The artificial collection consists of over 7,500 photographic prints of prominent people in San Francisco and California’s history from the 1890s – 2010s collected by the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library. The photographs are of a diverse group of politicians, artists, business people, entertainers, literary figures, community leaders, labor leaders and others primarily from the late nineteenth-century until the 1980s.

The collection was collected and assembled by the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library. The creation of the collection and the selection process focused on primarily individuals and families associated with the history of San Francisco and California starting in the mid-19th century to early 20th century. The base of the collection was from the people files separated from the San Francisco News and Call Bulletin newspaper photo morgues. The collection includes multiple accessions and donors received over the life of the San Francisco History Center.

Approximately 7,500 photographs

All requests for permission to publish from photographs must be submitted in writing to the Photo Curator. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.

The collection is open for research and available for use during Photo Desk hours.