The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection

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Summary

Abstract:
The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection is a compilation of selected holdings from collections housed in the archives and special collections of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; the California Historical Society, San Francisco; The California State Library, Sacramento; Stanford University, Stanford; The Huntington Library, San Marino; and The Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco. Presenting approximately 14,000 images and 7,000 pages of text, the digital collection makes accessible material related to the history of the earthquake and fire in San Francisco, as well as presenting material on other areas affected throughout the state. The project website for The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection includes a full introduction to the collection, online exhibit, panoramic image, interactive map search and other ways to explore this rich collection.
Extent:
8920 digital objects (approximately 14,000 images and 7,000 pages of text)
Language:
Collection materials are in English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], [Collection Formal Title & number], The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Background

Scope and content:

On April 18, 1906, San Francisco was wrecked by a powerful earthquake and for the next few days was consumed by fires that destroyed a large portion of the city. The earthquake's epicenter was located near the city along the San Andreas Fault. Damage from the earthquake was widespread, occurring for hundreds of miles along the extensive fault line. As San Francisco was then the West Coast's most populous city and it's leading economic and cultural center, the repercussions of the earthquake and fire throughout the region were tremendous. Since then, documentation pertaining to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire has been collected and preserved these many years at various libraries and archives throughout the state. In preparation for the 100th anniversary of the disaster, some of these institutions have collaborated in an effort to make selected primary source materials accessible in a digital format. The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection is the result of this effort.

The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection is a compilation of selected holdings from collections housed in the archives and special collections of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; the California Historical Society, San Francisco; The California State Library, Sacramento; Stanford University, Stanford; The Huntington Library, San Marino; and The Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco. Presenting approximately 14,000 images and 7,000 pages of text, the virtual archive makes accessible material related to the history of the earthquake and fire in San Francisco, as well as presenting material on other areas affected throughout the state. The materials were selected to illustrate broad topical themes:

  • Pre-1906 earthquakes
  • San Francisco on the eve of the earthquake and fire
  • The 1906 Earthquake
  • The Ensuing Firestorms
  • The Relief Effort
  • The Reconstruction effort, culminating in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition
  • Earthquake damage outside San Francisco
  • The Science of the Earthquake

The materials selected are drawn from a variety of printed sources and archival collections, compiled by institutions and libraries with varying missions. Many of the collections have distinctive histories of their own. In some cases entire collections have been included; more often a selection of materials relating to the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire has been selected from a collection with broader scope. While the materials presented in The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection are extensive, they are only selective and do not include comprehensively the wealth of historical and archival materials documenting this topic at participating institutions. Users should note the source of the materials found on this site and contact the holding libraries or archives for further information.

The project website for The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection includes an introduction to the collection, online exhibit, panoramic image, interactive map search and other ways to explore this rich collection.

Processing information:

The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection is a multi-institutional gathering of material related to this important historical event. The project consisted of collecting and digitizing numerous rich and varied materials resulting in the content found in this archival finding aid, an interactive website and online exhibit. Many people contributed to the success of these endeavors.

The grant was initially conceived and written by Tim Hoyer, former Head of Bancroft Technical Services. Merrilee Proffitt provided technical expertise and management of the project. After Mr. Hoyer and Ms. Proffitt left the Bancroft Library, Theresa Salazar, Curator of The Bancroft Collection of Western Americana, served as Project Manager until David de Lorenzo was appointed Head of Technical Services in 2001. At that point, given the scope and size of the project, duties and responsibilities were divided among individuals with specific knowledge and expertise and a formal Project Group was created.

Philip Fradkin was hired as a consultant to the project. Ms. Salazar served as the primary selector of textual material, coordinating activities at the other contributing Libraries, and creating descriptive metadata for textual materials. James Eason, Principal Pictorial Archivist and Chris McDonald, Pictorial Processing Archivist, selected and processed the pictorial materials at both The Bancroft Library and the California Historical Society. Assisting in the selection portion of the project as well as with research, data input, and editing of content, were Amy Hellam, Francisco Casique, Anna Arentrout, Jennifer Redmond, Stephanie Abel, Dylan Esson, and Joyce Mao. Mao and Esson wrote the text for the online exhibit.

Mary Elings, Archivist for Digital Collections, managed the digital production and metadata creation for the project. Much of the data entry and tracking was handled by Jeffrey Hookom and LuAnn Sleeper, both Digital Project Assistants. Jeanne Gahagan proofed and edited much of the TEI encoding toward the end of the project.

Mary Morganti, The Director of Research Collections at the California Historical Society was a major contributor to this project, providing expertise about the holdings in her repository. In addition, Abby Bridge at The California Historical Society helped with selection and input related to their collection.

The staff of Library Photographic Services at UC Berkeley, Dan Johnston, Amy Yang, Jiro Marubayashi and Sarah Grew worked untiringly and more importantly with the utmost professionalism to provide the highest quality digital work.

From the Digital Publishing Group at UC Berkeley, Lynne Grigby-Standfill coordinated much of the digital and database export work on the project. Alvin Pollock and Erin Nhaminerva processed the encoded texts and Michael Conkin exported the METS digital objects and finding aids. Brooke Dykman created the designs for the website, designed the flash entry screen, and also built the website.

The Bancroft Library would like to thank the California State Library for its support of the Library and Services Technology Act (LSTA), and for the opportunity to present the rich and tragic history of The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.

Physical location:
Please consult the individual repositories for current information on the location of these materials. Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Access procedures and restrictions vary by repository. In most cases advance notice or an appointment is required for use. For more information contact the institution directly.

Terms of access:

Some of the materials in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (title 17, USC) and/or by the copyright or neighboring rights laws of other nations. Additionally, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by privacy or publicity rights. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to reproduce or use the item.

The owning institutions encourage use of these materials under the fair use clause of the 1976 copyright act. For the purposes of research, teaching, and private study, you may reproduce (print, make photocopies, or download) materials from this collection without prior permission of the owning institution, on the condition that proper attribution of the source is provided in all copies.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], [Collection Formal Title & number], The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481
bancref-library@berkeley.edu
Website