San Francisco Arts and Culture During The 1918 Influenza Epidemic

Alfred Hertz (source: sfsymphony.org)

There is no cause for gloomy prognostications about the symphony season. This epidemic is a terrible calamity, and the prompt action of the authorities in forbidding public gatherings was the best thing that could be done to mitigate its severity. But there seems every reason to believe that the ban, which bears with particular weight upon musicians, will mean the speedy suppression of the disease.

These were the words of San Francisco Symphony conductor Alfred Hertz in early November of 1918, spoken while all of the City's theaters, auditoriums and libraries were ordered shut down at the height of the influenza epidemic.  The California State Health Board announced this measure just as the Symphony was getting set to offer tickets to the first performance of the 1918-1919 season, scheduled for October 25, 1918.

The Symphony season was able to open a little more than a month later, on November 29, 1918.  All entertainment and cultural institutions had been forced to shut their doors for about a month. When activities were permitted to resume, they did resume with great exuberance.  The Symphony reported a record number of tickets sold for the new season. The Argonaut, which had dropped its drama column for the month, printed on November 23 that theater goers "rushed right back into the theaters."

At the time of this writing, San Francisco is approaching four months of a lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has shut down all of the City's performing arts venues and cultural institutions.  It's remarkable that the very devastating Influenza epidemic of 1918, which in the end infected 45,000 San Franciscans and killed 3,000 resulted in only a one month lockdown.  On the same page of the Argonaut there was another item entitled "A City En Masque."

Masks! masks! masks! Ugly, white, shapeless, cotton things of a laundered hospital complexion. How amazing it must be to a newcomer fresh from unmasked districts to remark the obedience of San Franciscans in respect to the mask ordinance. The big burly mechanic, the rich, carefully tailored man of affairs, the handsome young soldier, the pretty girl whose daily ceremonial of beautifying herself is a rite, the very children at play, even the infant in arms, all, or nearly all, are masked. 

The majority, I should say, are satisfied to wear the masks, and are in an approving attitude toward an ordinance which may have been instrumental in securing such rapid results. They regard them as a refuge and a protection.

While this author imagined a city of responsible citizens, the Mask Ordinance approved by the Board of Supervisors in late October 1918 stipulated fines and imprisonment for violators of this health directive.  No doubt, such widespread use of facial coverings on such a large scale helped stem the virus's tide.  The City's health officer stated "If the public will do these things, we are confident that we can master the epidemic within a week and that places of amusement might safely be re-opened." The ordinance remained in effect through February 1919.

It's interesting to consider theater audiences all with their masks on. Did thespians and orchestral musicians have to don masks as well?

Masked audience at a boxing match in the Civic Auditorium (source: San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection)

The San Francisco Public Library was one of the cultural institutions affected by the 1918 Influenza Epidemic.  The library system was closed on October 18, 1918 almost contemporaneous with an Examiner article celebrating the Music Department and its talented music librarian Jessica Fredricks.

The San Francisco Public Library did not reopen until November 18. The minutes of the Library's Board of Trustees tell us that at the time some Library staff volunteered for Red Cross duty.  They also voted to provide wages for staff who were ill with influenza. The minutes also sadly noted the loss of one library employee, Miss Virginia B. Spencer, to the epidemic.  The Board of Trustees also considered extending the mask order within the Library past its expiration in February.

During the Library's closure the San Francisco Chronicle published a letter to the editor:

Why Deny Access to Good Books? 

Editor The Chronicle--Sir: May I ask through your worthy medium why, during the epidemic, the people are not even allowed to procure books from the Public Library? It would not necessarily mean that the public could use the reading rooms but would be the means of helping alleviate the monotony of this period. READER 

San Francisco, November 10, 1918

Imagine the hardship of quarantine in 1918, a time before radio, television, computers, ebooks, streaming media! But no doubt many of our patrons today still desire to "procure" a few "good books."  In the weeks ahead the Library will start making our collections available for pick-up.  We look forward to the day when we open the Library's doors again to all of our patrons.

Masked marchers in the Armistice Day Parade, November 11, 1918 (source: San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection)

Bibliography:

"At The Orpheum," Argonaut November 23, 1918.

Brown, Ray C.B., "Influenza Halts Season But Does Not Dim Prospect," San Francisco Examiner November 3, 1918

Brown, Ray C.B., "Music Department of the Public Library Offers Help to All Music Lovers," San Francisco Examiner October 20, 1918

"A City en Masque," Argonaut November 23, 1918

"Here Is Text of Mask Ordinance; Violation Incurs Fine Or Imprisonment," San Francisco Chronicle October 25, 1918.

"Influenza Affects Our Symphony Season," Pacific Coast Musical Review October 26, 1918.

"Libraries to Open Monday" San Francisco Chronicle November 15, 1918

Minutes of The Regular Meeting ... / San Francisco Public Library Commission (The Commission, Jan. 1915-June 1925). 

"People Urged To Wear Masks Everywhere," San Francisco Chronicle November 15, 1918.

