Guide to the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection
Based on the materials in this collection, there are several historical narratives evident. The most prominent being the extent of mass destruction the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, and fires that directly resulted from this Earthquake, had on the city. Through the information present, most of the city was wrecked, with buildings both either completely destroyed or severely damaged resulting in people being left homeless and without the necessary resources to survive. Entire streets lined with buildings, including houses and stores, were wrecked affecting complete neighborhoods. As a result of this, there had been refugee camps set up in addition to a relief line to aid those affected by the earthquake. In addition, access to transportation would have been limited as streets surfaces had cracked under pressure and debris blocked roads. People would have been trapped and helpless. Compared to today, buildings are much more secure and earthquake prone, especially in the state of California, where earthquakes are common.
There would be several facts missing from my narrative if I had based it entirely on these records of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Even though there is an abundance of pictures available documenting the effects of the earthquake and fire that pursued, there are a lot more unanswered questions that can lead to useful information about the event. We receive limited context with the information we are given. We know who the photographer is and the general idea of what the picture is about but what we do not know is the background information. Some examples being: what was the total cost of damages to public and private property, how long did it take to clean up the debris and open the roadway for normal transportation to resume, how many casualties and injuries resulted from the earthquake, what was the environment and life like for those who lost their property? These are all important questions that these simple photographs cannot give a definite answer to.
There are several sources that would be of great benefit to find the information we are missing. One way would be to use online sources such as databases, digital archives, and even search engines to find the missing historical facts about the event. Another way would be to find books and records at the local library that talk about the history of San Francisco and specifically about the 1906 Earthquake.
Excellent work, I also agreed with the fact that the archival collection could have provided more in-depth information with regards to the photos. That being said I do feel as though the collection does give the reader an excellent foundation in which he/she can research any information. Great post!
This is a really in-depth analysis of the collection. Although there is a vast amount of content in this collection, I agree that it is quite limited. Most of the content seems to primarily be photographs, which although it is important to see the damage of earthquakes, other factors of earthquakes also should be included in this collection to provide a more in depth look at the San Francisco earthquake crisis. I think the collection would benefit from including primary sources specifically interviews with people who are survivors of these earthquakes as well as more scientific data on the earthquakes themselves.