Return to home
1960
Feb, In San Francisco the Villa Taverna restaurant
opened at No. 27 Hotaling as a private social club to celebrate Italian
culture and cuisine. The street was originally called Jones Alley and
had been renamed in honor of Anson Hotaling, owner of a nearby
distillery, who convinced firefighters in 1906 not to explode nearby
structures.
(SSFC, 9/13/09, p.N1)
1960 Apr 13, The SF Giants made
their opening day debut in the new Candlestick stadium before 42,000
fans. The stadium was built by Charles Harney (d.1962), a friend of
Mayor Christopher, who also sold 41 acres to the city at $66,853 per
acre. He had purchased the land just a few years earlier at $2,100 per
acre. Harney received $7 million for building the stadium and was named
director of the corporation set up to build the stadium.
(SFEC,12/797, Z1 p.4)(SFC, 5/3/01, p.A8)
1960 Apr, In San Francisco the new
12-story Jack Tar Hotel opened on Van Ness Avenue. It featured a 2-acre
4th floor patio with a circular swimming pool and rectangular
year-round ice rink. In 1982 it was sold, remodeled and renamed as the
Cathedral Hotel. In 2009 it was slated for demolition to make way for a
new California Pacific Medical Center to open in 2015.
(SFC, 10/31/09, p.C1)
1960 May 13, Bill Mandel was
brought before a HUAC committee at SF City Hall concerning his
broadcasts at KPFA radio and KQED TV about press and periodicals of the
Soviet Union. His TV show was cancelled but he continued broadcasting
at KPFA. There was a protest over the hearing and 64 people were
arrested as police turned on fire hoses to quell the disturbance. The
event led Frank Cieciorka (1939-2008) to create his woodcut of a fist
that became an icon of the 1960s.
(SFEC, 7/26/98, p.D1,4)(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.1)(SSFC,
6/9/02, p.F3)(SFC, 11/29/08, p.B5)
1960 May 14, Some 2-5,000 people
marched against the HUAC proceedings at City Hall and the police
actions against protestors.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.1)(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F3)
1960 Jun, A SF judge dismissed all
charges against 63 of the people arrested May 13 at the HUAC protests.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F3)
1960 Sep 20, David Park (b.1911),
a SF Bay Area figurative painter, died at 49. His work included: "Man
in a T-Shirt" and "Untitled" (1958), "Torso" (1959). He made the
1st serious break with Abstract Expressionism in his 1950
painting "Kids of Bikes."
(SFEC, 12/1/96, DB p.21)(SFC, 8/23/97, p.A20)(SFEM,
9/21/97, p.31)(WSJ, 12/3/01, p.A17)
1960 Sargent Johnson (1888-1967),
African-American artist in SF, made his diorite "Rape."
(SFEC, 4/12/98, DB p.43)
1960 Marilyn Horne made her SF
Opera debut with "Wozzeck."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, DB p.44)
1960 Herb Caen, SF newspaper
columnist, wrote his 6th book "Only in San Francisco."
(SFEC, 2/2/97, p.A13)
1960 Turk Murphy and pianist Pete
Clute (d.2001 at 67) opened the Earthquake McGoon’s club on lower
Broadway. In 1962 they moved to the old William Tell Hotel on Clay St.
In 1978 McGoon’s move briefly to the Embarcadero.
(SFC, 5/30/01, p.A17)
1960 Cruz Luna opened Casa Madrid
and featured a flamenco show with Rosa Montoya, her partner Ciro and
guitarist Adonis Puertas, all gypsies from Spain.
(SFEC,10/26/97, DB p.41)
1960 The new Hall of Justice on
Bryant St. was constructed and included Jail No. 2.
(SFC, 6/4/99, p.A18)
1960 Gladys Cox Hansen founded
City Guides, a program to involve the citizens of SF with the history
of their city.
(SFC, 4/14/96, p.Z1, p.3)
1960 George Koltanowski, chess
column writer for the SF Chronicle, set a world record when he defeated
56 opponents consecutively while blindfolded.
(SFC, 2/7/00, p.A21)
1960 The Oakland Raiders began
play in the fledgling American Football League at Youell Field, Kezar
Stadium and the new Candlestick Park.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W39)
1960 SF voters approved a new
Asian Art Museum.
(SFC, 4/22/00, p.A19)
1960 Only 6 black officers were
part of the 1,700 member police force.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A23)
1960 The musicians union was
segregated until this year. The all-white Local 6 agreed to merge with
the black Local 669.
(SFEC, 2/8/98, DB p.34)
1960 A riot broke [in SF] during a
meeting of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Police used
fire hoses on students disrupting a HUAC hearing.
(SFEC, 9/29/96, DB p.44)(SFEC, 3/21/99, Z1 p.4)
1960 SF State College became one
of several under a state Master Plan for Higher Education.
(SFEC, 3/21/99, Z1 p.4)
1960 Julian Richardson (d.2000 at
84) opened his "Marcus Bookstore" on Fillmore Street.
(SFC, 8/22/00, p.A19)
1960s Herbert Huncke, beat poet,
lived a short while in SF with the poet Janine Pommy-Vega.
(SFC, 8/9/96, p.A19)
1961 Jan 10, Dashiell
Hammett (66), author, died in NYC from throat cancer. In 1983
Diane Johnson authored his biography. His books included “The Maltese
Falcon” and “The Thin Man,” both of which were turned into films. He
wrote “The Maltese Falcon” while living in San Francisco at 891 Post
St., which was also given as the address of detective Sam Spade.
(www.imdb.com/name/nm0358591/)(SFC, 6/7/04, p.C2)
1961 Apr 30, Willie Mays of the SF
Giants hit 4 home runs in a game with the Milwaukee Braves.
(SFC, 1/12/98, p.A18)
1961 Jun, Margot Patterson Doss
(d.2003) in her 1st SF Chronicle column invited the public to look
behind the gates of Fort Funston, slated to be sold to developers. The
fort was saved and became part of the GGNRA.
(SFC, 1/17/03, p.A20)
1961 Dec 27, Tony Bennett,
starring in the Venetian Room of the SF Fairmont Hotel, made his 1st
solo public performance of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
(SSFC, 2/4/07, p.F1)
1961 Joan Sutherland made her SF
Opera debut in "Lucia di Lammermoor."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, DB p.44)
1961 In SF the two curved,
17-story Fontana Towers were built over Aquatic Park by Robert D.
Fraser (d.2000 at 80). The construction blocked view from Russian Hill.
City officials slapped a 40-foot height limit along the waterfront.
(SFC, 10/22/04, p.A20)(SSFC, 4/27/08, p.B3)
1961 The Standard Building Company
began a housing development called Forest Knolls on the western slope
of Mt. Sutro. The homes were not available for black buyers and the
issue prompted protests led by Willie Brown. City Hall under Mayor
George Christopher did not move to evict the protestors who included
Oscar Peterson and Diane Berman (later Feinstein).
(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.9-10)
1961 The SF Fairmont Hotel added a
29-story addition at the corner of Powell and Sacramento. Owners in
2005 planned to turn it into 60 condominiums.
(SFC, 7/21/05, p.E1)
1961 The Hall of Flowers was built
in Goldengate Park. It was renamed the County Fair Building in the
1980s.
(SFC, 7/29/97, p.A7)
1961 The SF Wallace Alexander
Gerbode Foundation was founded by Martha Alexander Gerbode, a
descendant of a New England missionary family.
(SFC, 4/30/98, p.A16)
1961 SF established a hotel tax
under Mayor Christopher to be used for cultural activities.
(SFC,12/9/97, p.E3)
1961 Frederick D. Smith (d.2001 at
84), former Tuskegee Airman, joined the city’s Office of Public
Defender as its 1st black member.
(SFC, 4/27/01, p.D8)
1961 The old SF Mint was declared
a National Historic Landmark.