"San Francisco Symphony Season Opens Nov. 29," Pacific Coast Musical Review November 22, 1918.

"Season Postponed Not Demoralized," Pacific Coast Musical Review November 2, 1918.

"State Health Board Closes All Theaters; Churches Permitted to Hold Half Hour Service, 866 New Cases Reported; Masks Are Recommended; Public Library and Auditorium Shut; Lemare Recitals Are Discontinued" San Francisco Chronicle October 19, 1918.

"Symphony Box Office Will Open Monday," Pacific Coast Musical Review October 19, 1918.

Woods, Arnold, "Spanish Flu In SF: A Closer Look," OpenSFHistory.org

Dances for Camera - 2018

Thursday, May 3rd, 5:30-7:45

Koret Auditorium - Main Library

100 Larkin Street

In celebration of Bay Area National Dance Week, SFDFF and San Francisco Public Library will continue the tradition of presenting SFDFF's popular highlight reels – this year from their 2017 festival, which includes award-winning international screendance shorts plus a collection of screendance shorts made by local Bay Area filmmakers.

Schedule:

5:30pm: SFDFF 2017 International Screendance Shorts

6:30pm: 2017 Bay Area Screendance Shorts

The 25 Art, Music and Recreation Center Books with the Most Holds in April 2015

The most requested books in the Art, Music and Recreation Center (the Dewey Decimal 700's) include a few bestsellers.  Celebrity bios are always popular -- memoirs of actors and actresses, alternative rock musicians make up most of this list.

One unexpected title near the top of list is Minecraft, a two year old title, about the creator and creation of a very popular online game.

Knitting books always do well and two recent titles, Magpies, Homebodies, and Nomads and Twigg Stitch, are among our most requested.

Art Before Breakfast, a book for artists on the run, is about how to meaningfully squeeze personal creativity into a harried life.

Tiny House Living is natural title for the Main Library's neighborhood where more and more "micro-dwellings" are being built.

Sonic Boom looks at how music and sound affect us (and can be used to manipulate us).

Balancing Acts is a written and visual documentary of three San Francisco Ballet ballerinas who balance their demanding art with motherhood.

Most of these titles are also available in an ebook format.  All in all, there are many excellent choices here for the San Francisco reader.  Happy reading.


1. Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon (Dey St., an imprint of William Morrow Publishers, 2015)

2. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown (Viking, 2013).

3. A Fine Romance by Candice Bergen (Simon & Schuster, 2015).

4. Yes Please by Amy Poehler (Dey St, 2014?).

5. Born with Teeth: A Memoir by Kate Mulgrew (Little, Brown and Co., 2015).

6. Clothes, Clothes, Clothes: Music, Music, Music: Boys, Boys, Boys: A Memoir by Viv Albertine (Thomas Dunne Books, 2014).

7. Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus Notch Persson and the Game that Changed Everything by Daniel Goldberg & Linus Larsson, translation by Jennifer Hawkins (Seven Stories Press, 2013).

8. I Was a Child by Bruce Eric Kaplan (Blue Rider Press, 2015).

9. The Rainman's Third Cure: An Irregular Education by Peter Coyote (Counterpoint, 2015)

10. There was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me by Brooke Shields (Dutton, 2014).
 
11. Edgewise: A Picture of Cookie Mueller by Chloé Griffin (b_books Verlag, 2014).

12. Magpies, Homebodies, and Nomads: A Modern Knitter's Guide to Discovering and Exploring Style by Cirilia Rose (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2014).

13. Twigg Stitch: A New Twist on Reversible Knitting by Vicki Twigg (Interweave, 2014).

14. Art Before Breakfast: A Zillion Ways to be More Creative, No Matter How Busy You Are by Danny Gregory (Chronicle Books, 2015).

15. The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled into the Spotlight and Made History by Robin Givhan (Flatiron Books, 2015).

16. The Sonic Boom: How Sound Transforms the Way We Think, Feel, and Buy by Joel Beckerman   with Tyler Gray (Mifflin Harcourt, 2014).

17. Tiny House Living: Ideas for Building and Living Well in Less than 400 Square Feet by Ryan Mitchell (Betterway Home, 2014).

18. The B-Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song by Ben Yagoda (Riverhead Books, 2015).

19. So That Happened by Jon Cryer (New American Library, 2015).

20. Breakfast at Sotheby's: An A-Z of the Art World by Philip Hook (The Overlook Press, 2014).

21. Balancing Acts: Three Prima Ballerinas Becoming Mothers by Lucy Gray (Princeton Architectural Press, 2015).

22. Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing: Tradition, Techniques, Innovation by Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, Mary Kellogg Rice, and Jane Barton (Kodansha USA, 2011).

23. Schubert's Winter Journey: Anatomy of an Obsession by Ian Bostridge (Alfred A. Knopf, 2015).

24. Out came the Sun: Overcoming the Legacy of Mental Illness, Addiction, and Suicide in My Family by Mariel Hemingway (Regan Arts, 2015).

