Wednesday, Feb 15, 2006
San Francisco ? San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park commemorates the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 with a special living history day, a fine art exhibit, a new interpretive program in the park?s Visitor Center, and a booksigning by bestselling author Dennis Smith.
It is not generally known that a heroic maritime rescue occurred on the present day sites of the National Historical Park and Fisherman?s Wharf. On the second day following the great 1906 Earthquake, 30,000 frantic residents, forced to flee to the waterfront to escape fires raging throughout the city, were safely evacuated from the area by boat.
On Saturday, April 15, 2006, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the public can ?relive? the evacuation with the park?s Hyde Street Pier Living History Players as they present ?Hyde Street 1906: Escaping The Flames.? Watch sailors running a bridge of boats away from the fire, soldiers restoring order from the chaos, and distraught citizens desperate to escape! Bring the whole family down for this special living history event on the park?s Hyde Street Pier (Hyde and Jefferson streets). Admission is free.
The first comprehensive retrospective exhibit of renowned West Coast marine artist William A. Coulter (creator of the famous, 10-foot-long earthquake painting ?San Francisco Fire, 1906?) opens on April 18, 2006. W.A. Coulter created more than 1,000 oil paintings and 5,000 illustrations from 1869 to 1936. His illustrations regularly appeared in the pages of the historic San Francisco Call newspaper, capturing waterfront action both sanguine and turbulent.
The exhibit, ?W.A. Coulter: A Master?s Brush With The Sea,? will be presented in the park?s Visitor Center (Hyde and Jefferson streets), open seven days a week, 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The exhibit will run through October, 2006. Admission is free.
Dennis Smith, a leading firefighting historian and bestselling author of San Francisco Is Burning: The Untold Story of the 1906 Earthquake and Fires, will present an illustrated lecture (and sign copies of San Francisco Is Burning) at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19, 2006. The author will share his research into the horrifying and devastating 1906 earthquake and fire in the park?s Maritime Museum (900 Beach Street, Polk and Beach streets). Admission is free, but reservations are required: please call 415-561-6662 x32.
Rangers will explore the park?s direct connection to the 1906 earthquake in the new interpretive program ?Maritime Heroics in the 1906 Earthquake and Fire.? The illustrated talk tells the compelling story of the largest maritime rescue effort in U.S. history, and the heroic actions of a naval lieutenant and his crew who fought the waterfront fires. This free program will be offered daily at 2:00 p.m., from April 18 to April 22, in the park?s Visitor Center theater.
For more information about any of these programs, please call the Visitor Center information desk at 415-447-5000 or visit www.nps.gov/safr.
|
