The SHAPE of Shaping San Francisco #2 -- Winter 1997-98

JANUARY 1998 RELEASE!

We have produced a full trial version of our multimedia San Francisco history, and given it into the hands of testers. In the lexicon of high-tech product development, Shaping San Francisco has just moved from the alpha stage into beta. The beta phase is designed to discover any bugs that get introduced when we move the program from our production hard drives to a CD-ROM. The CD-ROM release will run on PC-compatibles, 486 and all Pentiums, running, Windows 3.x or Windows 95.

The first release of Shaping San Francisco rolls out on January 22, 1998 in a demonstration and celebration to be held at the Koret Auditorium of the Main Library in San Francisco's Civic Center at 6 p.m. We will also be celebrating the publication of Reclaiming San Francisco (see below). The following night, January 23, at 7:30 p.m. at Modern Times Bookstore at 888 Valencia in San Francisco, we will have a book release party and reading, as well as a hands-on installation of Shaping San Francisco, which will be free to use on a dedicated computer in the store through the month of February.

We are seeking support to buy and donate computers to branch libraries and community centers (e.g. African American Historical and Cultural Society, Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California, New College of California, etc.) where Shaping San Francisco can then be freely available to the public. Once established in public places, the 'virtual' public space created by our project will begin to evolve through ongoing input from San Francisco's diverse population.

New Subject Contents

Since the last newsletter, there has been steady progress on many content areas. There is now a treatment of geology within our Natural History section that explains the physical foundation of the city. Literary History has gained con-

textual analysis with excerpts from Nancy Peters' article "The Beat Generation and San Francisco's Culture of Dissent," from Reclaiming San Francisco. We have added pieces on Jack London, Lenore Kandel, Henry George, and George Sterling as well. An article on San Francisco's Jewish anti-Zionist movement adds a piece of lost history to the Jewish history chapter. A Public Art section shows photos of murals and graffiti from the last two decades, adding a striking visual element, underscored by an insightful article for the book by Tim Drescher, excerpted into this chapter. The story of early European settlement has come into its own in the section called "On Shifting Sands," organized by Dimitri Loukakos. A detailed discussion of natural and cultural history in the Presidio by Pete Holloran sheds new light on ways we choose what to value historically in today's world, with rare photos of the Presidio from the late 1800s and early 20th century illustrating Holloran's discussion. Women's History now offers a detailed look at female photographers of the 19th century thanks to Mary Brown, as well as a whimsical look at Women and Bicycles in the 1890s provided by Laura Fraser. Meanwhile, recent feminist history has been amplified with the addition of pieces on Old Wives Tales, Good Vibrations, the Feminist Bookstore Network, Sudsofloppen, and an interview with Maggi Rubenstein.

Neighborhoods have been steadily improved, too, notably the Richmond District, which has benefited from Magali Barre's research and authoring while old photos from the Greg Gaar Collection have given depth to Noe and Eureka Valleys, the Haight, the Marina, the Presidio, Excelsior/Visitacion Valley, Bayview/Hunters Point, and Bernal Heights. Also we've added several custom tours, including an open space/old view tour which courses through the entire city, showing beautiful shots of the landscapes that preceded total urbanization (especially noteworthy are magnificent shots of the Golden Gate before the bridge).

The Problem of Organization

We are improving the way the information is organized Shaping San Francisco has rejected the style of his tory that depends on an overarching synthesis. While the contents are fairly well organized into Subject and neighborhood chapters, there is no " - grand narrative" that ties everything together. The primary navigator we labeled the "Wander Tool," for wandering the city--an apt metaphor for the way people are likely to use Shaping San Francisco at first.

This project regularly confronts us with unusual problems of logic and politics, and that's partly why it's so interesting, and has kept so many of us working for free on it for so long.

Reclaiming San Francisco—History, Politics, Culture THE BOOK

City Lights Books is publishing its companion volume of essays titled, Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics, Culture, in January 1998. Excerpts from these essays appear in the digital versions of Shaping San Francisco, the book containing full-length treatments of the topics. Jon Christensen explores the flow of migration and capital between the Comstock and San Francisco, one hundred years ago and today. Cray Brechin compares William Ralston to our contemporary banker/shyster Charles Keating in "Pecuniary Emulation: The Role of Tycoons in City Building." Gayle Rubin offers a compelling analysis of the South of Market and the Gay Male Leather subculture in "The Miracle Mile." Former editors of the Tenderloin Times Rob Waters and Wade Hudson summarize of the past two decades' efforts to forge a neighborhood in the Tenderloin, and Jesse Drew details the political evolution of "food politics." Long-time housing activist Randy Shaw explores the history of "Tenant Power in San Francisco" since the fateful eviction of the I-Hotel, while James Sobredo takes a look at the long history of the local Filipino community, of which the brutal I-Hotel eviction is a dramatic landmark. This exciting book contains twenty-two essays.

REJECTED by the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES

Our big grant to the National Endowment for the Humanities was declined. Goodbye to paychecks, pizza, and publicity. We were encouraged to learn that the government actually took Shaping San Francisco seriously enough to OK it through the first set of hurdles, and deliver the proposal's fate into the hands of a panel of professional historians. Their comments are quite interesting.

Several people wished we'd emphasize the internet instead of CD-ROMs and public kiosks: "They have provided good screenshots attesting to their ability to produce what they propose. However they are not setting the right goals. They should be making a web site not kiosks (or not kiosks in SF with NEH money)."

Some of the criticisms were insightful: “I don't think we can say that San Francisco is important just because it's San Francisco; its importance is actually enhanced if we place it within the broader economic, political, and social contexts of American history in general and American urban history in particular. The vast amount of materials that applicant has already collected cries out for some contextual analysis."

One evaluator hated it: "The organizers seem intent on creating 'participatory history,' but in the end create an anti-intellectual project that does not advance the humanities." He added, "The executive director has an impossible job description and is not qualified to carry out these duties." We could hardly argue with that!

Several of the reviewers were on our side and recommended full funding: "There is much to recommend citizen-based research because you build a constituency for the city's past that will persist apart and long after this project is completed." And, "This approach not only disseminates urban history, but helps preserve that past within the numerous communities of the city."

We Couldn't Do It Without You

Thank you to recent major donors David G., the Potrero Nuevo Fund, and the Patricia Price Peterson Fund.

Thank you also to our hard-working volunteers: Joe Caffentzis, Marina Lazzara, Jim Fisher, Magali Barre, Dimitri Loukakos, Terry Hawkins, Bill Kersnowki, and recent contributors Gabriel Metcalf, Elizabeth Sullivan, Kate Shvetsky, Erik Scudder, Jodi Lomask, Mary Brown, Joelle Dyl, Lauren Cole, David Solnit, Anna Sojourner, and George Neville-Neal. Also thanks to the San Francisco Historical Society for hosting a presentation on September 9th and generously sharing a collection of The Argonaut with us; and City Lights Books for their ongoing enthusiasm and support, including sharing their booth with us at the November 8-9 Book Fair in the Concourse on Brannan St.

In the coming year we will establish a system of public kiosks and figure out how to maintain them technically (donations are of course welcome, and urgently needed). We still hope everyone will become participants in this project by submitting new writings, photographs, film clips, oral histories, etc. The public release of Shaping San Francisco begins a grand experiment. We hope people embrace Shaping San Francisco and push it beyond even our wildest expectations!