An invitation to celebrate S.F.’s storied centenarian
Many San Franciscans surely associate City Hall with self-absorbed politicians, endless Board of Supervisors meetings, moneygrabbing bureaucrats and dopey policy initiatives.
In short, City Hall is already two four-letter words, and we’re sure a third one has been inserted in front every now and then.
But this week is all about City Hall the building, not City Hall the political stew. The glorious, awe-inspiring Beaux Arts structure is turning 100 — and everybody’s invited to the birthday party on Friday. Regardless of what you think of the politicians inside it, it’s hard to argue with the near perfection of the building itself.
“This is truly a masterpiece that should be cherished by all people,” said Ellen Schumer, City Hall’s official historian and manager of its docent program. “When you walk in here, you are in one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.”
Like any 100-year-old, City Hall has plenty of stories. Many you’ve already heard, but some you surely haven’t. We sought out some experts to reveal little-known tidbits of the past century under the dome.
Perhaps the most infamous day in City Hall history was Nov. 27, 1978, when Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were killed by former Supervisor Dan White. But there are other horrific, lesser-known events that happened there as well.
The building hosted a Nazi rally in 1935 — apparently organized by the German Consulate — and a photograph by John Gutmann shows a giant swastika flag hanging from the second-floor bannister.
Another dark day was May 13, 1960, when City Hall hosted a hearing by the House Un-American Activities Committee, which was traveling the country trying to root out communism.
College students protested the hearings, and police turned fire hoses on them, literally washing them down the huge marble staircase inside the building and hitting them with clubs. The protest made national news and is credited with starting the Free Speech Movement in Berkeley.
“Today, you and I can’t imagine something like that happening in San Francisco, much less in City
Hall,” said Jim Yager, a former producer at KQED who is making a documentary of City Hall’s 100 years. It is set to debut at City Hall on Nov. 18 and air on KQED afterward.
On the brighter side, City Hall has hosted countless weddings — most famously the 2004 same-sex weddings started by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom in violation of state law. Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe married there in 1954. Artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo took out a marriage license there.
Several movies have been filmed at City Hall, including “Dirty Harry,” “A View to a Kill” and “Milk.” Guess which movie used the grand staircase at City Hall as a stand-in for one in Washington, D.C.: “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
Yager said it’s the sheer range of events that have taken place in the building that drew him to it as the subject for a documentary.
“Obviously, there’s a dark side and a light side of this story, and we hope to touch on both of those elements,” he said. “We’re hoping to not only talk about all the wonderful things, but some of the struggles that have taken place, too.”
It’s Schumer’s job to describe those key moments, as well as other City Hall factoids, to tourists who make the San Francisco’s seat of government a key stop on their vacations.
She said she’s most often asked about the dome and why — oh, why? — can’t tourists walk up to the top? (People can walk up to the top if they have the right connections — most often an invite from a supervisor — but it’s not open to the general public.)
It’s not part of the City Hall tour because the dome isn’t accessible to disabled people. (The Americans with Disabilities Act, by the way, is also celebrating a big birthday this year. It’s turning 25.)
“The dome was not built for public access,” Schumer said, describing the staircase that goes to the top as metal and spiral “like a slinky.”
And yes, it’s true that the dome is the tallest in the United States at 307.5 feet — taller than the U.S. Capitol dome by about 19 feet.
Schumer said tourists are also often confounded that the mayor doesn’t work in the gorgeous Board of Supervisors chambers and that most of those people walking around in black robes marrying couples are not actual judges. (The Superior Court judges used to work at City Hall, but are now stationed across the street on McAllister.)
She said she also gets asked regularly if President Warren Harding, who died in 1923 at the Palace Hotel, lay in state at City Hall. There are some online references to that, but don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. The proper, always impeccably dressed Schumer flashed a stern look as if to say that’s simply ridiculous.
“You’re talking about moving a non-embalmed body around,” she said. “No!” (Harding’s body was taken back to Washington, D.C., via a “funeral train,” and he lay in state there.)
Schumer also pointed out that the big golden clock across from the grand marble staircase was designed by Albert Samuels. (The watchmaker commissioned the famous Market Street clock that stands on the sidewalk near Powell Street.)
Schumer said that Samuels’ City Hall clock is unusual in that the number four is not written in the typical Roman numeral style of IV, but is written as IIII. Also, the V’s in other numbers are inverted.
“He designed a one-of-akind clock for a one-of-a-kind city, and one would expect nothing less,” Schumer said.
Samuels’ grandson, Peter Samuels, runs a jewelry business in Palm Springs and said his late grandfather was good friends with a string of San Francisco mayors and that he was always pleased with his City Hall timepiece.
“It’s something he really took pride in,” he said.
Susan Goldstein, city archivist at the San Francisco Public Library, said the combination of City Hall’s beautiful outside and the rich history that’s taken place inside has made for an unforgettable century.
“I think it’s great we’re commemorating it,” she said. “It’s a way for people to learn more about the history of the city.”
Yager, the documentarian, agreed.
“It isn’t all light and joy, but it is in fact a symbol of a kind of vision of San Francisco that we all want to have of our city,” he said.
Gorgeous on the surface and roiling with fascinating history and controversy underneath? Yep, sounds about right.