San Francisco, the Great War, and Urban Identity
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE “THE CITY THAT KNOWS HOW”: SAN FRANCISCO, THE GREAT WAR, AND URBAN IDENTITY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By HEATHER A. CLEMMER Norman, Oklahoma 2008 “THE CITY THAT KNOWS HOW”: SAN FRANCISCO, THE GREAT WAR, AND URBAN IDENTITY A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY Dr. Donald J. Pisani, Chair Dr. Robert L. Griswold Dr. Albert L. Hurtado Dr. R. Warren Metcalf Dr. Zev Trachtenberg ©Copyright by HEATHER A. CLEMMER 2008 All Rights Reserved. To Jason and Jonathan Acknowledgements The process of researching and writing a dissertation is a long, arduous journey, but mercifully not one made alone. At each stop along the way (and some of my stops were longer than others), I received tremendous support and encouragement from mentors, scholars, friends, and family. I would like to start by thanking my advisor, Donald Pisani, for his guidance through this process. I genuinely appreciate his ability to maintain a good humor, despite my many delays, while providing advice and insight that kept me motivated. I would also like to thank the other members of my dissertation committee – Robert Griswold, Albert Hurtado, Warren Metcalf, and Zev Trachtenberg – for their willingness to read this work and provide valuable comments and suggestions. While each member of my committee has contributed to making this a better dissertation, those errors still imbedded in this work are solely my responsibility. I would be remiss here at the end of my graduate experience if I did not also take a moment to thank Steve Gillon. Working as Steve’s research assistant for five years allowed me the unique opportunity to learn important research, writing, and editing skills from a master craftsman. During the three summers I spent in the San Francisco Bay Area engaged in research for this dissertation I incurred many debts, and mercifully, not much of that debt was financial. I owe a big thank you to the Philanthropic Educational Organization International whose Educational Loan Fund provides low-interest loans to women graduate students in need of financial assistance. Without the help of the local P.E.O. iv chapter in Hutchinson, Kansas (who sponsored by loan request) I would have been unable to spend as much time in the Bay Area working on this project. I was also fortunate to find friendly and knowledgeable staff at each of the following archival repositories: the Hoover Institution Library and Archives and Stanford University, the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, the California Historical Society in San Francisco, and the San Francisco History Center at the San Francisco Public Library. Thanks to the San Francisco Theological Seminary for allowing me to stay in their dorms during one of my trips and to Johann Anderson for serving as my chauffeur and a friendly face in the neighborhood. I cannot express my gratitude to Jim and Betty Cooper, and their congregation at The Point, and Dave and Allison Puglosi. The Coopers and the Puglosis enthusiastically welcomed me into their homes. They helped me acclimate to life in the Bay, fed me, and above all else, encouraged me to get up every morning and go back to work. Doing research thousands of miles away from home for extended periods of time is tough and isolating. Thank you to everyone I met in the Bay Area who made sure I did not feel alone. Many blessings to you all. Finally, I must thank my friends and family who kept up their cheerleading efforts even when I thought it was a lost cause. To Dennis Williams and Bob Lively, thank you for serving as mentors, colleagues, and friends. The moments of wisdom and absurdity we have shared prevented me from taking myself too seriously and frequently encouraged me to go back into my office and write. To “the Sisterhood” – Sarah Janda, Linda English, Holly Fletcher, and Jana Vogt – thank you for your constant words of encouragement and support on every aspect of this dissertation, as well as more personal v projects. Though academia has scattered us across the country, your presence is always felt. To my family, particularly my parents, stepparents, and in-laws, thank you for believing I would finish and doing your best not to ask when I would finish. Never did any of you question why I abandoned music for a life as a historian, or why I needed to get a Ph.D. to fulfill my dreams; you simply asked what you could do to help. I hope I can carry on such parental patience! That brings me to my son, Jonathan. When you were born on the centennial of the San Francisco earthquake, I knew you would change my identity as much as the earthquake and fire transformed the city. I hope one day you will read this work and recognize the passion your mom has for her profession and find that for yourself. Finally, I would never have started this dissertation without the love and support of my husband, Jason. The commitment we made to each other almost sixteen years ago did not include a dissertation, but you accepted it as par for the course. I will probably never fully understand the level of devotion and the measure of sacrifice you have made to see this thing through, but I am forever grateful. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements....................................................................................iv Table of Contents.......................................................................................vii Abstract......................................................................................................viii Introduction................................................................................................1 Chapter One: “It is in San Francisco because she knows how”: The Panama Pacific International Exposition and the Struggle for an Urban Identity..................................................24 Chapter Two: “Oh if the Germans would only quit”: The Soldiers in San Francisco........................................................56 Chapter Three: “Mayor of All the People”: James Rolph and Municipal Governance......................................100 Chapter Four: “You have not invested till it hurts”: City Businessmen and the Chamber of Commerce.......................139 Chapter Five: “Labor’s voice must be heard and heeded”: San Francisco’s Organized Labor..................................................180 Chapter Six: “There is no longer a hyphen. .”: Living in a City of Immigrants.......................................................224 Conclusion: “Keep alive the memory of sacrifices”: San Francisco’s New Identity........................................................272 Bibliography..............................................................................................307 vii Abstract This dissertation examines the identity crisis that the city of San Francisco experienced in the decade following the 1906 earthquake and fire and how the Great War intensified the debate over what urban characteristics should define the city in the future. The dual disasters of 1906, coupled with the economic and demographic growth of other cities along the Pacific Coast, compelled San Franciscans to search for ways to maintain their status as residents of the central metropolis of the Far West. However, by the time the United States declared war in April 1917 it was apparent that no city on the West Coast could reign supreme. As San Franciscans created a public image of patriotism and support for the Great War, they also continued to battle with each other over how to develop a modern metropolis that paid homage to its storied past while promoting future progress. The diversity of the San Francisco populace, the cornerstone of the city’s development and identity since the Gold Rush days, fostered ideological conflict as individuals sought to define themselves, in part, by the city in which they lived. While labeling individual residents as members of a particular subset based on categories such as occupation, political party, neighborhood, or religion is impossible, this dissertation seeks to explain the divergent thoughts within the populace regarding urban identity by focusing on key institutions and groups whose views stood in starkest contrast. The Great War created an opportunity for residents to promote San Francisco as the “City that Knows How,” but the war also exposed fears that, beyond helping the nation win a war, San Franciscans did not know what else their city could do. viii Introduction When it came time to select a topic for my dissertation, I knew I wanted to examine the effects of World War I on the American people. In searching through resources for my master’s thesis on masculine rhetoric and the Great War, I came across the diary of an Oklahoman, Harry Brill, who enlisted in the army in 1917. In his journal, he detailed the months he spent at a training camp in Louisiana, particularly the monotony of camp life and the entertainment found in the nearby town of Alexandria.1 When I began thinking about my dissertation, my thoughts returned to Brill’s experience in Louisiana and the wartime intersection of civilian life and military expansion. Many of Brill’s contemporaries suggested, and at times bemoaned the fact, that their peers paid scant attention to the war in Europe. However, it seems unlikely that residents living near military encampments could ignore the war. On any given day of the week, such communities would have witnessed men dressed