Berkeley 1900: Daily Life at the Turn of the Century

Berkeley 1900: Daily Life at the Turn of the Century

Since its initial publication a decade ago,  Berkeley 1900: Daily Life at the Turn of the Century  has captivated readers with its unprecedented blend of serious history, fascinating images, and heartfelt storytelling. Its eyewitness accounts and unique views of Berkeley a hundred years past show how profoundly the landscape, culture, economy, and social values of modern Berkeley have been shaped by what came before. In this special tenth-anniversary edition, readers will discover a wealth of new source quotes and nearly 200 additional photos, making  Berkeley 1900  more than ever the definitive account of a pivotal time in the life of one of America's most beloved cities. If Berkeley had the good sense of the Japanese to recognize outstanding citizens as national treasures, Richard Schwartz would get my vote. Professionally a building contractor, Schwartz somehow finds time to explore Berkeley's past via its newspapers, archives, and maps. He has returned from that forgeign land to self-publish gracefully written and handsome books filled with period illustrations of his discoveries. Those books not only reveal to us a place we thought we knew but are testimony to Schwartz's deep love for his adopted town. I am grateful for his generousity in sharing his wealth." Dr. Gray Brechin, Historical Geographer, University of California, Berkeley "It's so COOL! And fun to browse through. What an epic journey! I've been reading it tonight. So much scandal, blood and gore, Fires! I love it!" The Milagro Bean Field War author John Nichols, (born in Berkeley) commenting upon reading Berkeley 1900 (The Milagro Bean Field War book was adapted into the film directed by Robert Redford) For over two decades, I have worked as a building contractor in Berkeley, California. Over the years, having worked on and visited hundreds of houses, I have often blurred my eyes and imagined the crews constructing each house--especially those of the 1800s and of the early 1900s: the carpenters arriving early each day to sharpen their hand saws, their conversation on lunch breaks, the laborers staking barrels of plaster and, finally, Berkeley families of yesterday moving into completed homes with their clothing, toys, photographs and often a goat or goose. Today as I work on these houses, I feel a connection to the builders, their occupants and the times. In 1976, I worked for the U.S. Forest Service in the Sierra fighting fires. We were often in areas that were littered with artifacts from old logging camps or Native American summer villages. As I worked, I sensed the lives of the people who lived there. I returned many times to reexperience the stirrings of the past. In 1986, I visited a sixty-five-foot circle of roughly piled stones that had originally been in Stampede Valley, north of Truckee,California. The mystery of who built it and why clung to me. I took a year off to research the stone circle's origin. It became my first book, The Circle of Stones. Almost a decade and a half later, I was led by my curiosity again. At the suggestion of my friend Steve Brett, I visited the Berkeley Historical Society to see a turn-of-the-century film of a streetcar in Berkeley. I was riveted. Later, as I perused the Society's collection of photographs of old Berkeley, I saw fields where there are now entire neighborhoods. The university was rolling grassland crossed by the willows of Strawberry Creek. Through these pictures, I experienced the past of my adopted home. On my third visit to the Berkeley Historical Society, docent Burl Willes mentioned that someone had donated a two-foot stack of old Berkeley Daily Gazette newspapers from about 1900 to 1909. The Society could not keep them because of the risk of mold spreading to their other collections. I couldn't imagine these papers being thrown away, so I offered to take them. Though I didn't know it, that was the beginning of Berkeley 1900. In these pages you will learn of much more than just Berkeley's people. Whales still roamed the Bay in 1900. Bears and rattlesnakes could turn up anytime. For the first time horses were having to share Shattuck Avenue with automobiles. Horses caused many more injuries and deaths than the occasional automobiles. Telephones, electric lights, indoor plumbing and automobiles were marching into Berkeley and the nation. The news articles in the Gazette detailed lives of average Berkeley citizens and their world at the turn of the century. Though the newspapers are now crumbling, this book and all of us might pass their stories on. It was out of respect for these Berkeley predecessors, the people whose footprints are still under ours somewhere, that I was moved to write this book. By giving us the raw data with which the history of place is constructed, Richard Schwartz has revealed both a time and a town that some of us only thought we knew. Newspaper articles and advertisements, as well as vintage photographs, permit the reader to view Berkeley's past without