Consists of a wide variety of materials relating to people widely known and relatively unknown in San Francisco, the greater Bay Area, and California. Includes materials pertaining to: prominent historical San Franciscans such as past mayors, railroad and mining barons and their heirs, early explorers and Gold Rush and Victorian era figures; police and fire chiefs; local and state politicians and judges; architects, especially Victorian era and practioners of the Bay Region style; bishops and pastors; labor leaders; Olympic Club members; artists, artisans, poets, writers, and composers; restaurateurs, hoteliers, merchants and other ordinary citizens; unique San Francisco personalities such as Emperor Norton and Mary Ellen Pleasant. Also contains genealogical correspondence between relatives and library employees and volunteers, as well as material originating from outside the region contributed by relatives. The subjects of these inquiries are often pioneers, 49ers, or victims of the 1906 earthquake and fire. The range of ephemera includes: newspaper and magazine clippings, pamphlets, brochures, political mailings and advertisements, biographical sketches, obituaries, court transcripts, certificates, receipts, fliers, correspondence, exhibition catalogs, scrapbooks, drawings, programs and commemorative materials from consecrations, memorials, and other official events. Individual ephemera files can contain a single item or more extensive amounts of material, ranging from photocopies to handwritten documents.

27 file drawers (45 linear feet)

Copyright has not been assigned to the San Francisco Public Library. 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.

Collection is open for research.