Phoebe Apperson Hearst: California’s Grand Patron of Education

Hearst Grammar School, San Francisco, 1892
California Historical Society

“Think of it; nearly twelve years ago there was not a free kindergarten this side of the Rocky Mountains,” the September 6, 1890 San Francisco News Letter exuberantly reported. “To-day there are fifty-three in San Francisco, two-thirds of which are under the auspices of the Golden Gate Kindergarten Association. . . . Over seven thousand children have passed through the course!”

Many of us remember our first day of kindergarten, but how many know about the woman who helped establish American kindergartens or her legacy today in our state’s education?

In her day, Phoebe Apperson Hearst was one of the nation’s wealthiest women. The widow of Senator George Hearst and mother of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, Hearst directed much of the family fortune to the social uplift, care, and education of women and children.

As benefactress of educational institutions and individuals, Hearst founded the first free kindergartens in the Unites States, financed a school for the training of kindergarten teachers, established the Golden Gate Kindergarten Association and the National Congress of Mothers (a forerunner of the National Council of Parents and Teachers, known today as the PTA), and endowed scholarships for women students at the University of California at Berkeley, where—as the first woman Regent of the University of California from 1897 until her death in 1919—she played an incalculable role in the university’s development.

In this photo essay, we honor this dedicated, deeply thoughtful, caring, and forward-thinking woman who bettered society in the most fundamental of ways.

Celebrating Earth Day: April 22

Denis Hayes, Stanford University graduate and national coordinator for the first Earth Day, at Washington, DC headquarters, 
April 22, 1970
Courtesy of earthday2013funphotos.com

“April 22 seeks a future worth living.” 

—Earth Day organizers’ manifesto, New York Times, 1970

Forty-six years ago—April 22, 1970—more than 20 million people around the country gathered to demonstrate a growing awareness of environmental abuses. An outgrowth of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s, the nationwide event known as Earth Day sparked the passage of landmark environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act (1970), the Clean Water Act (1972), and the Endangered Species Act (1973), as well as the establishment of the United States Environmental Protections Agency (1970).

Today the California Historical Society observes Earth Day with a photograph from our collection that influenced the outcome of the first environmental legislation in California and the American West.

A Mirror of UsCHS Celebrates the National Park Service Centennial and National Park Week

“The Bakery,” Pinnacles National Monument, date unknown
California Historical Society

“National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” 

—Western historian and author Wallace Stegner, 1983

From Redwood National Park in the north to Joshua Tree in the south, California’s parks are as varied and diverse as the population of the Golden State itself. The oldest, Yosemite, was established in 1890; the youngest, Pinnacles, graduated from monument to park just three years ago, on January 10, 2013. Each California park has its own kind of beauty and all are a reflection of the society into which they were born.

In celebration of our national heritage, The National Park Service has declared April 16 to April 24 National Park Week. This year, the NPS—in conjunction with its centennial anniversary on August 25 and in partnership with the National Park Foundation—is offering free admission at every national park during National Park Week.

The California Historical Society joins the celebrations with the following images from the CHS and NPS collections of the geological and springtime delights at Pinnacles National Park.

This Day in San Francisco History: Earthquake!

Street cracked near the San Francisco waterfront, 1906
California Historical Society

At 5:15 on Wednesday morning, April 18, 1906, an earthquake of 7.8 magnitude jolted San Francisco, waking the city’s more than 400,000 residents. Buildings and homes toppled. Fires lasting several days destroyed what the earthquake did not. Thousands fled. Approximately 3,000 perished. The city lay in ruins.

Enveloped in dim light and smoke-induced darkness, survivors found crude shelters and joined bread lines. The sick and injured were brought to makeshift tent camps, where they were fed and received medical attention. About 250,000 people were left homeless, finding relief in numerous refugee camps, supply stations, police stations, hospitals, and post offices around the city.

This Day in Los Angeles History: April 10, 1962—First Game at Dodger Stadium

Racing for Seats on Opening Day at Dodger Stadium, April 10, 1962 
Photograph by John Malman/Los Angeles Times; framework.latimes.com 

It wasn’t the Dodgers’—or Los Angeles’s—first Major League Baseball game on the West Coast. But the match between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds on April 10, 1962, marked a new beginning for the transplanted New York team: the first game at their newly built Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine north of downtown Los Angeles.

