dead wagons are overcrowded ... We was two days without a mouth full to eat ... i have stood it awful good but I don't know what I have been doing half of the time."
In a letter of April 24, self-addressed from "The Ruins of San Francisco", Smith writes: "The thieving and pillaging is something terrible & the troops have shot and killed lots of crooks ... the women are going plumb loco ... They won't go back in their houses and a good many have went out of their head ... the rich and poor are about alike here now ... I could not buy a loaf of bread if I had a million dollars. There isn't a baker shop in San Francisco that has an oven left. They have all got caved in by the quake ... "
" ... Surely, I never expected to be alive and writing to you today ... I have been out of doors ever since Wednesday morning 5 1/ 2 o'clock - We were all packed to leave, the hotel is burned down it rocked so we could not stand to get Our clothes on and got our trunks in the street - we paid $7.00 to get our two trunks to the park - There are thousands of people here, rich & poor - no one has anything, but a few bed clothes and clothes, the whole town is burned up, you can't tell the streets - We sat in the first park we got to until the fire reached us and sawall the main part of the town burn - such pitiful sights you never heard of - people men & women carrying their goods all day and night. I did not see any of the dead but there are hundreds dead and wounded - There was a baby born in the Park Wednesday night - we sleep under the trees - the Government is feeding us - they dole out rations you stand in a line guarded by the soldiers and are given whatever they have to give ... yesterday evening one line was 10 thousand people long - we build fires to cook by, but have to out them out at night ... the millionaires are sending food to us - and will send tents to us as soon as they can be gotten. I am so shakey I can't hardly hold the pencil- But I am so thankful I am alive and not hurt ... "
Box 1, folder 12

Stansky, Leo: Letter to Ralph Hansen 1112923 1976 Jun 5

Box 1, folder 12.1

Talbot, Earle 1112921

 

Letter [photocopy] 1115439 1906 Apr 25

 

Transcript of interview on the earthquake [photocopy] 1115441 1972

Box 6

Tiwena, Jennie 1898041 1906 Apr 20

Scope and Contents

Golden Gate Park San Francisco April 20 1906
Dear Gussie,
We are alive and not hurt thank Almighty God for it. I don't know whether I can write an intelligent or legible letter but I thought you all would like to know how we fared.Truly I never expected to be alive and writing to you today.This is a book leaf-if I can get an envelope I will send this, there are no stamps to be had. I wrote to you all on Monday night before the earth quake. I have been out of doors since Wednesday morning 3 o'clock. We were all packed to leave.The hotel is burned down,it rocked so we could not stand to get our clothes on,it was only 8 stories but we were on the 2nd floor.We got our clothes on and got our trunks in the street.We paid 7$ to get our trunks to the park.There are thousands of people here rich & poor-no one has anything but a few bedclothes,the whole town is burned up,you can't tell the streets.We sat in the first park we got to until the fire reached us and saw all the main part of the town burn-such pitiful sights you never heard of-people,men and women carrying their goods all day and night. I did not see any of the dead but there are hundreds of dead and wounded.There was a baby born in the park Wednesday nite. We slept under the trees-the Government is feeding.^us-they ^out rations-you stand in a line guarded by soldiers and are given whatever they have to give-we have a place to eat and drink. Yesterday,one line was 10 thousand people long.We build fires to cook by but have to put them out at night.We will leave for Los Gatos as soon as possible.They will issue free tickets to all jggts of the U.S.The millionaires are sending food to us and will send tents as soon as they can be gotten.I am so shaky I can hardly hold the pencil.But I am so thankful I am alive and not hurt.O Lord,how thankful I am to be alive.We have not lost any thing yet out of here.One gentleman lent us a matress,two pillows, a blanket and a quilt.One night we had nothing but two pillows and a bench.I ache terribly but hate to'complain.I sent you a piece of cardboard yesterday but donlt know whether'you will get it. Do write to us when we get to Los Gatos-we have made some friends out here and are getting along very well if I can only keep well. We have nowhere so I guess we will survive,
Jennie Tiwena
Box 1, folder 13

Treat, Payson 1112919

 

Letter to "Father" 1115437 1906 Apr 18

 

Letter to "Flora" 1115443 1906 Apr 23

Box 1, folder 14

Evans-Wentz, Walter Y.: Letters relating to incident during 1906 earthquake 1112917

 

Wendell Ward, '07 1115445 1967 Oct 15

 