(SSFC, 1/28/03, p.E6)
1961-1973 Raymond Nilsson (d.1998 at 82) of Australia
performed with the SF Opera as the leading tenor.
(SFC, 4/20/98, p.A17)
1962 Jan 21, Snow fell in SF and
accumulated to about 3 inches.
(SFEM, 12/22/96, p.20)
1962 Jan 27, The SF Bay Area
hosted the Chubby Checker Twist Party at the Cow Palace. 17,000 fans
made it the 1st big rock concert in Bay Area history.
(SFC, 1/26/02, p.D1)
1962 Mar 2, Willie Brown won the
endorsement of the SF Council of Democratic Clubs.
(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.17)
1962 Mar 23, Pres. John F. Kennedy
visited San Francisco and spoke at UC Berkeley on the 100th anniversary
of the Morrill Act. “For this university and so many other universities
across our country owe their birth to the most extraordinary piece of
legislation this country has ever adopted, and that is the Morrill Act,
signed by President Abraham Lincoln in the darkest and most uncertain
days of the Civil War, which set before the country the opportunity to
build the great land grant colleges of which this is so distinguished a
part. Six years later this university obtained its Charter.”
(http://tinyurl.com/6fbdog)
1962 Oct 3, The SF Giants beat the
LA Dodgers to win baseball's National League Pennant.
(SFC, 11/24/99, p.E9)
1962 Oct 12, Columbus Day storms
washed out the 1962 World Series game at Candlestick Park in SF.
(SFCM, 9/25/05, p.4)
1962 Seiji Ozawa made his debut as
guest conductor with the SF Symphony.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, DB p.44,45)
1962 The SF Symphony performed the
"Ode for Trumpet" by Walter Tolleson (d.1997 at 72).
(SFC,10/31/97, p.A24)
1962 Turk Murphy moved his jazz
band and Earthquake McGoon’s club to the old William Tell Hotel on Clay
St. In 1978 McGoon’s move briefly to the Embarcadero.
(SFC, 5/30/01, p.A17)
1962 The SF Ballet performed its
last season as the resident dance company of the SF Opera Company.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, DB p.45)
1962 The film "Birdman of
Alcatraz" was released. It had been shot in the Bay Area.
(SFEC, 8/11/96, DB, p.39)
1962 The Palace of Fine Arts,
designed by Bernard Maybeck, was rebuilt in concrete.
(SFEC, 3/8/98, p.W30)
1962 Jack Early (d.1997 at 82),
urban conservationist, began working on the "Jack E. Early Park" at the
crest of Pfeiffer St. off Grant on the rocky ridge of Telegraph Hill.
He spent the rest of his life working on the mini-park. He was a
descendent of Gen’l. Jubal Early of the Confederate Army and a
classmate of Herb Caen in Sacramento.
(SFC, 1/2/98, p.C25)
1962 Joseph Thomas McGucken
succeeded Archbishop Mitty as Archbishop of SF and served until 1977.
McGucken was the city's 5th Catholic archbishop.
(SSFC, 7/27/03, p.A22)
1962 Franklin Mieuli brought the
Warriors basketball team from Philadelphia to SF with superstar Wilt
Chamberlain.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W39)(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W29)
1962 The SF Warriors basketball
team, formerly based in Philadelphia, chose the Cow Palace in Daly
City, Ca., as its new arena.
(SFC, 2/28/08, p.A11)
1962 Willie Brown was chosen as
"Man of the year" by the local Sun-Reporter, leading newspaper of the
black community, published by Dr. Carlton Goodlet.
(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.12)
1962 Mayor George Christopher
talked Contra Costa Supv. Joseph Silva into agreeing to let Contra
Costa voters vote on BART. Legislation required that 3 counties
participate in the BART project and up to that time only San Francisco
and Alameda Counties had agreed.
(SFC, 1/7/97, p.A19)
1962 SF levied a 3% tax on all
hotel rooms to support cultural activities. By 1997 the tax stood at
14%. A portion of the revenue was allocated to the SF Convention and
Visitors Bureau. The Bureau merged this year with Californians Inc., an
advertising firm for SF and Northern and Central Ca.
(SFC,12/9/97, p.E3)(SFEC, 3/8/98, p.W43)
1962 Frank Morris, John Anglin and
Clarence Anglin escaped from Alcatraz and disappeared into the SF Bay.
Their fate was never resolved.
(SFC, 7/9/96, p.20)
1962 The government padlocked
Ann’s 400 Club in North Beach for nonpayment of taxes and owner Ann Dee
(1920-2005) was forced to sell.
(SSFC, 4/10/05, p.A17)
1962 The House of Bagels
introduced the bagel to San Francisco.
(SFC, 10/16/96, zz1 p.6)
1962 Transcontinental Properties
purchased the Mark Hopkins Hotel. John Philip Parsons (1925-1996)
became executive vice president and helped revive the hotel.
(SFC, 10/14/96, p.A23)
1962 Manuel G. Bonilla (d.2006 at
85), USGS geologist, discovered and mapped an ancient fault in San
Francisco that ran from Cow Palace northwest to the sand dunes of the
Richmond district. It was named the City College of SF Fault.
(SFC, 2/23/06, p.B7)
1962 The 1891 St. Mary’s Cathedral
on Van Ness was destroyed by fire.
(SFC, 8/20/98, p.B4)
1963 Mar 21, The Alcatraz federal
prison island in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates at
the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
(SFC, 6/29/96, p.E4)(SFC, 5/19/96,City Guide,
p.7)(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A12)(AP, 3/21/97)
1963 Jun 15, Juan Marichal (25),
pitcher for the SF Giants, dueled for 16 innings with Warren Spahn
(42), of the Milwaukee Braves in a 5-hour game at Candlestick. Willie
Mays hit the 428th pitch of the night over left field.
(SFC, 4/4/03, p.D3)
1963 Jul, Gov. Pat Brown appointed
Joseph Kennedy to the SF Municipal Court bench. He was the city’s 2nd
African American to be appointed judge.
(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.18)
1963 Sep 15, The Alou
brothers-Felipe, Matty, & Jesus-appeared in the San Francisco
outfield for 1 inning.
(MC, 9/15/01)
1963 Nov, The Campus CORE and
W.E.B. DuBois Club organized pickets at Select Realty, a rental firm
that only served whites, and 3 Mel’s Drive In restaurants.
(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.20)
1963 John Campbell Bruce
(1906-1996) wrote "Escape From Alcatraz." It was based on a true 1962
escape. The book was turned into a film in 1979.
(SFC, 7/9/96, p.20)
1963 Josef Krips succeeded Enrique
Jorda to lead the SF Symphony.
(SFEC, 8/10/97, p.B9)
1963 Thomas Fong (d.2000 at 87)
founded the Wax Museum. The Wax Museum opened at 145 Jefferson, an old
grain mill, on Fisherman’s Wharf with an exhibit by a Canadian crook
following the Seattle World’s Fair. Thomas Fong had his own figures
made and reopened in 1964. In 1999 Rodney Fong, grandson of the
founder, closed the museum as part of a $15 million remodeling program.
(SFEC, 7/12/98, DB p.31)(SSFC, 11/26/00, p.D9)
1963 The Chinese Historical
Society of America opened in SF. It was the first of its kind in the
country.
(SFEC, 9/20/98, Z1 p.6)
1963 Phillip Burton engineered the
election of Congressman John F. Shelley as mayor of SF. This opened the
seat for Burton. Shelley had been opposed by Harold Dobbs, owner of
Mel’s Drive In restaurants.
(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.20)
1963 George Moscone made his first
run for the SF Board of Supervisors. He served on the board from
1963-1966.
(SFC, 9/13/96, p.E2)(SFC, 11/26/98, p.A19)
1963 The Cannery was converted to
a shopping mall by Manchurian immigrant Leonid Matveyeff (Leonard
Martin). Inigo Jones in 1608 built an oak-paneled hall for Queen
Elizabeth’s ambassador to France. The room was later bought intact by
William Randolph Hearst and shipped to New York. It was later purchased
by the developer of the SF Cannery and shipped to SF. It was set up as
the interior of Jack’s.
