Christensen (Carl) photographs, 1956-1958

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Summary

Title:
Carl Christensen photographs
Dates:
1956-1958
Creators:
Christensen, Carl M. (Carl Mobius) Hoskins, Emmett A.
Abstract:
The Carl Christensen photographs, 1956-1958, (SAFR 23357, P78-319a) are comprised of snapshots of Carl Christensen and the Eureka Fire Department boat CAPTAIN PUDGY DAVIS. The collection has been processed to the Item level and is open for use.
Extent:
4 items
Language:
In English.
Preferred citation:

[Item description], [Location within collection organization identified by Collection Number/Series Number/File Unit Number/Item Number], P78-319a (SAFR 23357), Carl Christensen photographs, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Background

Scope and content:

The Carl Christensen photographs, 1956-1958, (SAFR 23357, P78-319a) are comprised of snapshots of Carl Christensen and the Eureka Fire Department boat CAPTAIN PUDGY DAVIS. The collection has been processed to the Item level and is open for use.

Contains 3 photographic prints of Carl Christensen, 1956-1958, and 1 photographic print of CAPTAIN PUDGY DAVIS (fireboat), 1958.

Biographical / historical:

Carl Christensen (1906-1986) lived in Eureka, California for many years, and was a photographer, photograph collector, and a maritime historian specializing in steam schooners of the Pacific Coast.

Carl Mobius Christensen was born May 28, 1906. He was a native of Humboldt County, California and was born and raised on the Samoa Peninsula near the U.S. Coast Guard Station. Christensen lived in Eureka for many years before moving to Grove City and then to Arroyo Grande. He was a photographer, photograph collector, and a maritime historian specializing in steam schooners of the Pacific Coast. He was a member of the Humboldt County Historical Society and the Humboldt Maritime Museum. Christensen was a member of the Eureka Firefighters Local No. 652 and his father worked for years at the Humboldt Bar life-saving station.

During the 1930s-1940s, Carl and his brother Art Christensen both piloted the launch MADAKET (ex NELLIE C.), ferrying passengers and freight from Samoa to Eureka. MADAKET was built in Fairhaven in 1909, launched in 1910 and refurbished in 1989. She is the oldest continuously operating passenger vessel in the United States, celebrated her 100th birthday on June 6, 2010, and is the last survivor of seven original ferries that transported mill workers and families around Humboldt Bay. The completion of the Eureka-Samoa bridge in 1971 put the ferry service out of business. Ironically, the second span of the California 255 Samoa Bridge is named in honor of Carl L. Christensen Jr., a democratic District Attorney and Justice in Humboldt County who died in September 1976.

Carl Christensen was very knowledgeable about steam schooners and corresponded with both Karl Kortum and Harold Huycke, among other maritime historians. In a letter that Harold Huycke wrote to Carl's brother Art in 2004, Huycke says that "upon reflecting on the numerous people I have known who have been very important in the accumulation of the entire steam schooner history, as far as I know, Carl is close to the top of the list of preservers and historians . . . I think it is very important that some space be dedicated to the biographies of those people, like Carl, who did so much in the very earliest years of this research."

Carl Christensen died on January 6, 1986, in Arroyo Grande, California at the age of 79. He was survived by his wife Frankie B. Christensen, daughter and son-in law Beth and Isam Zamamiri, son David R. Christensen, brothers Arthur E. Christensen and George Christensen, and sister Anna McGrew.

Written by Amy Croft, December 2011.

References:
  • -Butler, Edith. 2001. Finding aid for the "Swanlund-Baker Photograph Collection, ca. 1904-1925," Humboldt State University Special Collections, http://cdn.calisphere.org/data/13030/1k/tf6779n81k/files/tf6779n81k.pdf, accessed December 14, 2011
  • -Doran, Bob. 2002. Sam Swanlund interview "Working on his Legacy" in the North Coast Journal, http://www.northcoastjournal.com/091202/cover0912.html, accessed December 14, 2011
  • -Huycke, Harold letter to Art Christensen, November 27, 2004. Harold D. Huycke Collection. San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (HDC 1600, Series 3.08, File Unit 020)
  • -Upshaw, Deborah. June 1995. "Bay ambassador turns 85," North Coast Journal, http://www.northcoastjournal.com/JUN95/HISTORY.HTM, accessed December 14, 2011
  • -"100 Years of Madaket", Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum, http://humboldtbaymaritimemuseum.com/MADAKEThistory.html, accessed December 13, 2011.
  • -"Carl M. Christensen Obituary." Times-Standard. Eureka, California. 12 January 1986.
Acquisition information:

SAFR-00001

GOGA-00789

These photographs were donated to the San Francisco Maritime Museum by Emmett A. Hoskins in August 1974, who received them from Carl Christensen. The photographs were formally accessioned on May 17, 1978.

SAFR-00001 is a blanket accession that was transferred from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in September 1988. GGNRA had previously acquired the collection from the San Francisco Maritime Museum when it became a unit of the National Park Service in 1977.

GOGA-00789 was transferred from the J. Porter Shaw Library to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) in February 1985.

Processing information:

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.

Arrangement:

Not arranged due to small size of collection.

Physical location:
San Francisco Maritime NHP, Historic Documents Department
Physical description:
.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard .

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by: Amy Croft, 2013.
Date Prepared:
2013
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid derived from ICMS database and converted into xml from a template revised and updated by San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Historic Documents Department. 7/15/2013 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for use unless otherwise noted.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

[Item description], [Location within collection organization identified by Collection Number/Series Number/File Unit Number/Item Number], P78-319a (SAFR 23357), Carl Christensen photographs, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Location of this collection:
Building E, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94123, US
Contact:
415-561-7030
Website