In the Library
The CastroKnown internationally as the world's first 'gay hometown', San Francisco's Castro district began as a quiet, working class neighborhood of European immigrants. Filled with rare archival footage and photographs, the story of the Castro's transformation is told by those who lived it, young and old, straight and gay.
The FillmoreSan Francisco's Fillmore District is one of the great cautionary tales of American urban life. From the wholesale removal of Japanese Americans during World War II, to the jazz heyday of the 1950s to the bulldozers of urban renewal, the Fillmore District has seen its share of drama. This video explores the many worlds of the neighborhood, past and present, and the bittersweet memories of residents who fought for the survival of one of America's premier black communities.
Available online
- A changing Mission2015 documentary series about the changes in the Mission District.
- The Faces of ChinatownKPIX documentary film from 1963 reviews the history of San Francisco's Chinatown from the 1840s through the early Twentieth Century, using b&w still photographs and voiceover. Covers how Chinese emigrants mainly from Guandong Province settled around Grant Avenue; how the Chinese Six Companies organization developed to provide community leadership following the 1873 economic depression; how Police Chiefs Theodore G. Cockrill and Henry H. Ellis reacted to anti Chinese sentiment and violence; the work of the Chinatown Squad; the July 23rd 1877 'Riot Night'; the Tong Wars; how criminal gangs such as the Hatchetmen controlled organized crime in Chinatown and how the original settlement was completely destroyed by the earthquake of 1906.
Decades Series
In 1999 KRON-TV made a documentary series spanning the 20th century using archival footage and interviews with historians, politicians, and local luminaries. These all can be streamed from the San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive.
Audio
- Displaced from the MissionA radio series from KALW on the lives of Mission residents displaced through eviction and a rising cost of living.