(SFEC, 7/12/98, DB p.30,32)
1963 The Proctor & Gamble
Company purchased the SF based Folger Coffee. In 1994 P&G closed
the Folgers plant in South San Francisco, the brands last presence in
the Bay Area.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.D2)(SFC, 6/5/08, p.C2)
1963 Jim Small, a member of the SF
Dolphin Club, was run over by a boat while on a 5-mile swim from
Sausalito to Aquatic Park. His left leg was severed by the boat's
propellers and he died 3 days later.
(SFCM, 1/25/04, p.12)
1963-1969 Rev. Charles W. Dullea S.J. (d.2004) served
as the 22nd president of USF.
(SSFC, 6/13/04, p.B7)
1964 Mar, Student activist,
Terence Hallinan, was arrested in a 2-day protest against racial
discrimination in hiring at the Sheraton Palace Hotel.
(SFEC, 10/20/96, BR, p.6)
1964 Mar, Two days after the
Palace Hotel protests, demonstrators gathered to protest the hiring
practices of the Cadillac salesroom on Van Ness.
(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.27)
1964 Apr, Demonstrators waged
sit-ins at 3 other automobile showrooms and 226 were arrested. The SF
sit-ins spread to 50 major cities across the US. A pact was reached
between the NAACP and the Motor Car Dealer’s Association to accelerate
the hiring of Negroes.
(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.29)
1964 Jul 15, The Republican
National Convention was held in SF. It elected Barry Goldwater as its
presidential candidate. John Chancellor was ejected from the convention
for blocking an aisle during a demonstration by the delegates. Here
Goldwater proclaimed "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice."
(SFC, 7/13/96, p.A5)(WSJ, 8/5/96, p.A10) (AP,
7/15/97)
1964 Oct, The 547-foot USS Horne,
built at the Hunter’s Point naval shipyard in SF, was launched. It was
named after Adm. Frederick J. Horne (d.1959), who played a major role
in directing the Navy’s efforts in WW II. It was decommissioned in
1994. In 2008 it was scheduled to be sunk in the Pacific following
target practice.
(SFC, 6/26/08, p.B1)
1964 The Portsmouth Square Parking
Garage opened. It was run by a nonprofit organization organized by
Chinatown merchants and Harding Leong (d.1999 at 78). Leong was also an
instrumental leader in the On Lok Senior Health service.
(SFEC, 4/18/99, p.D8)
1964 The new Grace Episcopal
Cathedral was dedicated with its new Ghiberti doors, cast from molds of
the original doors in Florence. It was completed under the leadership
of Bishop James Pike, who died a mysterious death in Judea.
(SFEM, 8/9/98, p.24)(SFC, 7/15/99, p.A19)
1964 Work began on St. Mary’s
Cathedral at Gough and Geary.
(SFEM, 8/9/98, p.25)
1964 In SF members of the Bay View
Boat Club, founded in 1940 at Hunters Point, moved their building from
Innes Ave. by barge to the Mission Rock area, where land was leased
from the city.
(SFC, 10/7/05, p.B5)
1964 The SF Council on Religion
and the Homosexual was founded by some gays and straight clergy.
(SFCM, 6/10/01, p.2)
1964 John Bryan (1934-2007) quit
the SF Chronicle and founded the Open City Press, San Francisco’s 1st
alternative paper.
(SSFC, 2/11/07, p.B7)
1964 In SF Carol Doda donned a
Rudi Gernreich topless bathing suit at the Condor Club. She soon had
her size-34 breast injected with silicon, and her bust came to be known
as Doda's "twin-44s" and "the new Twin Peaks of SF." Her fame prompted
the club to erect a neon sign with blinking nipples that lasted to
1991.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W38)(SFEC, 8/1/99, DB p.32)(SFEC,
8/1/99, DB p.32)
1964 Dr. Jerome M. Vaeth (d.1998
at 73) was named the founding director of the Claire Zellerbach Saroni
Tumor Institute at Mt. Zion Hospital. For some 25 years he edited the
textbook: "Frontiers of Radiation Therapy and Oncology," based on a SF
Cancer Symposium that he originated.
(SFC, 10/21/98, p.C3)
1964 The San Francisco Cross City
Race was renamed the Bay to Breakers race.
(SFC, 5/15/09, p.B1)
1964 Gov. Pat Brown appointed his
brother Harold C. Brown (d.1998 at 90) to the Municipal court Bench of
SF. Justice Brown and Pat Brown formed the SF Chapter of the Order of
Cincinnatus, which had as its credo that elected officials should
promise no favors and that supporters would seek no favors.
(SFC, 5/25/98, p.E3)
1964 George Moscone and Leo
McCarthy were elected to the Board of Supervisors.
(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.25)
1964 Terry Francois was appointed
by Mayor Jack Shelley as the first black supervisor in San Francisco.
Francois was current Mayor Willie Brown’s former senior law partner. He
served to 1978.
(SFC, 5/17/96, p.A-25)(SFC, 10/23/00, p.A24)
1964 The SF Redevelopment Agency
announced a plan to turn the blocks south of Market St. along Third and
Fourth streets into what it calls Yerba Buena Center.
(SFC, 10/21/04, p.A15)
1964 Willie Brown began his
political career when he won his bid for the 18th Assembly District
(centered in the Fillmore district). His 1962 attempt was unsuccessful.
His campaign workers included George Moscone and Diane Feinstein.
(SFEC, 10/20/96, BR, p.6)(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.12)
1964 Rotea Gilford (d.1998 at 70)
became the first black inspector in the SF Police Dept.
(SFC, 3/17/98, p.A20)
1964 Jean Jacobs established
Citizens for Juvenile Justice, an organization that transferred
children from the juvenile justice system to social service agencies.
She had recently found a 3-year-old in an isolation cell at juvenile
hall.
(SFC, 10/19/99, p.A23)
1964 The cable cars became a
National Historic Landmark. The first cable car bell ringing
competition was held.
(SFC, 5/19/96,City Guide, p.17)(SFC, 7/19/96, p.A14)
1964 SF signed a contract with
Viacom for cable TV service that was extended in 1980. In 1996 TCI
purchased Viacom which had cable rights through 2005.
(SFC, 2/4/97, p.A16)
1964 A group of 5 Lakota (Sioux)
Native Americans occupied Alcatraz Island in a peaceful protest. They
declared that it should be a Native American cultural center and
university.
(SFC, 5/19/96,City Guide, p.7)(G, Summer ‘97, p.4)
1964 SF reported 61 killings for
the year.
(SFC,12/9/97, p.A18)
1964-1968 Jack Shelley (d.1974) served as mayor of SF.
(SFC, 9/1/00, p.D6)
1964-1975 This period was documented by Peter Coyote
(b. Peter Cohon) in his 1998 book "Sleeping Where I Fall."
(SFEC, 4/12/98, BR p.3)
1964-1977 Rev. Edward McFadden (d.2002 at 78) served
as the principal of St. Ignatius. He went on to teach English at
Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose.
(SFC, 5/8/02, p.A21)
1964-1996 Pharmacist Mike Callagy ran the Arrow
Pharmacy in Bernal Heights for 32 years before selling to a supermarket
pharmacy.
(SFC, 6/29/96, p.A17)
1965 Jan 1, In SF gay celebrants
held a Mardi-Gras themed costume ball at California Hall on Polk Street
as a benefit for the Council on Religion and the Homosexual. Police set
up flood lights at the entrance and harassed some 500 couples that
entered. Mayor Shelley soon called for a full accounting of the episode
from Police Chief Thomas Cahill.
