African Americans in San Francisco History: a Mini-Series of Sources

If poring over the Occupation exhibit piqued your interest in 20th century African-American civil rights and labor history in San Francisco, then keep reading. This post will be the first of a February "mini-series" to highlight further items in the San Francisco History Center to peruse. We'll start with my favorite offline trove, the San Francisco Ephemera Collection.

As always, our San Francisco Ephemera Collection--paper file folders arranged broadly by subject, containing pamphlets, clippings, ephemera, etc.--contain some interesting finds:

  • A copy of the pamphlet The Negro War Worker in San Francisco: A Local Self-Survey (the Labor Archive's copy is in the first display case)--ask for San Francisco Ephemera Collection. Unions and the name of the pamphlet. 
  • A set of clippings from a 1961 series run in the News-Call Bulletin called "The Negro in San Francisco." Ask for San Francisco Ephemera Collection. Ethnic Groups. Blacks.
  • A folder of Marine Cooks and Stewards Association materials that includes union pamphlets from the 1950s: The Economics of Prejudice, 'Screening' Is Union-Busting, and The Story of Screening: No Longer Allowed to Sail about US Coast Guard port security screening. Filed under Unions. Marine Cooks and Stewards Assn.
In addition to these smaller items, there are broader swaths of material in the San Francisco Ephemera Collection filed under:

  • Districts. Check Western Addition, Bayview, and Hunter's Point.
  • Housing. Includes Housing Reports from the 1940s and 1950s.
  • Redevelopment Agency.
Watch for the next post: Books and Newspapers.

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