Inside the Outside Lands

Some came because they wanted a peek inside the Old Mint. Some came because they were “history nerds,” affiliated with a group or groups, and wanted to learn of other local history organizations. Some heard or read there was a free event on the weekend and thought they’d drop by to check it out. But everyone I talked to was excited and amazed and pleased as pisco punch about the San Francisco History Expo this past weekend of February 12-13, 2011.

Crowds Stream in for the History Expo

My great congratulations to the the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society who pulled it off. The publicity and outreach to groups, the coordination of the huge crowds of 1,700 people each day (some fire code worries there), paying for the electricity, cleaning up after the crowds… it was a lot of work. I think the SFMHS was a little stunned at the turnout and enthusiasm.

I had been talking about such an event for about three years or so, usually in the form of griping. It’s very easy, if ignoble, to debate what other people should do, and I often dropped into complaining that an unmet priority of SFMHS should be support and fostering of neighborhood history.

San Francisco is more than the Gold Rush, the Earthquake, the Beats, and the Summer of Love. I worry that the San Francisco Museum planned for the Old Mint will have displays only on those topics tossed together with cultural tips of the hat to local ethic and gay/lesbian history. Oh, don’t forget a gift shop and café.

Not that all of those items aren’t important for a San Francisco Museum (especially the café), but where is the place for locals, for San Franciscans with roots in the many amazing neighborhoods? There are groups across the city, from Potrero Hill to Ocean Beach, North Beach to Bernal Heights, that struggle along documenting and sharing history. There are collectors of old photos and collectors of oral histories, preservationists and genealogists, antiquarians and story-tellers, all immersed in San Francisciana, that could find in the Old Mint a place to connect. Unfortunately, there have been divides and differences and some jealousies, suspicions, and grudges that have kept apart some of these groups. I hoped that a large History Day in which everyone shares their love of San Francisco history with the general public, and each other, might help us all move forward, and the Old Mint could be a rallying site.

The success of last weekend validated this idea. Thank you SFMHS for listening to we smaller groups, including us in the planning, making sure the admission was free, and hosting a terrific weekend. San Franciscans are obviously interested in history. Let’s use our new connections and shared enthusiasm to give the people what they want.

Western Neighborhoods Project Exhibit