(SSFC, 6/24/07, p.E1)
1965 Aug 13, In SF the Jefferson
Airplane made its first public performance opening at the new Matrix
club on Fillmore. The band held an ownership interest in the club.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.4)(SFC, 11/17/08, p.E4)
1965 Sep 5, The SF Examiner
declared "Haight-Ashbury - New Bohemia."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1965 Sep 16, The "original first"
Sacred Concert was performed by Duke Ellington, his band, singers
Esther Merrill and Jon Hendricks, dancer Bunny Briggs, the Herman McCoy
Choir, drummer Louis Belson and many others at the SF Grace Cathedral.
(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.16)
1965 Sep, The SF Chronicle and the
SF Examiner began a joint operating agreement for printing and
distribution.
(SFC, 8/7/99, p.A1)(SSFC, 6/7/09, p.W3)
1965 Oct 16, The world’s first
acid rock dance was held at Longshoreman’s Hall. Top band on the bill
was the Charlatan’s with Dan Hicks, a house band from the Red Dog
Saloon in Virginia City. The Jefferson Airplane also made its first
concert appearance. Alton Kelley (1940-2008) and 3 other people, under
the name Family Dog, staged the dance concert.
(www.chickenonaunicycle.com/FD%20Shows%20Full%20List.htm)(SFC, 6/3/08,
p.B5)
1965 Dec 5, Beat poets Michael
McClure and Allen Ginsberg gathered with Bob Dylan at the City Lights
bookstore in SF.
(SFC, 4/4/06, p.E1)
1965 Dec 10, The Warlocks band,
renamed as the Grateful Dead, made their debut under the new name at
the Fillmore Auditorium. The band began life as a Palo Alto area jug
band and moved to the Haight Ashbury in 1966.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.4)(SFEC, 8/29/99, BR p.6)
1965 Jay DeFeo’s painting "The
Rose" weighed a ton and was moved out of a house and later to the SF
Art Institute where it languished for 26 years.
(SFEC, 10/13/96, DB p.8)
1965 Michael McClure’s 2-person
play “The Beard” was produced in SF. Actor Richard Bright (d.2006) was
arrested on an obscenity charge for language used in the production.
The charges were later dismissed and set a precedent for artistic
expression rights.
(SFC, 2/21/06, p.B4)
1965 The SF-based Beau Brummels
and lead singer Sal Valentino made a hit with “Laugh Laugh.”
(SFC, 2/22/06, p.E1)
1965 Singer Laura Nyro (1947-1997)
made her first extended club appearance at the Hungry i coffeehouse in
SF.
(SFC, 4/10/97, p.A23)
1965 The Brundage Wing was added
to the de Young Museum and became the Asian Art Museum. In 1960 Chicago
Industrialist Avery Brundage gave 137 pieces of Asian art to the de
Young Museum.
(SSFC, 12/24/00, DB p.8)(SFC, 10/21/04, p.A15)
1965 In SF 1 32-story condo tower
at 999 Green St. was completed. It was designed by Tibor Fecskes for
Joseph Eichler.
(www.eichlernetwork.com/ENCookin.html)
1965 In San Francisco the 16-story
building at 450 Sansome St. was built with a design by architect
Richard Hadley.
(SSFC, 4/26/09, p.B3)
1965 Chevron built its
headquarters building at 555 Market St. A 2nd headquarters building was
later erected at 575 Market.
(SFC, 9/6/01, p.A11)
1965 The Russian Orthodox Holy
Virgin Cathedral at 26th and Geary was built.
(SFC, 1/25/02, p.G6)
1965 A small coffeehouse ministry,
called Intersection for the Arts, opened in a former bar at 150 Ellis
St. It had grown from 3 earlier experimental ministries.
(SFC, 6/13/05, p.D1)
1965 Bill Graham (born as Wolfgang
Grajonca), manager of the SF Mime Troupe, threw a legal defense fund
raiser at the troupe’s Howard St. loft with the Jefferson Airplane,
John Handy, the Fugs, Sandy Bull and others.
(SFC,12/13/97, p.A15)(SFEC, 3/8/98, p.W30)
1965 Jose Sarria became the 1st
openly gay person to run for public office in the US. He received 5,600
votes in his run for SF supervisor.
(SFC, 2/21/05, p.B5)
1965 Jose Sarria founded The San
Francisco Imperial Court, the oldest SF gay organization. He proclaimed
himself Empress Jose I, widow of Emperor Joshua Norton (d.1880).
(SFEM,10/19/97, DB p.32)
1965 Dennis P. Jordan (1909-1996),
real estate developer, organized the SF Bay Sailing Association.
(SFC, 7/16/96, p.A14)
1965 SF Giants pitcher Juan
Marichal was named MVP in the baseball All Star Game and went on to a
22-13 season.
(SFC, 11/27/99, p.C3)
1965 Attorney Morris Lowenthal
filed a lawsuit that was instrumental in unearthing a
multimillion-dollar scandal in the SF tax assessor's office.
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.A22)
1965 Harold Bachman (1921-2005)
designed the logo for San Francisco’s Doggie Diner. His dachshund head
design was turned into a rotating giant head for the chain of diners
founded by Al Ross.
(SFC, 10/6/05, p.B7)
1965 The SF News Call-Bulletin was
folded into the Examiner.
(SFC, 3/8/96, p.A21)
1965 Father Harry Carlin (d.2006),
Jesuit priest, led a $2 million purchase of 11 acres in San Francisco’s
Sunset District for a new campus for St. Ignatius College Preparatory.
He had graduated from St. Ignatius in 1935.
(SFC, 3/7/06, p.B5)
1965 Fritz Maytag saved the Anchor
Brewing Co. in San Francisco when he returned it to traditional brewing
methods. Maytag bought into the Anchor Brewing Co.
(SFC, 8/7/96, p.B1)(SFC, 3/3/99, Z1 p.9)
1965 Bethlehem Steel built the
Bradley, a carrier escort ship. This was its last ship that Bethlehem
built at SF Pier 70 facility. During the 1960s 57 sections of
underwater steel tubes for BART were created at the shipyards.
(SSFC, 9/14/08, p.A11)
1965 Jack Spicer (40), poet, died
of alcohol poisoning. The "Collected Book of Jack Spicer" was published
nearly 10 years after his death. In 1998 Lewis Ellingham and Kevin
Killian published "Poet Be Like God: Jack Spicer and the San Francisco
Renaissance. "The House That Jack Built : the Collected Lectures of
Jack Spicer was also published in 1998 with an afterword by Peter
Gizzi.
(SFEC, 1/3/99, BR p.3)
1965-1970 This period is covered in the 1997 book
"Beneath the Diamond Sky: Haight Ashbury 1965-1970" by Barney Hoskyns.
(SFEC,12/21/97, p.B9)
1965-1972 Albert Johnson (d.1998 at 73) served as
program director for the SF Int’l. Film Festival. He was a senior
lecturer at UC Berkeley and served as director again in 1980 and 1981.
He co-founded the first serious film journal in America, the Film
Quarterly.
(SFC, 10/22/98, p.C7)
1966 Jan 20, The Merry Prankster
organized the Trips Festival at the SF Longshoremen’s Hall. It became 3
days of drug-infused music and partying.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W28)
1966 Feb 14, The Bank of America
acquired the block to build its headquarters.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p.B1)
1966 Mar 12, A "Love Fest" in
Golden Gate Park was broken up by the Fire Dept. after nearby residents
mistook candles for an uncontrolled blaze.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1966 Apr, The Grateful Dead
returned to Northern California from Los Angeles. They established a
ranch in Novato and moved into a Victorian at 710 Haight St.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W28)
1966 May, The first SF Cinco de
Mayo parade was held.
(SFEC, 9/20/98, Z1 p.6)
1966 Jun 7, Ronald Reagan defeated
SF Mayor George Christopher in the GOP primary.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)
1966 Aug 11, Wilkes Bashford (33),
men’s clothing retailer, opened his own shop in SF. In 2009 he filed
for bankruptcy and sold his operations to Mitchells/Richards/Marshs, an
East Coast company.
