Finding Aid to the State Compensation Insurance Fund of California Time Capsule for April 25, 1960
Finding aid prepared by Wendy Kramer
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA, 94102
(415) 557-4567
info@sfpl.org
2011
Title: State Compensation Insurance Fund Time Capsule for April 25, 1960
Date (inclusive): 1921-1960
Date (bulk): 1958-1960
Collection Identifier: SFH 53
Creator:
State Compensation Insurance Fund of California.
Physical Description:
1 box, 2 flat boxes
(ca. 2.5 cubic ft.)
Contributing Institution:
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA, 94102
(415) 557-4567
info@sfpl.org
Abstract: This collection is comprised of documents buried in a time capsule commemorating the dedication of a new State Compensation
Insurance Fund building on April 25, 1960 at 525 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco.
Location: The collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials:
Collection materials are in
English.
Access
The collection is open for research. Please call the San Francisco History Center for hours and information at 415-557-4567.
Publication Rights
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.
Provenance
Gift, San Francisco Department of Public Works, 5-21-09.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], State Compensation Insurance Fund Time Capsule (SFH 53), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco
Public Library.
Conservation Note
Items when received were housed in brown paper envelopes with typed labels. Items have been re-foldered, with labels retained
in the file when they provide contextual information.
Related Materials
Copies of the San Francisco Civic Center Development Plan, Oct. 15, 1958 (included in this collection) and the Manual of Compensation
Insurance, Rules and Rates for California, adopted by the State Compensation Insurance Fund, Jan. 1914, are available in the
San Francisco Public Library's book collection.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in three series: Series 1: State Compensation Insurance Fund records; Series 2: Legislative documents;
and Series 3: Building documents.
Administrative History
The State Compensation Insurance Fund was established in 1914 by the California Legislature as part of the passage of the
Workmen's Compensation Insurance and Safety Act, also known as the Boynton Act. The statute created a compulsory, no-fault
workers' compensation system in which employers are required to carry insurance to cover employees who are injured or become
ill on the job. The Fund provides workers' compensation insurance to California employers at cost, in competition with private
insurance carriers. It is the largest provider of workers' compensation insurance in California.
Since its founding, its home office has been in San Francisco, first located at 525 Market Street. A new building at 525 Golden
Gate Avenue was dedicated on April 25, 1960, the day this time capsule commemorates. In 1977, the State Fund moved to a new
16-story home office building at 1275 Market Street, where it remains today. The building at 525 Golden Gate Avenue was torn
down in 2009 to build a new Public Utilities Commission Building. It had sat empty since it was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta
earthquake.
Scope and Contents
Documents buried in a time capsule commemorating the dedication of a new State Compensation Insurance Fund building on April
25, 1960 at 525 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco. Besides documenting the planning and dedication of the new building,
which was part of the San Francisco Civic Center Development Plan of the late 1950s, the collection also documents the formation
of California workers' compensation laws and the establishment and workings of the State Compensation Insurance Fund of California.
Materials include policy contracts, manuals, a telephone directory, photostat copies of legislative documents related to workers'
compensation, a microfilm reel of working drawings, a program and newspapers from the day of the dedication, photographs of
the Board of Directors and architects, and a copy of the Civic Center Development Plan for Oct. 1958. The time capsule was
opened in 2009 by staff from the Department of Public Works.
Photostat copies are certified as true copies by accompanying cover sheets from the Department of State bearing signatures
and the State Seal, dated March 10, 1959.
The time capsule was originally stored in a copper box labeled Box Number 82151-F in the cornerstone of the building at 525
Golden Gate Avenue.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
State Compensation Insurance Fund of California. -- Archives
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc.
Workers' compensation--California
Series 1
State Compensation Insurance Fund Records,
1921-1960
Physical Description:
7.0 folders
Box 1/4
Financial statement,
Dec. 31, 1959
Box 1/5
California Workmen's Compensation Insurance Manual,
1959
Box 1/6
Basic Insurance Training Handbook,
1959
Box 1/7
Telephone directory,
March 1960
Series 2
Legislative documents,
1959
Physical Description:
7.0 folders
Box 1/8
Excerpts from Gov. Hiram W. Johnson's Inaugural Address, Jan. 3, 1911 [photostat]
March 10, 1959
Box 2/1
Proposition No. 10, Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 32, as voted on at the election of October 10, 1911 [photostat]
March 10, 1959
Box 1/9
Folder 9 Excerpts from biennial message of Gov. Hiram W. Johnson, Jan. 6, 1913 [photostat]
March 10, 1959
Box 1/10
Boynton Act, 1913 [photostat]
March 10, 1959
Box 1/11
Workmen' Compensation Act of 1917 [photostat]
March 10, 1959
Box 1/12
Proposition No. 23 on workmen's compensation, Nov. 5, 1918 [photostat]
March 10, 1959
Box 1/13
Workmen's Compensation Laws of California, effective Sept. 18, 1959
Series 3
Building documents,
1957-1960
Physical Description:
2 flat boxes
Box 1
Working drawings for home office building [microfilm]
1957-1959
Box 1/15
Memo and business cards enclosed with working drawings microfilm,
Jan. 20, 1959
Box 1/16
Family Day,
April 24, 1960
Box 2/2
Supervising architect's memo and photographs,
1959
Box 2/3
Two black-and-white photographs of the Boards of Directors,
Sept. 19, 1956 and June 26, 1959
Box 2
San Francisco Civic Center Development Plan,
Oct. 15, 1958
Box 3
One copy each of the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner,
April 25, 1960
