Local film history can be found online

By Thomas Gladysz
San Francisco Silent Film Examiner

San Francisco can claim its share of film history.

Historically speaking, the San Francisco Bay Area played a notable role in the production of films during the silent era. The activity at the Niles Essanay Studios in Fremont immediately comes to mind, as do the efforts of other small, regional companies. For more on the subject, check out Geoffrey Bell's pioneering 1984 book, The Golden Gate and the Silver Screen.

While not as important as New York or Los Angeles as a center of production, more than a few movies were made here in The City. And, as well, a good number of notable actors and actresses and other screen world personalities were born or raised in San Francisco. Other’s lived here or worked here or got their start in The City’s many theatres.

Did you know, for example, that movie serial queen Ruth Roland was born in San Francisco, as was leading man Lawrence Gray? Or that Tina Modotti, the model-muse of photographer Edward Weston, acted in The City’s Italian theaters? And that silent film star Janet Gaynor once worked as an usherette at the Castro Theater?

If you like looking things up – and if you like doing research, you’ll be more then pleased by the following news. Late last week, the San Francisco Public Library announced on its blog that a number of San Francisco city directories were now available online where they can be browsed, read, or searched. The directories date from 1850 through 1953.

The directories join a number of other works of local historical interest at the Internet Archive, an online depository of digitized texts housed here in San Francisco. As one can guess, these directories can be a great source of historical and genealogical information in helping establish residency, in providing spouse or employment information, or in sifting through the facts of daily life that have found their way into official records.

To see a list of these directories and other content scanned from the San Francisco Public Library, follow the link at http://www.archive.org/details/sfpl. There, one can search by title or author, or view recently reviewed items as well as a list of material recently uploaded. To find the city directories, use the "browse by title" list and select "T" (for "The San Francisco..." directories for the years 1850-1879), "C" (for the Crocker-Langley directories for the years 1891-1929), or "P" (for Polk's directories for the years 1931-1953).

There is a wealth of information to be had. Along with early histories of San Francisco, there are also municipal records, Grand Jury reports, old textbooks, financial statements, and more. Some may find some of these old records somewhat dry, but the patient researcher will pluck fascinating bits from this digitized, though admittedly scattershot archive.

Some of the most appealing materials can be found in a multi-volume work titled San Francisco Theater Research. Produced during the WPA era, these thick volumes help document The City’s rich cultural heritage. There are volumes dedicated to the French, German and Italian Theaters in San Francisco, as well as minstrelsy, burlesque, famous playhouses, theatre buildings, and prominent personalities like Lola Montez, Lotta Crabtree, and Edwin Booth. Again, there is a wealth of information to be had.

Speaking of things theatrical . . . .

Did you know, for example, that the German playwright Frank Wedekind has San Francisco roots? Wedekind, of course, is the author of both Spring Awakening (the basis for the popular Broadway rock musical) and Pandora’s Box (the basis for both the 1929 Louise Brooks silent film as well as Alban Berg’s 1937 opera).

During the early years of his life, Wedekind's father served as physician to the Sultan of Turkey. A democrat, he also participated in the 1848 Revolution, and next year escaped to America, where he made a fortune in land speculation. In San Francisco he married Emilie Kammerer, a singer and actress twenty-three years his junior. (Some scholars have speculated that this relationship might have served as a kind of model for the relationship between Lulu and Dr. Schon in Pandora’s Box.)

A search of the newly available city directories for 1858, 1860, and 1862 reveals that the future playwright’s Father, Friedrich Wilhelm Wedekind, had a medical practice at 136 and later 524 Montgomery Street in San Francisco. Doctor Wedekind was also a prominent member of the German General Benevolent Society as well as President of the local German Club.

Friedrich Wilhelm Wedekind and Emilie Kammerer’s second child – the future writer, was conceived in San Francisco - though born in Hanover, Germany - as the couple decided early in the pregnancy to return to their native land. And that’s where Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (later known simply as Frank) was born in 1864.

Local film and history buffs should also be aware that the San Francisco Public Library website has a collection of historical photographs as well as the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper (1865 – 1922) available on its website in the eLbrary / database section. Both can be searched by tag or keyword.

For more info: Want to learn more about San Francisco cultural history? Visit the San Francisco Public Library history room on the sixth floor of the Main Branch in the San Francisco Civic Center. Online, the Internet Archive is an information rich digital archive available to everyone. It contains not only works related to San Francisco, but numerous books related silent film, theaters, and many other subjects including German-language books both by and about Frank Wedekind.