(SSFC, 8/6/06, p.D1)(SFC, 11/11/09, p.A12)
1966 Aug 29, The Beatles concluded
their fourth American tour with their last public concert, at
Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
(AP, 8/29/97)
1966 Sep 20, Allen Cohen
(1940-2004), published the 1st edition of the SF Oracle underground
newspaper. The San Francisco Oracle featured visionary art by such
renown artists as: Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso, David Singer, Stanley
Mouse, alongside writing firmly steeped in the past with such Beat era
writers as: Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Cohen was arrested earlier in 1966 for selling a collection of erotic
poetry called "The Love Book" by Lenore Kandel. Cohen was convicted and
fined $50. The SF Oracle folded in 1968 following the publication of
issue #12.
(SFC, 5/1/04, p.B7)(www.sfheart.com/cohen_bio.html)
1966 Sep 23, The first Winterland
concert featured the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Jefferson Airplane,
and Muddy Waters.
(SFEC, 3/8/98, p.W30)
1966 Sep, In SF the Jefferson
Airplane played the band’s last show at the Matrix, the first night
that Grace Slick sang with the band.
(SFC, 11/17/08, p.E4)
1966 Oct 6, There was a Love
Pageant at Golden Gate Park as the Legislature outlawed the sale and
possession of LSD.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.4)
1966 Dec 31, Thousands of hippies
celebrated New Year’s Eve at Golden Gate Park. Newspapers reported that
they were joined by the Hells Angels and "a limited fringe group of
squares."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1966 Chet Helms and Bill Graham
put on three rock shows at the Fillmore Auditorium as partners. Bill
Graham then began renting the hall and putting on shows by himself.
(SFC, 10/9/97, p.A17)
1966 Avery Brundage donated his
extensive collection of Asian art to San Francisco. A west wing was
added to the de Young Museum which became the Asian Art Museum. [see
Blanchard, 1959]
(SFEC, 10/6/96, DB p.37)(SFC, 10/3/97, p.A22)
c1966 The Galerie de Blanche was
begun about this time by Blanche in China Basin on a pier over the
Mission Channel at 1000 4th St. She later lost her lease but Blanche’s
Garden was maintained.
(flyer 10/12/96, see SFC, 11/6/91,Caen)
1966 Teresa Stratas made her SF
Opera debut in "Madame Butterfly."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, DB p.45)
1966 The Presbyterian Church in SF
paid the Industrial Areas Foundation of Saul Alinsky $200,000 to help
organize poor people in the Bay Area.
(SFC, 9/16/98, p.A5)
1966 Anton LaVey (d.1997) founded
the Church of Satan. His home at 6114 California St. served as the
headquarters.
(SFC, 5/8/97, p.A22)(SFC,11/8/97, p.A22)(SFC,
1/25/99, p.A1)
1966 In San Francisco Iranian-born
topless star Yvonne D’Angers (21) chained herself to the Golden Gate
Bridge to protest her threatened deportation. In 2009 Yvonne Boreta
(64), accomplished painter and model died in Las Vegas. In 1965
D’Angers, her stage name, was a star witness in a trial over the
legality of topless waitresses.
(SSFC, 6/14/09, p.B3)
1966 Pres. Johnson named Lim Poon
Lee as postmaster of San Francisco. To date this was the highest
federally appointed position ever held by a Chinese American.
(SFC, 11/5/09, p.C3)
1966 The Wah Ching, an organized
crime group, began as a Chinese street gang in San Francisco. It went
on to develop into a criminal organization, with alleged
multi-international crime connections. In the late 80s the Wah Ching,
with ties to Hong Kong triads, invested illegal income into legitimate
businesses such as video importing and film-leasing. Members of the
gang gained control over videocassette libraries and extorted merchants
to lease their tapes.
(SFC, 2/18/98,
p.A7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wah_Ching)
1966 Ronald Reuther (d.2007) took
over as director of the SF Zoo. He left in 1973 to direct the
Philadelphia Zoo. His uncle Carey Baldwin had directed the SF Zoo for
23 years. He and his children helped nurse a sickly baby gorilla, named
Koko (b.1971), back to health. Months later he gave Stanford graduate
student Penny Patterson permission to work with Koko.
(SFC, 10/25/07,
p.B7)(www.koko.org/world/signlanguage.html)
1966 The Career Resource
Development Center was established by volunteers in Chinatown as a
job-placement and training service.
(SFC, 11/2/96, p.A21)
1966 Paddy Nolan (d.1996)
purchased the bar concession at the Dovre Hall on 18th St. The Dovre
Hall had been a community gathering place for Norwegian immigrants. The
Dovre Club faced closure in 1997 when the Women’s Center decided not to
renew its lease.
(SFC, 1/28/97, p.A11)
1966 The Sutro Baths were sold to
land developers who began demolition and planned to build high-rise
apartments. A fire broke out and completed the destruction. The ruins
became part of the Park Service in 1980.
(SFC, 5/19/96,City Guide, p.7)(SFC, 4/14/99, Z1 p.4)
1966 The SF Chronicle assumed
sponsorship of the Bay to Breakers race.
(Ind, 5/11/02, 12A)
1966 James L. Walker III (d.1997
at 76) challenged George Moscone for the state Senate. He was a
founding member of the SF Guardsmen, a charitable organization that
raised money for poor youths to attend summer camp. Moscone was elected
and he pushed through legislation on bilingual education, sex between
consenting adults, marijuana decriminalization, and hot meals for needy
children.
(SFC, 5/24/97, p.A20)(SFC, 11/26/98, p.A19)
1966 State assemblyman Milton
Marks was appointed as a SF Municipal Court Judge.
(SFC, 12/5/98, p.A22)
1966 Charles J. Wong was appointed
chief council at the Chinatown office of the SF Neighborhood Legal
Assistance Foundation. He led the team that established the right of
non-English speaking children to a bilingual education in the Supreme
Court case of Lau vs. Nichols.
(SFC, 9/25/96, p.A20)
1966-1971 The book: "The Art of the Fillmore: The
Poster Series 1966-1971" by Gayle Lemke is a collection of the posters
commissioned by Bill Graham Presents for shows at the Fillmore East and
West.
(SFEC, 2/8/98, BR p.7)
1966-1977 Dorothy van Beroldingen (d.1999 at 84)
served on the Board of Supervisors. She created the SF Commission on
the Status of Women and was appointed by Gov. Brown to the SF Court in
1977.
(SFC, 12/21/99, p.A27)
1966-1989 Dr. John F. Murray worked as chief of the
Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit at SF General Hospital. In 2000 he
authored "Intensive Care: a Doctor’s Journal" that recorded 4 weeks of
his daily rounds.
(SFEC, 7/30/00, BR p.5)
1966-1990 Milton Salkind (d.1998 at 82) served as the
president of the SF Conservatory of Music.
(SFC, 12/10/98, p.C16)
1967 Jan 14, The great Human Be-In
was held in Golden Gate Park and drew national attention to the
Haight-Ashbury scene. Allen Cohen, editor of a paper called the Oracle,
came up with the idea. It was here that Timothy Leary proclaimed "Turn
on, Tune in, Drop out." At the Gathering of the Tribes Allen Ginsberg
is credited with coining the term "Flower Power."
(SFC, 5/19/96,City Guide, p.5)(SFEC, 4/6/97,
p.A11)(SSFC, 1/14/07, p.A10)
1967 Feb 22, Hippies pleaded with
the SF supervisors to change the name of Haight St. to Love Street.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Mar 9, Police arrested David
Jerome, manager of the Blushing Peony, a hippie boutique, for selling
"obscene" posters depicting couples in erotic embraces.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Mar 21, The Diggers, radical
actors who provided free food, clothing and housing, told the city’s
Episcopal clergy that up to 100,000 young, indigent, and hungry youth
might descend on the Haight over the summer. The primary organizers
were Peter Coyote, Peter Berg, and Emmett Grogan.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)(SFEC, 4/12/98, BR p.3)
1967 Mar 23, The newspapers
announced that Mayor Jack Shelley "Warns Hippies to stay out of town."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Mar, The Los Angeles-based
Doors made their 2nd trip to SF and performed for a mid-week engagement
at the Matrix ahead of a weekend performance at the Avalon. Peter
Abrams, co-owner of the Matrix, recorded the show with a recently
installed tape recorder.