Sam Bryan, '10 1115447 1967 Oct 17

 

E. N. Squire, '42 1115449 1967 Nov 17

 

Samuel Bryan 1115451 1967 Nov 17

 

Barbara Baker, '51 1115453 1967 Dec 27

 

Philip S. Brooke, '16 1115455 1968 Jan 3

 

Wendall Ward, '07 1115457 1968 Jan

 

Ralph C. Pollock, '06 1115459 1968 Jan

 

Leo C. Stanley 1115461 1968 Jan 12

 

Mifflin War 1115463 1968 Jan 26

 

C. L. Severy, '08, 1115465 1968 Feb 8

Box 1, folder 15

Otto Gerdes Fund: Letter, photograph, and notebook re. fund 1112915

Box 1, folder 16

Official Statements of the University 1112913

 

David Starr Jordan (President of the University) 1115467 1906 Apr 19

 

S. F. Leib (President of the Board of Trustees) and David Starr Jordan 1115469 1906 Jul 12

Box 1, folder 17

Brilstol's Recording Voltmeter: record of Earthquake, with accompanying note, C.F. Elwell 1112911 1906, 1950 Nov

Box 1, folder 18

Correspondence and broadsides re: relief efforts 1112909

 

Harry C. Green to David Starr Jordan 1115471 1910 Feb 26

 

Notices to People of Palo Alto 1115473

 

Relief Pass Cards 1115475

 

Stanford Alumnus, "No Backward Step For University," by David Starr Jordan 1115477

Box 1, folder 19

Letters to C. D. Marx re: Relief Work 1112907

 

Mansfield Merriman 1115481 1906 Apr 19

 

Ernest ? 1115483 1906 Apr 19

 

Charles E. Buell 1115485 1906 Apr 20

 

Dugald C. Jackson 1115487 1906 May 3

Box 7

Wallace, W.B. Accession ARCH-2015-0732331975 1906 June 7

Scope and Contents

An autograph letter signed "W.B. Wallace " on "Superior Court Chambers" letterhead.
He wrote to Mrs. Wallace M. Bartlett of Louisville, Kentucky:
"You must pardon me for the long delay in answering your letter reminding me of my promise to visit my Kentucky kinsmen this year. Since April 18th a day of disaster in this state all plans for the present year had to be re-formed and in many cases abandoned. We have all been living in a state of uncertainty. Every day since April 18th up to last Monday has been a legal holiday. It became necessary for the Governor to declare successive holidays in order that the banks throughout the state could arrange to safely resume business and that the Legislature might be convened in extra session and enact some new laws necessary to protect property rights suddenly imperiled by the great calamity that befell San Francisco and other near by places on that date. A cessation of judicial business for forty-five days has left the trial courts with congested dockets rendering it necessary for most of the judges to continue holding court during the usual summer period for vacation. Unhappily I find myself in this situation and I will be unable to leave the state during his year ... Fortunately none of us were injured by the great earthquake. The shock here was slight and no property was injured. My daughter Ethel was at Stanford University when it occurred. The University is about sixty miles from San Francisco. It suffered a loss of about $4,000,000 in the destruction and injury of many fine buildings. Two lives were lost one being that of a student and six other students were quite badly injured. Communication with the outside world was immediately interrupted and it was several days before we could get direct news from Ethel. She was not injured though when the shock occurred near 5 o'clock in the morning she and her companions thought the world was coming to an end when the furniture was being tossed about the room and she could see the fine structures of the university falling into shapeless masses of stone. It will be some time for our State to fully recover from the effects of so great a calamity but San Francisco will be rebuilt because of its almost matchless harbor and because it was proven that modern steel structures can stand uninjured after such an earthquake. To many of us who have known that city almost all of our lives it will not probably be the San Francisco of which we were so proud. The loss resulting from the earthquake there has been estimated at not more than $70,000,000 but the great fire with no water to stay its progress, increased the loss to thirty times that ... "
An autograph letter signed "W.B. Wallace " on "Superior Court Chambers" letterhead. He wrote to Mrs. Wallace M. Bartlett of Louisville, Kentucky: "You must pardon me for the long delay in answering your letter reminding me of my promise to visit my Kentucky kinsmen this year. Since April 18th a day of disaster in this state all plans for the present year had to be re-formed and in many cases abandoned. We have all been living in a state of uncertainty. Every day since April 18th up to last Monday has been a legal holiday. It became necessary for the Governor to declare successive holidays in order that the banks throughout the state could arrange to safely resume business and that the Legislature might be convened in extra session and enact some new laws necessary to protect property rights suddenly imperiled by the great calamity that befell San Francisco and other near by places on that date. A cessation of judicial business for forty-five days has left the trial courts with congested dockets rendering it necessary for most of the judges to continue holding court during the usual summer period for vacation. Unhappily I find myself in this situation and I will be unable to leave the state during his year ... Fortunately none of us were injured by the great earthquake. The shock here was slight and no property was injured. My daughter Ethel was at Stanford University when it occurred. The University is about sixty miles from San Francisco. It suffered a loss of about $4,000,000 in the destruction and injury of many fine buildings. Two lives were lost one being that of a student and six other students were quite badly injured. Communication with the outside world was immediately interrupted and it was several days before we could get direct news from Ethel. She was not injured though when the shock occurred near 5 o'clock in the morning she and her companions thought the world was coming to an end when the furniture was being tossed about the room and she could see the fine structures of the university falling into shapeless masses of stone. It will be some time for our State to fully recover from the effects of so great a calamity but San Francisco will be rebuilt because of its almost matchless harbor and because it was proven that modern steel structures can stand uninjured after such an earthquake. To many of us who have known that city almost all of our lives it will not probably be the San Francisco of which we were so proud. The loss resulting from the earthquake there has been estimated at not more than $70,000,000 but the great fire with no water to stay its progress, increased the loss to thirty times that ... "
Box 1, folder 21

