Earthquake, Fire & Epidemic

Gladys Hanse

Description

Almost five decades of exhaustive research by Gladys Hansen, Official Archivist Emeritus of San Francisco, makes Earthquake, Fire & Epidemic the definitive discourse on one of the most devastating natural disasters in American history.With coauthors Richard Hansen and Dr. William Blaisdell, M.D., Gladys Hansen offers a comprehensive account of the events leading up to, during, and following the April 1906 Earthquake and Fire that devastated San Francisco. The book includes narratives depicting the firefighters, military personnel, and first responders whose extraordinary efforts helped establish order out of chaos. Of particular significance, the authors discredit the deceitful efforts by San Francisco's political and business establishment who, to protect the commercial viability of the city, minimized the death toll and diminished the true magnitude of destruction.Earthquake, Fire & Epidemic offers new documentation and provides insight into the incomprehensible scale of disaster that killed thousands of people, utterly destroyed a quarter of San Francisco's buildings, and rendered tens of thousands of survivors homeless in the Golden City by the Bay.

Sujets

• Histoire
• History of the Americas

Informations

• Publié par: Untreed Reads
• Date de parution: 05 avril 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781611875423
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Earthquake, Fire & Epidemic: Personal Accounts of the 1906 Disaster By Gladys Hansen, Richard Hansen, Dr. William Blaisdell
Copyright 2013 by Gladys Hansen, Richard Hansen, Dr. William Blaisdell Cover Copyright 2013 by Ginny Glass and Untreed Reads Publishing The author is hereby established as the sole holder of the copyright. Either the publisher (Untreed Reads) or author may enforce copyrights to the fullest extent .
All photos courtesy of Museum of the City of San Francisco
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http://www.untreedreads.com
Earthquake, Fire & Epidemic
Personal Accounts of the 1906 Disaster
Gladys Hansen, Richard Hansen, Dr. William Blaisdell
Contents
Notes
Introduction
Chapter 1: Before the Ultimate Disaster
Earthquakes
Fires
Epidemics and Infectious Diseases
Summary of Earthquakes Affecting San Francisco 1800–1898
Summary of Fires Affecting San Francisco 1849–1906
Chapter 2: The Earthquake
Personal Accounts of the Earthquake Survivors
Chapter 3: The Great Fire
Personal Accounts of Who Experienced the Fire
Kennedy Committee Report on The Great Fire
Chapter 4: Fighting the Fire
Personal Accounts of Fire Fighters
Chapter 5: Maintaining Order
Accounts Concerning Order and Crime in the City: Miliatry Involvement
Accounts Concerning Order and Crime in the City: Policing by Nonmilitary
Accounts Concerning Order and Crime in the City: Looting
Accounts Concerning Order and Crime in the City: Problems with the Peacekeepers
Accounts Concerning Order and Crime in the City: Protecting Refugees and Food Supplies
Chapter 6: Refugees
Personal Accounts of the Refugees
Chapter 7: Injuries, Epidemics and Infectious Diseases
The Management of Emergencies
Epidemics and Infectious Diseases
Chapter 8: Search for the Dead
Personal Accounts of Searches
Orphans and Children
Disappearances
Brief Notes on the Diversity of Those Who Disappeared
What Happened to All the Bodies?
Known Causes of Death
About the “List of the Dead”
NOTES
Following are a few notes of clarification about the personal accounts contained in this book:
•   Most of the 1906 letters were written by hand in haste to alert families elsewhere as to what happened to people during the earthquake. There are spelling and grammatical inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the letters; however, we felt it was important to provide the letters just as they were written.
•   It might also appear that there are errors and inconsistencies in the spelling of some street and location names. In fact, the spelling of street names, in particular, changed over time. We have retained the spellings the street names when they were being referenced.
•   Wherever possible, there are specific attributions included for all personal accounts, and news reports. In 1906, however, newspaper reports were often printed with no byline or reporter designated, which is why in some instances there is a publication listed, but no reporter’s name.
•   Additionally, some stories and reports included were received from various sources. Unless specified, the source of all material is from the collection of the San Francisco Earthquake Project.
•   The San Francisco Earthquake Project, the Virtual Museum (VM), the website www.sfmuseum.org , and the San Francisco Museum of the City of San Francisco are all referenced in the text. Though these are all different entities, they all were created and exist because of the time, dedication, research, commitment and caring of Gladys Hansen, with the great assistance of her son, Richard Hansen, who now manages the massive projects, which continue to evolve and grow on a daily basis.
•   Because of the electronic format for this book, we have included only a few photos, to give the reader a sense of the stark reality of San Francisco at the time. There are many, many more photos on the San Francisco Museum site.
