The 1906 Earthquake and the People in Chinatown, with John Freeman - SFHS April 2022 Program

John Freeman's presentation begins with the devastation of the city and goes on to describe the effects of the earthquake and fire on the Chinese community here. He talks about how people thought the fire would not reach Chinatown. He also explains what the city politicians wanted to do with the Chinatown land-and how the Chinese responded.
John Freeman is president of the SFHS programs committee. He is a retired math teacher and an excellent researcher of many facets of San Francisco history.
* Correction: at 33:01 to 35:33, the segment about Oakland mentions Lake Merced - it should be Lake Merritt, the great Oakland landmark.
This program was live-streamed on April 12, 2022 from the SFHS Museum in San Francisco. Since then, we have upgraded our production technology to eliminate audio issues; thank you for your support as we continue to advance our online media offerings. Please subscribe to our channel to learn more about the history if San Francisco:
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[@abelparris1662]

Excellent information, sir

[@michaeltwomey4800]

I'm making dinner so I had to cut you off but I want to hear the full story. I love your site, Playland & Sutro are my passion but I also love 1915 & 1939-1940 too. I've loved SF since I was a kid and was allowed to swing on the floorboard of the cable cars as an 8yr old daredevil & even get to help them turn it around at the end of the line, it was so much of a simple pleasure as a kid. As a kid, I loved how dad took us to "Leon's BBQ" across from the zoo and he later had his sauce in the big markets that made me so very proud after he passed. We saw the "Zoocus", we also had a "zoo key" & fed smelly fish to the seals for a buck, and probably teased the monkeys on the island. I can remember the huge Freeplay playground at the zoo with the locomotive that you could climb all over but what really broke my 10 or 12 yr old heart was seeing the Flachacker pool empty with my dad and him telling me how they abandoned a block long in front of my eyes that was beyond my imagination in scale and history and will always be. I saw the whole place as it was minus the water and the crowds and it is a crime to fill it now with dirt for a "Parking Lot" for "county trucks". It deseveres to be a memorial, 1/2 playground and 1/2 skate park but the city has failed with this big time, making it a parking lot for sad city viehicals that is a major insult to what it once was and what it could be once again be as an historical monument or something with the Flachhacker name attached still... It was magical looking at the size of it with the high boards still there and the classic 4X8 classic pool sign rotting against the fence that we should've managed to snag for sure...

[@philosopher4279]

Somebody give this dude a glass of water.