(SFC, 11/17/08, p.E1)
1967 Apr 2, Some 2,000 revelers
barricaded 3 blocks in the Haight where they sang, danced and blew
bubbles. Police responded with 150 officers and 31 hippies were
arrested.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Apr 3, Gray Line Tours
announced a daily "Hippie Hop" tour through the "Sodom" of
Haight-Ashbury.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Apr 5, A press conference
announced a "Council for the Summer of Love." It was the first time
that phrase was used publicly.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Apr 14, In San Francisco
thousands marched from the Ferry building to Kezar Stadium against the
Vietnam war. The marchers filled the 40,000 capacity stadium.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.4)
1967 Apr 23, Police stopped an
impromptu street dance at Haight and Ashbury. Dancers showered the
police with fruits and vegetables and deflated 3 tires on a police van.
50 people were arrested.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Apr 28, The supervisor’s
committee held hearings on the impending hippie influx and endorsed the
mayor’s request to declare hippies unwelcome.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Jun 7, Three Moby Grape
members were arrested on Mt. Tamalpais, following a concert at the
Avalon Ballroom in SF, for having sex with underage girls.
(www.rockument.com/scenes_sf1.html)
1967 Jun 7, The Haight Ashbury
Free Medical Clinic opened in San Francisco. Dr. David E. Smith (28)
founded the SF Free Clinic. The first clinic opened at 509 Clayton St.
with $500 in seed money from Rev. Leon Harris, pastor of All Saints
Episcopal Church. The facility spawned a nationwide movement. Smith
resigned in 2006.
(SFC, 6/7/97, p.A16)(SFC, 3/6/06, p.B5)(AP, 6/7/07)
1967 Jun 8, The City’s Juvenile
Justice Commission reported that 200 youngsters were arriving per week
and called for "halfway houses" to be set up.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Jun 18, Glide Memorial
Methodist Church held a service for hippies to protest "San Francisco
officialdom’s rejection of hippie visitors."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Jun 21, Hippies held a
sunrise solstice celebration on Twin Peaks and the Summer of Love
officially began. Joel Selvin, a SF Chronicle critic, later wrote the
book: "Summer of Love."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.4)
1967 Jun 22, Police estimated
hippie arrivals into the city at 300 per day.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Jul 20, The City put up
$200,000 to create a free medical clinic. Dr. Frederick Meyers (d.1998
at 80) helped found the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)(SFC, 11/17/98, p.B2)
1967 July 24, The CHP shut down
the Nova Express, a psychedelic painted free bus from Berkeley to
Haight-Ashbury.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Jul 25, The Diggers began
work on a free hotel on Sixth St.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Jul 25, Construction began on
SF MUNI Metro (Market Street subway).
(SC, 7/25/02)
1967 Aug 4, John K. Carter, a
25-year-old LSD dealer was found dead in his apartment with 12 stab
wounds and his right arm amputated.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Aug 6, Eric Frank Dahlstrom,
23, was arrested near Sebastopol driving Carter’s car which contained
the victim’s arm. Dahlstrom told police he killed carter while on a bad
LSD trip. Edward Thomas, 26, known as "Superspade," was found dead in a
sleeping bag in rural Marin.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Aug 7, Beatle George Harrison
visited the Haight with his wife, Patti, and played a borrowed guitar
to an adoring crowd.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Aug 20, A Summer of Love
Festival of Lights on Mount Tam was broken up by sheriff’s deputies and
park rangers.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Aug, Milton Marks,
Republican, beat Assemblyman John Burton in a special election to
finish the term of state Senator J. Eugene McAteer.
(SFC, 12/5/98, p.A15)
1967 Oct 7, A 3-day "Death of the
Hippie" celebration began in Haight Ashbury with a mock funeral
procession and sacrificial fire.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A10)
1967 Oct 10, Sargent Johnson
(b.1888), Boston-born and SF-based African-American painter and
sculptor, died.
(SFC, 5/4/09,
p.E3)(http://www.aaregistry.com/detail.php?id=1195)
1967 Nov 9, Rolling Stone
Magazine, co-founded by Jann Wenner in SF, published its debut issue
with a press run of 40,000 copies. Ralph J. Gleason, SF jazz critic,
helped Wenner fund the 1st issue. In 1998 "Rolling Stone: The Complete
Covers 1967-1997" was edited by Holly George-Warren. In 1977 the
company moved its headquarters to NYC.
(SFC,10/28/97, p.E1)(SFEC, 6/21/98, BR p.12)(SFC,
12/23/04, p.E16)(SFC, 4/18/09, p.C1)
1967 Nov 13, In SF 3 attackers
opened fire on Officer Herman George at the Hunters Point Project
Station. George later died from his wounds and the case remained
unsolved.
(SFC, 1/27/07, p.A8)
1967 Nov, At SF State a dozen
members of the Black Student Union stormed the offices of The Gator,
the campus newspaper. They left the 21-year-old editor badly beaten.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W3)
1967 A statue of Juan Bautista de
Anza was given to SF from the governor of the Mexican state of Sonora.
(SFC, 7/18/01, p.A21)
1967 Drawings by artist Bruce
Conner with text by poet Michael McClure were published.
(SFC, 5/16/96, p.A-12)
1967 "The Love Book" by beat poet
Lenore Kandel was the last volume of poetry dragged into court in SF
for obscenity charges.
(SFC, 8/15/97, p.A21)
1967 "Aging And Mental Disorder"
by Marjorie Fiske Lowenthal was the first book published by Jossey-Bass
Inc., which was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Allen Jossey Bass
(1928-1996).
(SFC, 7/13/96, p. A19)
1967 Grace Slick and the Jefferson
Airplane burst out of SF with their songs "Somebody To Love" and "White
Rabbit." In 1998 Slick and Andrea Cagan wrote "Somebody To Love? A
Rock-and-Roll Memoir." A 1980 biography of Slick was written by Barbara
Rowe of the NY Times.
(SFEC, 9/6/98, BR p.3)
1967 Janice Joplin moved to SF to
a Victorian house at 122 Lyon near Oak after tiring of commune life in
Marin with her band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. She was
evicted in 1968 over a dispute about her dog. In 1999 the house next
door at 124 Lyon was converted to the Oak Street House rehab center for
mothers and their babies.
(SFC, 5/20/99, p.A17,21)(SFC, 5/21/99, p.A17)
1967 Mirella Freni and Luciano
Pavarotti made their SF Opera debuts in "La Boheme."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, DB p.45)
1967 The SF Excelsior Library was
built. It was remodeled in 2005.
(SFC, 5/6/05, p.F1)
1967 One Maritime Plaza opened as
the Alcoa Building. It featured a 5-story grid of aluminum X-braces.
(SFC, 2/11/03, p.A15)
1967 Geneva Towers, twin-20-story
buildings, were built as private housing at 1001 Sunnydale Ave. Section
8 tenants were attracted when the buildings failed to get sufficient
middle-income renters. The units developed into a center for
dope-dealing and violence. They were imploded in 1998.
(SFC, 5/16/98, p.A15)
1967 The ACT Theater settled in at
the Geary Theater in SF. The American Conservatory Theater was founded
by William Ball in 1965 in Pittsburgh.
(SFEC, 3/8/98, p.W29)
1967 The Society for the
Encouragement of Contemporary Art (SECA) was founded as an auxiliary of
the SF MOMA.
(SFEM, 2/28/99, p.4)
1967 The Rathayatra Chariot
Festival, an ancient summer tribute to Lord Krishna, was held in SF and
began a long tradition.