For 50+ years Gladys Hansen has worked to create a List of the Dead—an accurate reporting of those who perished in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. This is the most comprehensive list in existence, and a valuable resource for interested readers, academics and those hoping to trace a potential personal connection to someone who was lost in the disaster.
The List is continuously being updated as more information is unearthed, and the List will be made available in the summer of 2013 for special viewing at www.sfmuseum.org . In addition, on the site, coming soon, and available in other media are maps, photos, and a vast amount of information! We hope you will visit the site for the most recent List, and to discover even more, and expanding, information concerning the events and people of The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, Fire and Epidemic.
INTRODUCTION
This book is devoted to personal stories of real people who experienced the great disaster of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. We hope to accomplish what the original History Committee promised, but was unable to do, which is to provide the personal narratives that tell the real story of the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906. These personal accounts of death, crime, violence and disease conflict with statements by politicians who, at the time, attempted to protect the image of San Francisco by minimizing this great tragedy.
The historical interest of one of us, Gladys Hansen (G.H.), was a result of requests submitted to her at the San Francisco Public Library for specific information regarding who died in the Disaster. Finding that no such information existed, she began collecting information about deaths from the Earthquake and Fire, as well as considerable collateral information and personal narratives from survivors. Her research raised questions about what happened with the work of the original History Committee and the data they collected.
An Earthquake History Committee was formed in 1906, under the leadership of Professor Henry Morse Stephens, to compile the history of this “Great Disaster,” and to document the damage to human life and resources. An important publication was to be forthcoming, but this never happened. Following Stephens’ death the body of the supposed work simply disappeared.
The San Francisco Examiner , in a special “Earthquake Edition” in 1908, described the development of this original committee and provided an interval report.
April 18, 1906, Wednesday . The morning of the earthquake, faced with a disaster of unpredictable magnitude, Mayor Eugene E. Schmitz hurriedly appointed a committee, known as the Citizens’ Committee of Fifty, and called those who could be reached for a meeting at the Hall of Justice, at Kearny and Washington Streets that afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Emergency relief measures were all the committee could address that afternoon, and they adjourned to meet again the following morning at the Fairmont Hotel. …As they continued to meet and to deal with many diverse problems, numerous subcommittees were formed.
One of the subcommittees initiated was the Earthquake History Committee which was led by Henry Morse Stephens, eminent historian and University of California professor. The Committee received financing from the Red Cross and the Relief Corporation. For two years the Committee worked diligently gathering material. In May 1906 Stephens discussed the charge to his committee:
…Since memory is treacherous the first resolution of the committee was to gather together as soon as possible, a record of the personal experiences of as many people as possible during the past ten days with a full realization of the fact that although the memories of individuals might lapse here and there into inaccuracy and might swell here and there into exaggerations, yet out of the collation of hundreds of personal experiences the truth might be reached, as it can be reached through the cross-examination of many witnesses in a trial at law.
The next step was to secure the personal statements of individuals and groups of individuals who had taken an active part in the proceedings of the critical period. Then came the securing of the documents, which recorded the various steps taken for the government and relief of the citizens of San Francisco. But this was not enough. Behind statements of fact and recollections recorded while memory was still comparatively fresh, was the vast mass of impressions of proceedings and doings day by day, which under our modern civilization finds expression in the daily press.
The committee therefore resolved to purchase files of about eight hundred leading newspapers of the United States, not only for the information printed in them by correspondents, but still more for a sense of the atmosphere of the time, which it is the pride of the modern newspaper reporter to reproduce with skill and accuracy. Stephens’ report continues:
…In all about thirty thousand narratives of personal experiences were collected, all of them written before the story had become entirely untrustworthy, and all but forgetful of actuality. Particularly