California--San Francisco

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

Unknown

Creator(s)

Edward H. Mitchell (Publisher)

Language

English

Colorized postcard showing a large mansion, Cliff House, on a cliffside by the ocean in San Francisco, California. A steamship visible on the ocean.

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

Unknown

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

Unknown

Creator(s)

Pacific Novelty Co.

Language

English

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

Unknown

Creator(s)

Pacific Novelty Co.

Language

English

The Argonaut reports on William W. Morrow’s speech The Judiciary given at a dinner with William H. Taft and discusses the remarks made by Morrow on justices. Morrow’s speech is printed where he discusses justice power dating back to the American Revolution.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-21

At the request of Fairfax Henry Wheelan, the University Club of San Francisco extends a temporary membership to Theodore Roosevelt for the duration of twenty days. The invitation is signed by the club’s secretary.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03-24

Theodore W. Mellis tried to arrange a meeting with Theodore Roosevelt, but now unfortunately has to travel out of town and fears he will not be able to see him in person. Mellis introduces himself as the founder of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association and the Young Hebrew Educational and Social Society. He regrets the fact that the “Catholic elements” have been running San Francisco for the last several years, and hopes to be able to overcome this. Mellis hopes to be able to arrange a meeting with Roosevelt before he leaves to tell him of his plans.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03-25

In an excerpt copied over from a larger letter, Kee Owyang, Chinese Imperial Vice-consul at San Francisco, asks the recipient to ask Lucius B. Swift to see if Theodore Roosevelt might be able to use his influence on the San Francisco board of education to allow Chinese children to go to public schools. Owyang explains the current situation, in which the children are only allowed to go “to an old oriental school in Chinatown,” but protests that as the families pay taxes and the children were born in the United States, they should be allowed to attend public school. Owyang also hopes that Roosevelt will be able to visit the Presbyterian Occidental Home, which has done good work on behalf of Chinese girls in San Francisco.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03-02

Various forms of graft, fraud, and bribery were committed by San Francisco mayor Eugene Schmitz and members of the Board of Supervisors. Following trials of many offenders, a report is published on the causes of the corruption and recommendations made on how to prevent municipal corruption in the future.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1910-01-05

President Roosevelt tells San Francisco Mayor Eugene E. Schmitz that he is horrified by the catastrophe that has befallen San Francisco, and pledges that the Federal Government will help however it can.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-18

President Roosevelt takes a big stick labeled “Japanese question” and hits “San Francisco” with it. Caption: “Another earthquake.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Fortunately or unfortunately, the tragedy of the San Francisco earthquake provided cartoonists opportunities to employ the event as a reference-point for drawings that addressed other matters. But it is what cartoonists do — deal in the relatable; and after more than a century, the earthquake provides talking-points in politics and other fields.

One man angrily gestures at another man labeled “Japan” standing on a platform with a club labeled “The Sign of the Big Stick” hanging over head. Caption: “San Francisco: Just wait ’till I get you outside!”

Comments and Context

This cartoon by “H” neatly summarizes the facts and the subtext of a complicated and thorny issue of the day — particularly thorny in 1906.

The figure with the broad hat represents Californians who agitated against Japanese immigrants; San Francisco was a hot-spot of opposition to Asian immigrants and the site of street riots. President Roosevelt took especial interest in prejudice and violence — even states’ anti-immigrant exclusion laws — motivated by liberal sentiments, justice, and a brewing diplomatic crisis with Japan.

The San Francisco Bulletin publishes a statement from attorney Charles Stetson Wheeler, in which Wheeler criticizes defense attorneys who try to win cases on technicalities and set “traps” for lawyers and judges to get higher courts to offer their clients new trials. These attorneys try to prolong trials, slow down the courts, and are thus obstructing justice. In particular, the attorneys for the “graft trials” in San Francisco are doing this, and turning public opinion against those who are trying to hold their clients accountable. Wheeler asserts that such attorneys should be punished.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-15

A note instructs staff to find out from the War Department whether Secretary of War William H. Taft is going to China, or coming straight home from Manila. A reply below reports that Taft goes from Manila to Hong Kong going directly to San Francisco.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09-02

Secretary of War Taft thinks it unwise to build new ships for the Panama Canal Company. He lists several potential alternatives for President Roosevelt, including a new contract with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. While future action requires discussion, Taft is certain about terminating the current contract with Pacific Mail and not contracting the construction of any vessels.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-10

A report for Secretary of War Taft outlines the amount of additional money that should be added to appropriations in the fortification bill. The money will account for various fortifications, ordnance, and ammunition to defend locations along the Pacific Coast, as well as in the Philippine and Hawaiian Islands.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-27

Acting Secretary of State Adee informs President Roosevelt that, per precedents set in similar cases, the crew of the disabled Russian cruiser Lena must be held in San Francisco until their parole conditions have been set and approved by Japan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-14

This card certifies that President Roosevelt is an honorary member of the San Francisco Roosevelt Re-election League.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-01-24

A newspaper clipping originally published in The Daily Mail and Empire of Toronto gives the reasons that there should be no cause for Japan to be concerned about the visit of the Great White Fleet to the Pacific.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10

This form outlines a contract for furnishing coal to the Atlantic fleet. The contract includes specific ports in the Caribbean and South America as well as California, and will be effective from December 1907 to February 1908.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-17