Marliese Gabrielson photographs

Photographer Marliese Gabrielson lived on Ashbury Street in San Francisco in the 1970s and she took to the streets with her camera to capture life as it was lived at that time.  She also took photographs of friends and family, and cultural figures and events.  Recently, Ms. Gabrielson generously donated a collection of her images from 1975-1979, and a small selection from 1999, to the California Historical Society.  The collection has been processed and cataloged and is currently available for viewing in our library.

Aside from being a street photographer, Ms. Gabrielson managed a shop on Haight Street that sold clothes that she and her friends designed (pictured below), produced and managed Big Brother and the Holding Company from 1989 to 1994, booked concerts at the I-Beam club, was the personal photographer to Margo St. James during her bid to become a member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, and was part of the management staff of the Human Be-In held in Golden Gate Park in 1967.

Displayed below are a few selections that take us back four decades, from Marliese Gabrielson Photographs, 1975-1979, 1999, PC 16.

Three men behind shop counter, 1976

Man on penny-farthing at University of California, Berkeley, ca. 1976

Hookers Ball attendees sitting on steps, ca. 1976

Woman and two large dogs on Haight Street, 1976

Teamster strike picketers, 1976

Radio broadcaster Jane Dornacker, ca. 1975

People waiting on BART station platform, 1976

Man cutting fruit at Unity Foundation event, 1976

Group of ladies on park bench in Union Square, 1976

Man with bottle of beer on park bench, ca. 1976

Activist Margo St. James and music promoter Chet Helms, 1999

Marliese Gabrielson (far right) and friends, ca. 1975
Photograph by Tom Houston

Wendy Welker

Archivist & Librarian