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Finding Aid to the John Gerrard Graham Photograph Collection (1936-1994) SFP 38
SFP 38  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Provenance
  • Related materials
  • Conservation Note
  • Biographical / Historical
  • Scope and Contents
  • Arrangement

  • Title: John Gerrard Graham Photograph Collection
    Date (inclusive): 1936-1994
    Identifier/Call Number: SFP 38
    Creator: Graham, John Gerrard
    Physical Description: 15 cartons and 1 oversize box (approximately 7,700 photographic prints and 4,730 negatives) (16 Cubic Feet)
    Contributing Institution: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
    100 Larkin Street
    San Francisco, CA 94102
    (415) 557-4567
    info@sfpl.org
    Abstract: The John Gerrard Graham Photograph Collection includes over 7,700 photographs and 4,730 negatives from the collection of San Francisco transit historian John Gerrard Graham (1917–1995). The collection consists of two groups of images: original photographs and negatives photographed by Graham from approximately 1936 to 1994 and official company and agency photographs (some being copy images of operations of early San Francisco street railways). The strength of the collection is in its documentation of San Francisco street railways from the late 1930s through the late 1950s including operations of the Market Street Railway, Municipal Railway of San Francisco and the California Street Cable Railroad Company.
    Physical Location: The collection is stored onsite.
    Language of Materials: Collection materials are in English.

    Access

    The collection is available for use during Photo Desk hours.

    Publication Rights

    All requests for permission to publish 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.

    Preferred Citation

    John Gerrard Graham Photograph Collection (SFP 38), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

    Provenance

    Gift. 2002-37

    Related materials

    Graham's interests included street and main line railroads outside of San Francisco with his collections spread across the San Francisco Bay Area. There is a collection of East Bay street railway photographs at the Oakland Public Library. Many of Graham's North Bay railroad photographs are included in the collection of Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society Archive. Approximately 500 nitrate negatives of Market Street Railway Elkton wreck photos are in the archives of Bay Area Electric Railroad Associations' F.M. Smith Memorial Library. Graham's artifacts are included in the Market Street Railway Archive and the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation's Museum in San Jose.

    Conservation Note

    During processing, the entire collection was re-foldered and re-housed in acid-free folders and boxes.

    Biographical / Historical

    John Gerrard Graham was born on November 14, 1917 in San Francisco to John Gerrard Graham and Kittie Gerrard Fowler Graham. Graham was a graduate of Lick-Wilmerding High School (1935) where he studied machine shop and mechanical design. Upon graduation he went to work for the Enterprise Engine and Foundry Company as an apprentice machinist.
    Pursuing a lifelong fascination with the street railways of San Francisco, in 1942 Graham went to work part-time for the Market Street Railway in addition to his machine shop job. A few years later, Graham began work as a conductor and within a year became a motorman. His knowledge and interest in mechanical matters persisted and he started to make repairs on cars at the end of the line. Graham then became employed as a "shop man" in the Turk and Fillmore Car House. After the consolidation of the Market Street Railway into the Municipal Railway of San Francisco in 1944, the Fillmore barn closed on July 31, 1948. Graham was assigned to the Funston Yard, which served as the "bone yard" where retired Market Street Railway cars were prepared for scrapping. After the closing of Funston Yard in 1949, Graham transferred to the Muni's new electric trolley coach shop at Potrero Car House, where he worked until his retirement. Graham was fatally injured on December 9, 1995 when crossing Fourth and Townsend Streets to board a Muni bus at CalTrain Station.

    Scope and Contents

    The John Gerrard Graham Photograph Collection includes over 7,700 photographs and 4,730 negatives from the collection of San Francisco transit historian John Gerrard Graham (1917–1995). The collection consists of two groups of images: original photographs and negatives photographed by Graham from approximately 1936 to 1994 and official company and agency photographs (some being copy images of operations of early San Francisco street railways). The strength of the collection is in its documentation of San Francisco street railways from the late 1930s through the late 1950s including operations of the Market Street Railway, Municipal Railway of San Francisco and the California Street Cable Railroad Company. Given Graham's access to all shops and yards, Graham photographed his interests in both operational and mechanical aspects of the railway operation. Graham's collection also includes documentation of cars and buses being repaired from accidents or prepared for scrap. He also photographed a number of crews (both on the cars and in the shop). The collection includes several photographs of him on duty.
    The bulk of the collection consists of primarily 2 ¼" x 3 ¼" and 2 ¼" x 4 ¼" negatives with some 4 x 5" and 5 x 7" copy negatives. Sixty percent of the prints do have corresponding negatives. There are approximately 2,000 negatives for which there are no prints and 3,000 prints for which there are no negatives.

    Arrangement

    Arranged in two groups: 1. Photographs by John Gerrard Graham, 1936-1994. 2. Official Photographs, 1903-1960.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Transportation--California--San Francisco.
    Street-railroads -- California -- San Francisco
    Electric railroads -- California -- San Francisco -- Cars.
    Buses -- California -- San Francisco.
    Cable cars (Streetcars) -- California -- San Francisco
    Local transit - California - San Francisco
    San Francisco (Calif.) -- Transit systems.
    Photographic prints, 1930-1940
    Photographic prints, 1940-1950
    Photographic prints, 1950-1960
    Photographic prints, 1960-1970
    Transparencies
    Snapshots
    San Francisco Municipal Railway.
    Market Street Railway.