Wing, Ah: eyewitness account 1112903

Box 1, folder 22

Wing, Ah: eyewitness account [photocopies] 1112901

Box 1, folder 25

Telegrams 1112895 1906

 

Publications Series 21112819

Box 2, folder 1

Sandstone and Tile, Vol. 3, No. 2, Winter 1979: "The Days That Followed the Quake." 1112889 1979

Box 2, folder 2

Collier's, Vol. XXXVII, No. 6, "Memorial Arch, Before and After" 1112887 1906 May 5

Box 2, folder 3

Engineering News, Journal of Civil, Mechanical, Mining, and Electrical Engineering, Vol. LV, No. 19 1112885 1906 May 10

Box 2, folder 4

Mines and Industrie (Foreign Publication - in French), San Francisco, pp. 12. 1112883 1906 Apr

Box 2, folder 5

Everybody's, "Our San Francisco," James Hopper (2 copies) 1115493 1906 Jun

Box 2, folder 5

National Magazine, "The Ruins of Stanford," Myrtle Garrison 1112881 1906 Jun

Box 2, folder 5

Overland, "In the Realm of Bookland," Eleanore F. Lewys 1115495 1906 Jun

Box 2, folder 5

Pacific Monthly, "The Destruction of San Francisco," Marshall Douglas 1115497 1906 Jun

Box 2, folder 5

Pacific Monthly, "The San Francisco Disaster, A Personal Narrative," F.O. Popenoe. 1115489 1906 Jun

Box 2, folder 5

Century, "Studying Earthquakes," T.A Jagger, Jr. 1115491 1910 Aug

Box 2, folder 6

The New San Francisco Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1, Article by David Starr Jordan, San Francisco, California. 1112879 1906 May

Box 2, folder 7

Santa Rosa Republican [photocopies] 1112877 1906 Apr 18

Box 2, folder 8

Signs of the Times 1112875

 

Earthquake Special 1115513 1906 May 2

Box 2, folder 8

Souvenir Edition 1115515 1906 Jun 27

Box 2, folder 9

The Daily Palo Alto 1112873

 

Special Edition 1115499 1906 Apr 18

 

Second Special Edition [4 copies] 1115501 1906 Apr 18

 

Special Edition [4 copies] 1115503 1906 Apr 19

 

Second Special Edition [2 copies] 1115505 1906 Apr 19

 

Regular Edition [4 copies] 1115507 1906 Apr 20

 

Special Edition [3 copies] 1115509 1906 Apr 20

 

Regular Edition 1115511 1906 Apr 21

Box 2, folder 10

Daily Palo Alto Times 1112871

 

1906 Apr 18 1115519

 

1906 Apr 19 1115521

Box 2, folder 10

Palo Alto Tribune 1115517

 

Extra 1115523 1906 Apr 18

 

Second Extra [2 copies] 1115525 1906 Apr 18

 

