On its April 18th anniversary or any other time of the year, the 1906 Earthquake and Fire remains one of the most popular research topics of the San Francisco History Center. In fact, even when the 1906 earthquake is not the ostensible research topic, it informs almost any question we handle at the reference desk. As librarians conducting a reference interview, we almost always need to filter the question through the lens of whether it involves events pre or post 1906 Earthquake and Fire. That date filter will guide the research: if it is pre - 1906 Earthquake and Fire, then the records will be found in what survived, and since so many original records were lost, the research is made more complicated. However, there are many records, reports, photographs (and other visual materials), ephemera and maps that did survive to document the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. Here are a few highlights of resources available here in the San Francisco History Center:
Records and Reports
Royal Indemnity Records - internal documents, publications, a scrapbook, and photographs documenting the insurance industry's response to the disaster. Read more here about the records.
San Francisco Unified School District Records - through the records, discover how the School District dealt with the loss of 31 schools to the fire.
San Francisco History Center Scrapbook Collection - newspaper and magazine clippings, maps, printed pictures and postcards mounted and pasted into scrapbooks. The guide lists half a dozen scrapbooks on the earthquake and fire.
Visual Materials
There are over 1,700 photographs of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire viewable through the online database. In 2009, Dick Monaco donated his grandfather, J. B. Monaco's, collection of photographs to the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection. The most significant aspect of the collection is Monaco's documentation of the Earthquake and Fire. You may view the digitized photographs through the J. B. Monaco web page. Visit the Photo Desk to see more visual materials offline: for a 3D experience, use the San Francisco History Center Stereograph Collection; view the panoramas to see the expanse of the devastation; or request the photograph albums with a vernacular point of view.
Ephemera
The San Francisco Ephemera Collection (a.k.a. Vertical File Collection) - Search the guide linked here under Earthquakes--April 18, 1906 to identify folder files with reports, pamphlets, correspondence, poetry and personal accounts. Files may be viewed in person during San Francisco History Center's open hours.
Electronic Resources
Tips for researching the 1906 Earthquake and Fire are printed in the current April issue of At the Library.
Records and Reports
Royal Indemnity Records - internal documents, publications, a scrapbook, and photographs documenting the insurance industry's response to the disaster. Read more here about the records.
San Francisco Unified School District Records - through the records, discover how the School District dealt with the loss of 31 schools to the fire.
San Francisco History Center Scrapbook Collection - newspaper and magazine clippings, maps, printed pictures and postcards mounted and pasted into scrapbooks. The guide lists half a dozen scrapbooks on the earthquake and fire.
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| Refugees watching fire |
Visual Materials
There are over 1,700 photographs of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire viewable through the online database. In 2009, Dick Monaco donated his grandfather, J. B. Monaco's, collection of photographs to the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection. The most significant aspect of the collection is Monaco's documentation of the Earthquake and Fire. You may view the digitized photographs through the J. B. Monaco web page. Visit the Photo Desk to see more visual materials offline: for a 3D experience, use the San Francisco History Center Stereograph Collection; view the panoramas to see the expanse of the devastation; or request the photograph albums with a vernacular point of view.
 | |
| J.B. Monaco's family watching the devastation |
The San Francisco Ephemera Collection (a.k.a. Vertical File Collection) - Search the guide linked here under Earthquakes--April 18, 1906 to identify folder files with reports, pamphlets, correspondence, poetry and personal accounts. Files may be viewed in person during San Francisco History Center's open hours.
Electronic Resources
Tips for researching the 1906 Earthquake and Fire are printed in the current April issue of At the Library.
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