25. The Grand Budapest Hotel, screenplay by Wes Anderson (Opus Books, 2014).

An Evening with Isadora Duncan: Danced by Lois Ann Flood

The Art, Music and Recreation Center of the San Francisco Public Library is pleased to present this program on

Thursday, May 24th from 6-7:30.

 

Isadora Duncan was the most famous dancer-choreographer performing in the early 20th century. She mesmerized her audiences by combining natural, free movement with ballet. Isadora was an icon of the art and culture of her times—she personified the period’s fascination with all things Greek, was a symbol of women’s emancipation, and influenced fashion and dance throughout the world. This performance will give insight into what all the fuss was about. 

Lois Ann Flood is the founder of Diablo Dance Theater. She has been performing the exquisite dances of Isadora Duncan for over 20 years. Her interpretations are recognized for their dynamic and expressive qualities.  She will be accompanied by narrator Karen Elise, who will talk about Isadora’s life and times.

Books in our collection that might be of interest:

Isadora Duncan : a graphic biography / written and illustrated by Sabrina Jones ; Paul Buhle, editor. 

Isadora : a sensational life / Peter Kurth.

Isadora speaks : writings & speeches of Isadora Duncan / edited & introduced by Franklin Rosemont ; with a preface by Ann Barzel. 

A selection of Isadora Duncan dances : the Schubert selection / by Sylvia Gold.

Beyond Isadora : Bay Area dancing, the early years 1915-1965 / by Joanna Gewertz Harris.

The Celebrity Black Book 2009 Deluxe Edition

One facet of our department's subjects of Art, Music and Recreation is that they are all intertwined with the world of celebrity. Hollywood stars, Broadway actors, rock musicians, rappers, television hosts, visual artists, photographers and athletes can all achieve notoriety
in the fields.

The current edition of the Celebrity Black Book has contact information for more than 55,000 public figures of all kinds. The information provided is limited to only mailing addresses. These mailing addresses are usually those of the celebrity's business agent, professional team, company or business, or talent agency. Only rarely is a home address provided.

The Star Guide is another similar resource, however, since it was last updated in 2005 the information may not be sufficiently current.

We also use other more specialized locating for finding contact information. For example, there is the Players Directory for Hollywood actors and actresses. This source provides head shots along with agency contact information. In the world of popular music there are two excellent resources: The Billboard International Talent & Touring Guide and Pollstar's Artist Management Directory. Finally, for locating classical musicians there is the Musical America Worldwide directory.

All of these resources are available at the Art, Music & Recreation Center on the 4th floor of the Main Library.


The Celebrity Black Book, 19th edition (Contact Any Celebrity, 2009).

Star Guide (Axiom Information Resources, 2005).

Players Directory (Now Casting, Inc., 2008).

Billboard Talent & Touring International Guide (VNU Business Publications, 2010).

Pollstar. Artist Management Directory (Pollstar, 2010).

Musical America Worldwide: International Directory of the Performing Arts (Commonwealth Business Media, Inc., 2009).

American And English Popular Entertainment

Punch and Judy, drawn by F. Barnard, from the "Puppets" folder of the Art, Music & Recreation Center picture file

Nowadays information seekers have become accustomed to a world where they can enter a few words into a search engine and be greeted with, and perhaps overwhelmed by, waves of information. In addition to the content created for the web, full texts of magazines and books are also available to search and read online.

In the days prior to the internet and online databases students, scholars and librarians relied upon bibliographies to locate information on a topic. Bibliography was a valued pursuit because it could make information available about obscure but valuable areas of study and research. Bibliographies were often annotated, i.e., provided a summary of the works reviewed and their value.

This blog will occasionally introduce bibliographies that remain valuable because they open up information that cannot yet be located online, or because they provide an avenue of access that is more careful and systematic than online sources. One such source is American and English Popular Entertainment: A Guide to Information Sources by Don B. Wilmeth (Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1980)--volume 7 of Gale’s Performing Arts Information Guide series.

Popular entertainment in this volume comprises activities like circuses, fairs, carnivals, variety and minstrel shows, puppetry, panoramas and dioramas. This annotated bibliography includes books and articles, both scholarly and popular. Circus here comprises various animal acts and performance specialists including clowns. Works on carnivals include P.T. Barnum’s shows, various sorts of side and freak shows, dime arcades, and wax museums. Another section lists books and articles about amusement parks, roller coasters, merry-go-rounds. Other forms of entertainment covered in this bibliography include medicine shows, vaudeville, and magic shows.

The book also includes a helpful index that can lead to information about individual performers, places, and theaters. There are also references to more general topics like censorship, farce, impersonation, melodrama, and quackery. Fascinating sources indexed in this volume include articles detailing the relationship between the art of the Hudson River School and panorama painters, the “Yankee” as a character type on the stage, and the classification of circus techniques.

The author concedes that his book is not exhaustive. But since his entries are annotated it is possible to understand the value of each title and the author’s criteria for their selection.