This is part of the history of a city, grown from 16 houses on sand dunes in 1850 to the largest city on the Pacific Coast in only 30 years. The book, Imperial San Francisco by Dr. Gray Brechin, is one of the few examples of a scholarly dissertation that becomes a very popular book. Imperial San Francisco brings to light the huge sacrifices extracted from the surrounding land by large cities, from Babylon to the Italian city states to the instant cities of North America.
This program focuses on the Gold Rush and the early conflicts between mining and farming. Next week we’ll talk about the valleys flooded and the rivers diverted to bring water to SF. Was it worth it? And really also by extension - what was it worth and for whom. This is a provocative, intriguing and unusual way at looking at a city. Especially at one everybody loves - San Francisco the beautiful the dream of travelers and immigrants.
This interview was recorded on August 11,2000, and and comes with an update that shows how contemporary many of the issues are. Gray Brechin is visiting scholar in the UC Berkeley Department of Geography and has embarked on a new project that continues to give him pleasure and inspiration. He and a team of researchers are chronicling the often forgotten works of the 1930s and 40s New Deal. The website of the Living New Deal dot org shows the record of a lost society of a once intensely public spirited America. They have so far mapped more than 17,000 sites across the US and now, in 2022, it amounts to more than 100 sites in every state. All this both in contrast as well as inspiration to the current New Deal.
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