52,564 spectators attended, kicking off a season that drew 2.7 million fans, the most in baseball history up to then. Still, despite the city’s excitement over the new stadium, that auspicious start was tainted by earlier events leading to an entire community’s dissolution.

#Onthisday in 1967, the words "Summer of Love" were first used in the San Francisco Chronicle

#‎Onthisday‬ 49 years ago, the words "Summer of Love" first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle carrying the term into the 'mainstream media' in San Francisco, California and the country. The article focused on a press conference held the previous day by a group of young people calling themselves the "Council for the Summer of Love" to help plan for the thousands of young people that were already arriving in San Francisco each day during Spring 1967.

Chet Helms and the Council for the Summer of Love/Photo by Gene Anthony

“Good Hippies’ Summer Plans" was the headline for the article on page 3 of the paper. You can read more about the Council (led by The Family Dog, The Straight Theatre, The Diggers, The San Francisco Oracle and about twenty-five individuals) at this PBS link.

In honor of this anniversary, the California Historical Society yesterday held a gathering (many with connections to the original Council) to discuss plans for next year's 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love. Stay tuned for much more on this historical celebration.

A Landscape Planned for Living: Lawrence Halprin’s Levin Family Garden

Lawrence Halprin, The Irving Levin Garden, San Anselmo, 1951
Courtesy of Fred Levin

Gardens were a wonderful testing ground for details and a great learning experience for how things are constructed. When gardens were successful they provided great personal joy and led me to some interesting discoveries and friendships. 
—Lawrence Halprin, A Life Spent Changing Places 

A 2016 magazine article titled “Taming the Tilt” describes a hilly backyard in San Francisco’s Castro District as “unusable” and a “tangled mess of greenery.” The homeowners, notes the author, “craved a California-style outdoor space for grilling, entertaining and gardening.” The solution? Create three levels, or “rooms,” separated by retaining walls and filled with mostly native, drought tolerant plants, in subtle hues of gray and gray-green, with “hits of purple.” 

There was a time, however, when this concept ran counter to the prevailing inclination to create landscapes that mimicked traditional gardens in less arid parts of the country. In 1951, Irma and Irving “Bud” Levin broke with that tradition.

As the San Francisco Chronicle reported in its article “A Garden Planned for Three-Level Living,” when the Levins purchased a San Anselmo, California, home with a slightly sloping half-acre lot—described as being “tangled, disorganized [and] run-down”—rather than fighting this “jungle,” they hired newly-minted landscape architect Lawrence Halprin to create a new kind of garden environment.

Hooray for Opening Day!

Obak Mouthpiece Cigarettes Base Ball Series, 1910
Dick Dobbins Collection on the Pacific Coast League, California Historical Society

Spring is here and soon the crack of the bat will echo throughout California’s four Major League Baseball parks—from San Diego to Los Angeles to San Francisco. To celebrate Opening Day we’ve delved into our archives locker room and “dug out” some of our truly favorite things.

CHS is home to the amazing Dick Dobbins Collection of memorabilia from the Pacific Coast League. The PCL - sometimes called the Third Major League - is not connected to the Majors, but has sent some mighty fine players there, including Joe Di Maggio, Ted Williams, and Tony Lazzeri. The collection is primarily made up of material from the Oakland Oaks, San Francisco Seals, and Los Angeles Angels.

So, in the words of one of our local favorites, San Francisco Giants broadcaster, Mike Krukow, “Grab some pine, Meat!” and let’s play ball!

Selections from the Obak Mouthpiece Cigarettes Base Ball Series, 1910

Elmer Criger, Los Angeles Angels
Position: Pitcher; Bats: Left; Throws: Left; .276 Lifetime ERA

Joseph Briggs, Sacramento Sacts
Position: Outfielder; Bats: Right; Throws: Right; .267 Lifetime Batting Average

Harry “Fighting Harry” Wolverton-Oakland Oaks
Positions: Third Baseman & Second Baseman; Bats: Left & Right; Throws: Right; .278 Lifetime Batting Average

Nick Williams, San Francisco Seals

Position: Outfielder; Bats: Right; Throws: Right; .241 Lifetime Batting Average

Walter “Rosy” Carlisle, Vernon Tigers
Position: Outfielder; Bats: Left & Right; Throws: Right; .260 Lifetime Batting Average

Alison Moore
Strategic Initiatives Liaison
amoore@calhist.org

Tim Evans
Graphic Designer
tevans@calhist.org