(SFC, 8/122/96, p.A19)
1967 Joseph Caporale (1910-1996)
and Frank Sarubei opened Capp’s Corner at Powell and Green Sts.
(SFC, 12/24/96, p.A16)
1967 Frederick Walter Kuh (d.1997)
bought the Tivoli Italian bistro on Grant Ave. from Nick Finocchio and
renamed it the Savoy Tivoli. Kuh sold the place in 1983.
(SFC,11/12/97, p.A22)
1967 The Tadich Grill moved from
Clay St. to 240 California St.
(SFC, 10/8/97, Z1 p.7)
1967 State Senator Eugene McAteer
died during his campaign for mayor of SF. Joseph Alioto, the
co-chairman of the campaign, ran in his place and overcame his rival,
Harold Dobbs.
(SFC, 1/30/98, p.A10)
1967-1970 BART construction took place under Market
St.
(SFC, 11/18/00, p.A9)
1967-1976 The administration period of San Francisco
Mayor Joseph Alioto.
(SFC, 4/14/96, EM, p.22)(SFC, 1/29/98, p.22)
1967-1995 Gail Schwarzbart (1941-1996) played in the
violin section of the SF Symphony.
(SFC, 10/10/96, p.C6)
1968 Jan 5, A newspaper strike
shut down the SF Chronicle, the Examiner and the News-Call Bulletin for
53 days. Bill O'Brien (d.2004) became president of the SF-Oakland
Newspaper Guild the next day and supported the strike, which had
originated with Hearst papers in LA. Senior executives of the SF
Chronicle put out a special edition of the paper on a copy machine.
(SFC, 2/05/04, p.A27)(SSFC, 6/7/09,
p.W3)(http://tinyurl.com/nkszr8)
1968 Mar 23, The SF Kennedy
campaign’s inner circle met. It included Supervisors Jack Ertola and
Roger Boas, as well as Willie Brown, Phillip Burton, Morris Bernstein
and Edna Mosk, wife of Stanley Mosk who was a justice on the State
Supreme Court.
(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.20)
1968 Mar 29, In SF Linda Harmon
(14) was raped and stabbed to death while babysitting for a neighbor in
Visitacion Valley. In lat 2003 police matched DNA evidence to William
Speer, who was undergoing therapy for sexually violent tendencies at an
Arizona mental hospital.
(SFC, 11/4/05, p.B1)
1968 Apr 5, Mayor Alioto organized
an ecumenical memorial service in honor of Martin Luther King, who was
killed the day before in Memphis.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.C7)
1968 Apr 19, Robert Kennedy
arrived to speak at the Univ. of SF.
(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.24)
1968 Apr, The first Cherry Blossom
Festival of SF was held. It became an annual event.
(SFC, 4/11/97, p.E2)
1968 May, Bill Hambrecht &
George Quist founded Hambrecht & Quist, an investment banking firm
in SF, California, that focused on hi-growth issues. In 1999 it was
acquired for $1.35B by Chase Manhattan Bank.
(SFC, 6/22/96,
p.D1)(www.nndb.com/company/084/000057910/)
1968 Jun 19, In SF newlywed
Officer Peter McElligott was fatally shot in a shootout with 2 robbery
suspects in Golden Gate Park. The 2 attackers were later convicted of
murder.
(SFC, 1/27/07, p.A8)
1968 Oct 28, In SF the first
eviction notices were served to the 196 tenants of the International
Hotel. This led to a 9-year struggle that resulted in their forced
eviction on Aug 4, 1977.
(http://aam1968.blogspot.com/2008/01/third-world-student-strikes-at-sfsu-ucb.html)(SSFC,
8/19/07, p.B1)
1968 Nov 6, At SF State on the one
year anniversary of the Gator incident, the Black Students' Union and
the Third World Liberation Front issued a list of 10 "nonnegotiable"
demands and called for a one day strike. The strike lasted 167 days.
(http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~runamuck/PACEPAPER.htm)(SFEC, 3/1/98,
p.W3)(SFEC, 3/21/99, Z1 p.4)
1968 Nov 28, S.I. Hayakawa was
named the acting president of SF State.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.4)
1968 Dec 2, Pres. S.I. Hayakawa,
semanticist, attempted to address students during the strike at SF
State and pulled the plug from speakers controlled by a chanting
student. Hayakawa seceded Robert Smith, who had replaced John
Summerskill, at SF State College.
(SFEC, 3/21/99, Z1 p.4)
1968 Herb Caen (1916-1997), SF
newspaper columnist, wrote his 7th book: "City of Golden Hills."
(SFEC, 2/2/97, p.A13)
1968 Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas
Zuckerman made their SF Symphony debuts.
(SFEC, 8/17/97, DB p.45)
1968 The film "Bullitt" with Steve
McQueen was released. It had been shot in the SF Bay Area.
(SFEC, 8/11/96, DB, p.39)
1968 The film "Revolution," a
"definitive hippie documentary," by Jack O’Connell was produced. It
opened at the Straight Theater on Haight St. in San Francisco.
(SFC, 7/3/96, p.E4)
1968 Architects Doug Michels
(1943-2003) and Chip Lord founded the Ant Farm in SF. In 1974 they
created "Cadillac Ranch," a sculpture of 10 planted Cadillacs, in
Amarillo, Texas. In 1975 they created the performance work "Media
Burn," in which Michels drove a Cadillac through a pyramid of burning
television sets. Ant Farm disbanded in 1978.
(SSFC, 6/22/03, p.A1)
1968 In San Francisco construction
of the 4-part Embarcadero Center began. It was completed in 1983.
(SFEC, 1/23/00, p.B1)
1968 Japan Center opened in San
Francisco’s Japantown with a Peace Plaza and a 5-tiered pagoda. The
center included the new Miyako Mall, the Miyako Hotel and the Kintetsu
Mall.
(SFEC, 9/20/98, Z1 p.6)(SFC, 2/10/06, p.D1)
1968 Actors from the Living
Theater were arrested in San Francisco for disrobing onstage.
(SFC, 7/14/96, DB p.30)
1968 Chet Helms, operating under
the name "Family Dog," lost his lease and permits for running shows at
the Avalon Ballroom at Sutter and Van Ness.
(SFC, 10/9/97, p.A17)
1968 Bill Graham opened the
Fillmore East in NYC and moved his SF operation to the former Carousel
Ballroom, renamed the Fillmore West.
(SFC,12/13/97, p.A15)
1968 San Francisco Mayor Alioto
greeted King Olav V of Norway with a grand reception at City Hall.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.A10)
1968 In San Francisco Andrew
McKinley and Bryan Bilby opened the Adobe Book Shop at 3166 16th St.
(SFC, 4/9/03, p.E1)
1968 Chronicle Books was founded
in San Francisco.
(SFC, 8/7/99, p.A8)
1968 The SF Police formed a
helicopter unit. The city went without police helicopters from 1975 to
1998, when the unit was revived.
(SFC, 1/13/00, p.A15)
1968 In San Francisco Richard
Simmons opened Specs Twelve Adler Museum Cafe just off of Columbus Ave.
and across the street from Vesuvio's.
(SFC, 1/26/04, p.B1)
1968 In San Francisco Walter
Shorenstein announced his plan to tear down the Int’l. Hotel at 848
Kearny and replace it with a parking lot. Stymied by public pressure he
sold the property in 1973.
(SFC, 6/8/01, WBa p.6)
1968 In San Francisco George
Whitney stopped operating Playland-at-the-Beach. It was closed and put
up for sale in 1972.
(SSFC, 7/3/05, p.F6)
1968 Linda Harmon (14) was raped,
beaten and stabbed to death in SF. In 2003 DNA evidence identified
William Speer (61), a convicted sexual predator, as the murderer.
(SFC, 12/24/03, p.A13)
1968 Donaldina Cameron (b.1869),
San Francisco social worker, died. She had worked to rescue Chinese
girls sold into prostitution in SF and founded the Donaldina Cameron
House on Sacramento St. for low income Asian immigrants.
