Hailey Rowe -Research Topic: San Francisco Earthquake in 1906
The topic I chose is the San Francisco Earthquake and fire that took place in 1906. This is known to be the deadliest earthquake in the history of the United States, it took place on April 8th in 1906 at 5:12 am, the shaking lasted about 60 seconds but this will be the worst 60 seconds for someone who had lived in San Francisco during this time and had to live with this trauma. This had ruptured about 296 miles northernmost of the San Andreas fault from the northwest of the San Juan Bautista. To show the strength of the shakes, in Germany they had a small earthquake all the way over there from the San Francisco Earthquake, they had measured the shake on a seismogram. This did not only destroy the city but it had taken those who lost their homes to live on tents and receive government aid until they were able to get back on their feet from the quake.
A city split in two
The sources I am relying on for my research are the National Archives, USGS : Science for a changing world, Library of Congress, California Perspective on American History, as well as History.com. All of these sources provide facts and evidence that each show a different side of the event that had occurred, they all give the same basic information such as the date and time that it had happened but each one gives a different perspective. The Article from California’s perspective on American History gives an insight on how this had occurred during the progressive era and explains who they had lost thousands of dollars of alcohol because of the fire as well as the earthquake that had caused a countless amount of damage. With these sources I get the environmental aspect, the citizen aspect, as well as another countries aspect on it since they had felt the shakes all the way in Germany and were able to track it on a seismogram from thousands of miles away.
My plan for the new couple weeks is to dig deeper and gain a better understanding of how this had truly affecting the environment aside from the damage from the earthquake and fire. I would like to research more on the fire and how that was caused since it is not as big of a focus or talked about as much as the earthquake.
This is a really good topic. As Californians we never know when the next "big one" is coming so topics like this should be studied in order to learn from them. Perhaps a way to continue to build on this topic is to describe some of the adjustments and improvements to things like infrastructure and education about earthquakes following the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake? I remember doing earthquake drills as a kid and having to go and walk down onto the field and line up so I think maybe things like that might be something to look into. The images are definitely striking. The one of the city split in two is somber and shows the devastating power that an earthquake can have. I found a book which details the first hand experiences of people taking it minute by minute. It won't let me put a link but the full book is available online through google scholar and it's called "The San Francisco Earthquake: A Minute by Minute Account of the 1906 Disaster". You have a great topic so far and I'm looking forward to seeing the final results! Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading through your blog post and really getting into your project, I think that this topic is a powerful and definitely historical topic which addresses many different aspects of environmental history. This is a very specific topic and argument which focuses on this one infamous San Francisco earthquake and its effect on people's homes, their ways of life, the economy, as well as the environmental effects of the destruction that occurred as a result of the earthquake. I think that this topic works very well as a historical argument since it is focused on a specific time and place within history as well as a historically destructive event that occurred which would go on to effect so many aspects of society.
ReplyDeleteThe source descriptions you provided seem to be very useful for your project and the variety of cites that you plan to use will definitely help you get those different perspectives that you talked about. I think that it is wise to also talk about how the fires that resulted from the earthquake affected the city and its resources, environment, and people living there, so it's good that you plan on furthering your research in that way. It's also very interesting that other countries were able to feel the earthquake and read it using a seismogram, and getting other countries' perspectives on this event would really help show how far the earthquake's effects had travelled throughout the world. When discussing the environmental effects, it may be useful to touch on how the fires and destruction affected the wildlife and their habitats as well as the water supply for the city etc.
For this specific project, I think that photographs from the earthquake showing the level of destruction and disruption of people's lives would really help give your argument more powerful evidence and context. I looked really quick on JSTOR and found some useful pictures. Here is a link: https://www.jstor.org/action/doImageSearch?Query=san+francisco+earthquake+1906
Looks great so far! Good luck on the research!
Hi Hailey! I really enjoy this topic and it seems like a good start to an interesting research poster. I can clearly see the historical aspect of the project- the history of the earthquake and how it affected not only the people living in the area, but people all over the world. It would be interesting to see this historical argument developed more through the history of infrastructure in the area and how that adapted due to this event. As for the environmental aspect of the project, I can see how major earthquakes like this can cause a major shift in the environment and in how people approach environmental issues. In order to develop this side of the argument more, I think it would be useful to talk about the many different environmental after effects of earthquakes. As for your sources, I think you’re off to a good start on where to look, however, I would recommend using more scholarly sources, as opposed to cites like history.com. JSTOR is a great resource for researching the history of the earthquake and the environmental effects of the event. I really enjoy the pictures you included, it really puts into perspective the intense damage this event had on the city. I believe it would be helpful to include a few maps- of the area affected by the earthquake, where the center of the earthquake was, etc. to show the scale of damage. Here are some helpful sources for your project.
ReplyDeleteThe first one discusses the earthquake and subsequent firestorms (this is helpful in developing the environmental argument): Starr, Kevin. “The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906: How San Francisco Nearly Destroyed Itself.” California History, vol. 83, no. 3, 2006, pp. 45–61. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25161821. Accessed 10 Feb. 2021.
This second one is about the community impact of the earthquake (This is helpful for developing the historical argument): Henderson, Andrea. “The Human Geography of Catastrophe: Family Bonds, Community Ties, and Disaster Relief After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.” Southern California Quarterly, vol. 88, no. 1, 2006, pp. 37–70. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41172296. Accessed 10 Feb. 2021.
Hi Hailey, I think that this is such an interesting topic to explore. The first things that came to my head were other towns that were destroyed by fire and had to rebuild such as Chicago and more recently Paradise, CA. What were the long term impacts of the destruction of the city? it might be useful to look at federal census records from 1900 and compare them to 1910 to see how demographics and population shifted. What were some cultural implications of the aftermath? You mentioned how people were living in tents, were there any sort of mutual aid societies or even government agencies that formed to help those affected? How did people themselves survive and rebuild? What were people's responses to the earthquake and fire itself? What reform happened in the wake of the destruction and how does that impact California today? I always look at newspapers to have a good sense of what culture was like and other world events happening that might impact the story I am trying to tell. This database has a lot of newspapers from all over the country covering the events in San Francisco, they might help shape some of your ideas
ReplyDeletehttps://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/pages/results/?state=&date1=1906&date2=1910&proxtext=san+Francisco+earthquake&x=24&y=13&dateFilterType=yearRange&rows=20&searchType=basic
Hi, I think this research topic is really good and interesting because earthquakes and fires are recurring events here in California. My research topic is a wildfire that occurred here in Southern California specifically in San Diego. So I have researched some of the effects that it had on the people and properties there. Kind of like the fire you are researching. Something that I am looking into is has there been anymore wildfires there? Maybe you can look at the preventive measures that they have been taking, and if they have better plans now for earthquakes. I honestly never heard of this earthquake happening in San Francisco, but I cannot wait for your poster so I can get more insight and learn much more. Some of the things you mentioned about the aftermath of the earthquake, reminds me of an earthquake that my parents experienced in Los Angeles in the eighties or nineties ( I do not remember the exact date). You talked about how people were living in tents and whatnot, my parents have told me stories about them and other people in Los Angeles having to live in their cars or tents because they were scared of aftershocks coming.
ReplyDeleteLike others mentioned, I believe more pictures of what happened after the earthquake would be helpful.
I found a site that talks about the earthquake and shows one during the fire.
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/1906calif/18april/