1906 Apr 27 1115527

Box 2, folder 11

Oakland Enquirer 1112869 1906 Apr 20

Box 2, folder 12

San Francisco Examiner 1112867 1906 May 13

Box 2, folder 13

Mercury-Herald, Extra: San Jose, Ca. 1112865 1906 Apr 18

Box 2, folder 13

The Evening News, Extra: San Jose, Ca. 1115531 1906 Apr 18

Box 2, folder 13

San Jose Mercury 1115529 1906 Apr 26

Box 2, folder 13

San Jose Mercury and Herald (front page) 1115533 1906 Apr 29

Box 2, folder 14

Clippings from newspapers across the country 1112863

 

The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon 1115547 1906 May 7

 

Vicksburg American, Vicksburg, Mississippi 1115549 1906 May 26

 

Unidentified Clippings: articles and pictures 1115551

Box 2, folder 15

Los Angeles Times 1112861 1907 Apr 21

Box 2, folder 16

Daily Palo Alto Times 1112859

 

1956 Apr 17 1115543

 

1956 Apr 18 1115545

Box 2, folder 16

San Francisco Chronicle 1115535 1956 Apr 18

Box 2, folder 17

San Francisco Chronicle, Earthquake Edition (2 copies) 1112857 1906-1956, Apr 19

Box 2, folder 18

San Jose Mercury 1112855 1956 Apr 18

Box 2, folder 19

The Stanford Daily 1112853

 

1946 Apr 18 1115537

 

1956 Apr 18 1115539

 

1957 Apr 1 1115541

Box 2, folder 20

Miscellaneous newspaper clippings on earthquakes (President Branner, Professor Bailey Willis) 1112851 1913-1946

Box 3, folder 1

American Society of Civil Engineers Transactions , Vol. LIX, "The Effects of the San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, 1906, on Engineering Construction." 1112849 1907

Box 3, folder 2

Cosmopolitan Magazine, Vol. XLI, No. 4, "Cause of the Great Earthquake," Daivd Starr Jordan 1112847 1906 Aug

Box 3, folder 3

"The Great Earthquake, April 18, 1906: views of its calamitous results in San Francisco and vicinity," Pacific Press Company 1112845 1906

Box 3, folder 4

Palo Alto 1906, Linda Dick, California History Center, DeAnza College 1112843 1979

Box 3, folder 5

San Francisco--the imperishable San Francisco. Passenger Department, Southern Pacific Co. Broadside, map, photos 1112841 [1906]

Box 3, folder 6

San Francisco: Official Memorial Souvenir, April 18, 1906 (Los Angeles, Radial Co.) 1112839 1906

Box 3, folder 7

San Jose, Stanford University and vicinity, after the disaster, April 18, 1906. Los Angeles: Rieder-Cardinelli Co. 1112837 1906

Physical Description: 10 photographs
Box 3, folder 8

Scenes of the San Francisco fire and Earthquake, April 18, 1906. Series No. 2 San Francisco: Phoenix Photo Co. 1112835 1906

Physical Description: 16 photographs
Box 3, folder 9

Stanford Alumnus, Vol. 7, No. 8, "The Truth about Stanford and the Earthquake" 1112833 1906 May

Box 3, folder 10

Sunset Magazine, Vol. XVII, No. 1, "New San Francisco emergency edition" 1112831 1906 May

Box 3, folder 11

Taber, Stephen: "Some Local Effects of the San Francisco Earthquake." Reprint from The Journal of Geology, Vol. XIV, No. 4 1112829 1906 May-Jun

Box 3, folder 12

Earthquake Information Bulletin, "The 1906 Earthquake at Palo Alto, California: An Interview with Birge M. Clark," Henry Spall 1112827 1901 Mar-Apr

Box 3, folder 13

Map of part of San Francisco, California, April 18, 1908 showing buildings constructed and buildings under construction during two years after fire of April 18, 1906. Surveyed and drawn by Punnett Brothers. 1112825 1908

Box 3, folder 14

"Preliminary Report of the State Earthquake Investigation Commission" 1112823 1906 May 31

Box 4, folder 1

Harper's Weekly. Cover features image of damage to interior of Memorial Church. 1112821 1906 May 19

 

ARCH-2021-040 ARCH-2021-040

Box 1

6 photographs and class of 1909 memorabilia

Box 1

Additional Material Accession ARCH-2021-104

Physical Description: .25 Linear Feet