(SFC, 6/18/04, p.F4)
1968-1976 Joseph L. Alioto served as mayor of San
Francisco.
(SFC, 12/19/96, p.A22)
1969 Jan, Arthur Bierman helped
organize a faculty strike at SF State College that lasted 2 months.
Bierman became president of the United Professors of California union
in 1971.
(SFCM, 6/9/02, p.15)
1969 Jan, A 50-cent one-way toll
became permanent on the Golden Gate Bridge following efforts to reduce
congestion by Bruce Goecker (1919-2006), former mayor of Corte Madera.
Soon toll bridges around the world began following suit.
(SFC, 9/14/06, p.B5)
1969 Mar 21, A settlement of the
student strike at SF State College was announced. A School of Ethnic
Studies and an expanded Black Studies Dept. was won by the students.
The administration retained control of hiring and admissions.
(SFEC, 3/21/99, Z1 p.4)
1969 Apr 15, In SF Officer Rene
Lacau had a fatal heart attack during a struggle with a person
suspected of stealing a car.
(SFC, 1/27/07, p.A8)
1969 May 1, In SF plainclothes
Officer Joseph Brodnick was fatally shot after he and a partner stopped
some youths suspected of burglary. 6 people were acquitted at trial.
(SFC, 1/27/07, p.A8)
1969 Jul 4, In San Francisco Jim
(d.2007) and Artie Mitchell (d.1991) opened the Mitchell Brothers
O’Farrell Theater at O’Farrell and Polk.
(SFC, 10/3/97, p.A15)(SFC, 7/14/07, p.A7)
1969 Jul 31, The Zodiac killer
sent a poorly-spelled letter to the SF Chronicle, Examiner and Vallejo
Times-Herald and took responsibility for the July 5 shootings along
with a portion of a cipher.
(SFC, 10/2/00, p.A19)
1969 Aug 20, In San Francisco
Perry Butler and his wife Katharine opened Perry’s, a well-lit New York
style saloon, on Union Street. In 2009 they celebrated 40 years in
business.
(SFC, 8/17/99, p.A13)(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.F1)(SFC,
8/20/09, p.E1)
1969 Sep 22, Willie Mays of the
San Francisco Giants became the first baseball player since Babe Ruth
to hit 600 home runs.
(HN, 9/22/98)
1969 Oct, The SF Indian Center
burned down.
(G, Summer ‘97, p.4)
1969 Oct 11, The Zodiac killer
shot and killed SF cab driver Paul Stine (29) at Cherry and Washington
in Presidio Heights. This was his last known murder. His last
authenticated communication was in 1974.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W20)(SFC, 10/2/00, p.A19)
1969 Oct 13, The SF Chronicle
received a letter containing a bloody swath of Stine’s shirt along with
a threat to shoot children on a school bus.
(SFC, 10/2/00, p.A19)
1969 Oct 15, The $100-million,
52-story Bank of America World Headquarters at 555 California St. in
SF, was dedicated. In 1985 it was sold to Walter Shorenstein for $660
million. In 2005 a Hong Kong group offered $1.05 billion.
(http://continuumacg.net/moody2.html)(SFC, 9/23/05,
p.C1)
1969 Nov 9, A group of American
Indians began their occupation of Alcatraz Island. The story is told in
the 1996 book "The Occupation of Alcatraz Island, Indian
Self-Determination and the Rise of Indian Activism" by Troy R. Johnson.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. H2)(SFEC, 1/5/97, BR p.8)
1969 Nov 10, The SF Chronicle
received a letter from the Zodiac killer containing detailed plans for
a "death machine" to blow up a school bus.
(SFC, 10/2/00, p.A19)
1969 Dec 7, Lefty O’Doul (b.1897),
American Major League Baseball player, died. He became an
extraordinarily successful manager in the minor leagues, and also a
vital figure in the establishment of professional baseball in Japan.
One of his outstanding accomplishments while managing the SF Seals was
developing the young Joe DiMaggio, who went on to a Hall of Fame career
with the New York Yankees. His fame and popularity lived on in his
hometown of San Francisco. Lefty O'Doul's Restaurant and Cocktail
Lounge on Geary Boulevard, the popular restaurant and bar he founded
still operates. A bridge over McCovey Cove, near the Giants' home field
of AT&T Park, is named the Lefty O'Doul Bridge in his honor.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefty_O%27Doul)
1969 Anton LaVey (1930-1997),
American occultist, published his "Satanic Bible" in SF.
(SFC,11/8/97,
p.A22)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_LaVey)
1969 Placido Domingo made his SF
Opera debut in "La Boheme."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, DB p.45)
1969 San Francisco guitarist
Carlos Santana (b.1947) and his band recorded their first album
featuring such tunes as "Evil Ways." Other members included Jose
Chepito Areas (percussionist), Michael Carrabello (percussionist),
David Brown (bassist), Gregg Rolie (keyboardist) and Michael Shrieve
(drums). The band was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
1998.
(SFC, 1/12/98,
p.E1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Santana)
1969 The Asian Art Museum was
built in Goldengate Park. The Helen Crocker Russell Library opened in
Goldengate Park.
(SFC, 7/29/97, p.A7)
1969 The 52 story Bank of America
building at Kearny and California was built at a cost of about $100
million. It rose to 779 feet.
(SFC, 10/3/00, p.A11)
1969 In SF the new high-rise
letterman Army Hospital was built in the Presidio.
(SFC, 6/26/96, p.A20)
1969 The Butchertown area of SF
gave way to redevelopment. A state-owned 7.5 mile stretch from
Fisherman’s Wharf to the Bayview was transferred to SF.
(SFEC, 11/15/98, p.A1)(SSFC, 10/17/04, p.A22)
1969 In SF Jim Turner and Charlie
Stuart founded the upscale Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club.
(SFC, 8/21/99, p.A19)
1969 Loni Kuhn (d.1997 at 65)
started her school, Loni Kuhn’s Cook’s Tour in SF. Her
great-grandfather started the San Jose Normal School (later San Jose
State Univ.) and her grandfather helped found the First National Bank
of San Jose (later Bank of the West).
(SFC, 6/26/97, p.A22)
1969 SF Mayor Alioto was accused
of splitting a $2.3 million fee with Washington state Attorney Gen’l.
John O’Connell in a suit against 29 electrical contractors. He won the
suit but the issue forced him away from governorship of 1970.
(SFC, 1/30/98, p.A10)
1969 San Francisco took over its
declining port from state control.
(SSFC, 10/18/09, p.A2)
1969 In SF Charlie Walker
organized local black truckers to protest alleged discrimination in the
construction of BART. He chained his truck to a local BART job site and
made headlines which led to his winning jobs on major projects.
(SFEC, 6/27/99, p.A14)
1969 Robert LaRue Miller
(1935-2007), artist and self described “painter with light,” helped
Frank Oppenheimer (1912-1985) create the SF Exploratorium.
(SSFC, 11/18/07,
p.B6)(www.exploratorium.edu/about/museumhistory.html)
1969 Fritz Maytag bought out
Laurence Steese and took over the Anchor Brewing Co.
(SFC, 3/3/99, Z1 p.9)
1969 Donald and Doris Fisher
founded the Gap in San Francisco. The 1st store opened on Ocean Avenue
selling records and Levi’s. In 1983 Gap acquired Banana Republic, and
in 1994 Old Navy, In 2004 Fisher authored "Falling Into the Gap: The
Story of Donald Fisher and the Apparel Icon He Created."
(SSFC, 2/15/04, p.I1)(SFC, 1/9/07, p.A9)
1969-1975 John S. Hensill (1908-1998) served as the
dean of the School of Natural Sciences at SF State Univ. He co-wrote
the text "Biology of Man," and the life sciences building, Hensill
Hall, was named after him.
(SFC, 2/21/98, p.A19)