Collection Guide
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Finding Aid to the Norman Rolfe Transportation Collection,
[1954]-2009,
SFH 724
SFH 724
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Table of contents
Title: Norman Rolfe Transportation Collection
Date (inclusive): [1954]-2009
Date (bulk): (bulk 1960s-2004)
Identifier/Call Number: SFH 724
Creator:
Rolfe, Norman (1925-2010)
Physical Description:
8 cartons, 1 manuscripts box
(8.4 cubic feet)
Contributing Institution:
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
Abstract: Work papers of Norman Rolfe, an electrical engineer for Bechtel, documenting the electrification of the Bay Area Rapid Transit
system; and Rolfe's papers as a transit advocate including San Francisco Tomorrow documents.
Physical Location: The collection is stored off site.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English.
The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours. Collections that are stored off site should
be requested 48 hours in advance.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
[Identification of item], Norman Rolfe Transportation Collection (SFH 724), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public
Library.
Received from the estate of Norman Rolfe in August of 2010.
See also the Wallace D. Mersereau San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District Real Estate Records, SFH 472.
Processed by Tami J. Suzuki in 2023.
Norman Rolfe was an electrical engineer for Bechtel, for whom he worked on the electrification of the Bay Area Rapid Transit
System. He also worked as an engineer for other entities and as an engineering officer for the U.S. Navy after earning his
degree from Brown University. He began his civic activism with the San Francisco freeway fights of the 1960s, and worked as
a transit advocate but was also involved in land use and other environmental matters. Rolfe was a member of numerous citizens
advisory committees.
A founding member of the urban environmental group, San Francisco Tomorrow (SFT), Rolfe also served on the organization's
board and as chairperson or co-chairperson of SFT's Transportation Committee. The organization honored him with its Unsung
Hero and Jack Morrison awards. In a 1972 application to a transit project's citizens committee, he stated one of his (and
SFT's) major concerns was the livability of the city.
Significant efforts were spent on saving the street cars and trolley buses on Market Street, removal of the Embarcadero Freeeway
and design of the new Embarcadero, removal of the Central Freeway, removal of the Transbay Terminal without an adequate replacement,
and challenging the rebuilding of Doyle Drive as an eight-lane freeway. In his [1995] resume, he wrote: "The engineering society
I belong to urges its members to become 'eclectic engineers,' that is to broaden one's horizons and draw from many fields.
I have done this."
Includes Rolfe's files as an electrical engineer with Bechtel, documenting electrification of the BART system. The bulk of
the collection consists of his transit advocacy files of City agency and citizens committee reports and some meeting minutes,
Rolfe's strategy papers and handwritten notes, and letters to legislators and media. Some San Francisco Tomorrow documents
are included. Has some election material on transit measures as well as some housing and tenant and pedestrian safety papers.
Some documents on regional government and transportation are also included. Material on the freeway fights of the 1960s is
not included.
Organized into two series: 1. Work Files; and 2. Project and Research Files. Within series, organization is mainly alphabetical.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Rolfe, Norman (1925-2010) -- Archives.
City planning -- California -- San Francisco.
Local transit -- California -- San Francisco.
Transportation -- California -- San Francisco.
Transportation -- (Calif.) -- San Francisco Bay Area.
Urban policy -- California -- San Francisco.
San Francisco Tomorrow -- (Organization).