History Research

In 1943, Ansel Adams documented the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California and the Japanese Americans interned there. This site provides side-by-side digital scans of both Adams' 242 original negatives and his 209 photographic prints, collection highlights, Adams' book Born Free and Equal, a selected bibliography, and a chronology of Adams' life. From the American Memory Project of the Library of Congress.

Topics in this collection of twenty-six films include the 1906 earthquake, the Panama Pacific Exposition (1915), and a 1903 Chinese funeral. Searchable by keywords, and browsable by subject and film title. Also features brief information on early San Francisco history, an overview of America during the early nineteenth century, and selected bibliographies on San Francisco and early motion pictures. From the American Memory Project of the Library of Congress.

Historical photos from collections at South San Francisco Public Library, Redwood City Public Library and the San Mateo County Historical Society.

Part of the American Memory project, these 190 works presented on this site—approximately 40,000 written pages and more than 3,000 illustrations—provide eyewitness accounts covering California history from the Gold Rush through the end of the 19th century. Most authors represented are white, educated, male Americans, including reporters detailing Gold Rush incidents and visitors from the 1880s attracted to a highly-publicized romantic vision of California life.

Calisphere provides free access to unique and historically important artifacts for research, teaching, and curious exploration. Discover over 925,000 photographs, documents, letters, artwork, diaries, Collections on Calisphere have been digitized and contributed by all ten campuses of the University of California and other important libraries, archives, and museums throughout the state.oral histories, films, advertisements, musical recordings, and more.

Photographs of site and/or plaque, explanation of significance, and location of California historical landmarks. Searchable by county, type of site, and more. Currently includes 949 of 1070 sites around the state.

Gallery, library, exhibitions..

Located at 965 Clay Street, San Francisco, (Phone: 415-391-1188), the Society is one of the oldest and largest organizations dedicated to the study, documentation, and dissemination of Chinese American history.

About 8,000 images and pages of primary source materials that describe the experiences of Chinese immigrants in California. Materials include photographs, original art, cartoons and other illustrations; letters, excerpts from diaries, business records, and legal documents; as well as pamphlets, broadsides, speeches, sheet music, and other printed matter. Part of the Library of Congress American Memory Project.

Brief, illustrated history of the San Francisco landmark. Includes information on Adolph Sutro, the Camera Obscura, & the Musée Mécanique. From the Western Neighborhoods Project.

S.F. Chronicle 20 December 2003

A historical commentary from the perspective of the Diggers, a San Francisco "anarchist guerilla street theater group that challenged the emerging Counterculture of the Sixties...."

Articles from the Shaping San Francisco's "Found" website.

A history of a San Francisco neighborhood and some of the people who have lived or visited there. Includes a report of Allen Ginsberg's first public reading of his poem "Howl" and information about the district's role in the post-World War II jazz scene. There are also accounts of the changing ethnic makeup of the area and of the businesses that lined the street at various times.

To "help people more fully recognize and appreciate the accomplishments and contributions of California's varied communities," the California Office of Historic Preservation recruited experts to write narrative histories and identify one hundred recorded historic property sites for each of five ethnic minorities in California: California Indians, Black Americans, Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, and Mexican Americans. Especially useful are the lists of historic sites, some with photographs and links to more detailed reports.

Virtual tour of the Oakland Museum of California's Gold Rush exhibition, including sections on art, Natives and Immigrants, a quiz, links to "tales from the mines," and curriculum materials for educators. The exhibit includes photographs, artifacts, primary documents, audio files (some in Chinese), maps, and much more.

Links to California history web resources from H-California, an academic discussion list dealing with California history sponsored by H-Net and the California Studies Association.

Includes a bibliography, glossary, and annotated links to several sites about one of San Francisco's more famous neighborhoods.

By Ken & Bunny Gillespie, Daly City Historians.

The Anne T. Kent California History Room includes oral history transcripts of prominent Marin County residents; digitized photo albums of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Quentin State Prison, the Mt. Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railroad, and other subjects; and digitized copies of brochures, posters, and other Marin County, California, ephemera.

Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906, 1989 San Francisco Earthquake, 1991 Oakland-Berkeley Hills Fire, Chronology of S.F. Rock 1965-69, WWII history, Flags of SF, and more. The Biographies section features biographical sketches and/or links to material on about ninety prominent Northern California figures; including John A. Sutter, Lotta Crabtree, Leland Stanford, Levi Strauss, and Joe Di Maggio.

Historical images from the S.F. Historical Photograph Collection geocoded by neighborhood or street.

Full-text online version of the book by David C. Frederick, published by University of California Press, c1994.

Insurance maps showing the city as it was just months before the great earthquake and fire of 1906.

Historical information on San Francisco cable cars.. Timelines, primary sources, full-text articles, over 75 photographs and annotated links to other sites are given.

This searchable database provides access to nearly 30,000 photographs covering S.F. history from the 1850s to the present (from S. F. Public Library). You can also browse images by subject.

Includes full texts of books on the city's history; contemporary news articles (largely from San Francisco newspapers); and reference works such as an annotated list of alcaldes and mayors, the first telephone directory, a 1910 street guide, and a history of the cemeteries. News articles cover such topics as "first families," tunnels, and city railroads.

In addition to information about the organization, this searchable site includes several online exhibits (for example, Barbary Coast and 1906 earthquake), an encyclopedia of San Francisco history, book reviews, and links to other history resources.

Books, archives, goods and wares from 1880s on display..

An interactive multimedia excavation of the lost history of San Francisco - history from many perspectives and categories, including labor, ecology, African Americans, Filipinos, women, transit, literary SF and gay and lesbian

Western San Francisco: the Richmond and Sunset districts, Lake Merced to Oceanside-Merced Heights-Ingleside (OMI), and west of Twin Peaks. There are sections for each neighborhood, history and some photos of theaters and other historical architecture (e.g., Cliff House and Wyatt Earp's house), and several stories of people and places.

Thousands of digital images and text files. A project by Bancroft Library (UC Berkeley) presenting resources from Stanford University Libraries, California State Library, The Society of California Pioneers, California Historical Society and Huntington Library.