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History of the City Hall and Civic Center by T.B. McGinnis, 1912-1918
BANC PIC 1995.006--ALB
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Collection Title: History of the City Hall and Civic Center by T.B. McGinnis
Collection Number: BANC PIC 1995.006--ALB
Collector:
Thomas B. McGinnis
Extent:
119 photographic prints, various sizes; clippings; text of municipal report; compiled in album, 33 x 27 cm.
170 digital objects
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Collection is available for use.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted
in writing to the Curator of Pictorial Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library
as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must
also be obtained by the reader.
Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted
to research and educational purposes.
[Identification of item], History of the City Hall and Civic Center by T.B. McGinnis, 1912-1918, BANC PIC 1995.006--ALB, The
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Digital Representations Available
Digital representations of selected original pictorial materials are available in the list of materials below. Digital image
files were prepared from selected Library originals by the Library Photographic Service. Library originals were copied onto
35mm color transparency film; the film was scanned and transferred to Kodak Photo CD (by Custom Process); and the Photo CD
files were color-corrected and saved in JFIF (JPEG) format for use as viewing files.
The History of the City Hall and Civic Center album was purchased in 1995.
The History of the City Hall and Civic Center photo album contains 119 photographic prints as well as various municipal reports
and records, all dated from 1912-1918, which document the construction and early use of San Francisco's City Hall, Exposition
Auditorium, and the greater Civic Center area. The album was compiled by Thomas B. McGinnis, Assistant Clerk, San Francisco
Board of Supervisors and Superintendent of City Hall. McGinnis also wrote the text of the municipal report included in the
album and may have been the principal photographer.
The construction of the new City Hall and Civic Center was necessitated by the earthquake and fire of 1906 which destroyed
the previous City Hall. The photographs picture the buildings' development from the excavation of the sites beginning in 1913
to their completion and occupation by city officials in 1916. Several photographs document the gradual construction of both
the steel framework and the stone exterior. Also pictured are interior views of City Hall and the Exposition Auditorium; ground
breaking and cornerstone ceremonies; views of the Civic Center Plaza and the San Francisco Public Library; several photographic
reproductions of architectural plans and notes; the San Francisco City Treasury; and a group portrait of Boy Scouts. Individuals
pictured include architects John Bakewell, Jr., and Arthur Brown, Jr.; sculptor Grenier; San Francisco Mayor James Rolph,
Jr.; San Francisco City Supervisors George Gallagher and Paul Bancroft; and San Francisco City Attorney Percy V. Long.
Non-photographic material includes the text of the 1915-1916 San Francisco Municipal Report "City Hall and Civic Center History,"
clippings of resolutions and ordinances relating to the City Hall and the Civic Center, many of which are dated as late as
1919; manuscript notes regarding additional resolutions; and two 1916 letters from architects Bakewell and Brown to the San
Francisco Bureau of Architecture describing the significance of Grenier's sculptural contribution to City Hall.
The only identified photographer is John Channing.