San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

We wish you a fun and safe Independence Day! Please plan ahead and #RecreateResponsibly as we’re expecting a busy weekend along the San Francisco waterfront. Parking in the park will be closed in preparation for the 4th of July fireworks event. We thank you for helping to keep our parks clean and litter-free! #FindYourPark #EncuentraTuParque #CalMaritime #July4th Caption: Fireworks exploding with the rigging of Balclutha in the foreground. San Francisco CA, 1999. NPS Photo.

Please join us to learn how to explore our park in a new way!

A New Tradition Built from the Old In this age of technology, what has stayed the same? The tenuous thread of tradition was almost lost with the loss of the great sailing ships and the sailors who crewed them. Read how maritime museums saved the last of the square-riggers and how volunteers did the work to bring them back to life. In the process, a new tradition was built from the old and the ships are still with us today. ... Check out the blog at: https://go.usa.gov/x6Nm4 What are the benefits of preserving or conserving old things like ships, buildings, piers or traditional trades? #AgeOfSail, #Balclutha, #BlockAndTackle, #CalMaritime, #MaritimeHistory Caption: Volunteer riggers at work, Moore Dry Dock, Alameda. (unknown date). Balclutha main deck, a large treble tackle fastened to the pinrail and the rigging with the line (rope) stretching across the deck. Various blocks (pulleys), wires, and lines lie on the deck as sailors work with them. NPS Museum Number Catalog : SAFR 21374

DATE: Saturday, June 26 TIME: 11am-12:30pm Pacific Daylight Time WHAT: Irish and Scottish Fiddle Concert, featuring Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh and Alasdair Fraser. Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, a native of Co. Donegal, Ireland, is renowned as one of the leading exponents of Donegal fiddle music and a founding member of the band Altan.... Alasdair Fraser is known all over the world as one of the finest Scottish fiddle players ever. #EnglishFolkMusic, #40YearsOfChanteys, #40YearsOfShanteys, #CalMaritime, #chanteys, Image of Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, Alasdair Fraser and a guitar player performing live before an audience. (Image from YouTube video.)

Maritime Education for Students of the Sea (MESS) Next virtual broadcast, Thursday, 6/24/21 at 11 a.m. For information: visit https:maritime.org The Life of Benjamin Harrison Fletcher by Labor Historian Peter Cole... Benjamin Harrison Fletcher ranks among the greatest African Americans of the early 20th century and top echelon of Black unionists in all of US history. Despite that era’s rampant racism, anti-unionism, and xenophobia, Fletcher helped to found and lead thousands of fellow Philadelphia dockworkers in Local 8, an affiliate of Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). If one has heard of militant Black American organizers of the 1960s, like Fred Hampton, Ella Baker, or Stokely Carmichael, one should know about Fletcher. Peter Cole shares this history of Fletcher and labor power to fight racism and xenophobia. Peter Cole is a professor of history at Western Illinois University (USA) and a research associate in the Society, Work and Development Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). He is the author of the award-winning Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area and Wobblies on the Waterfront: Interracial Unionism in Progressive-Era Philadelphia. He edited Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly and coedited Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW. He is the founder and codirector of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project. MESS are informal lunchtime lectures that showcases maritime knowledge, research and skills. The program is a partnership of San Francisco Maritime National Park Association and San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The ongoing virtual, live lecture series takes place on the last Thursday of every month at 11 a.m. (PDT). #AfricanAmericanHistory, #AfricanAmericanStudies, #BlackEducators, #BlackEducatorsMatter, #BlackStudies, #BlackTeachers, #BlackTeachers Matter, #BookRecommendations, #FindYourPark, #LaborArchives, #LaborHistory, #LibraryAndArchives, #OutdoorAfro Caption: Photograph of Benjamin Harrison Fletcher, a Black unionist and founder of the dockworkers union Local 8, an affiliate of Industrial Workers of the World.

Happy Juneteenth! Though President Lincoln on January 1st, 1863 declared all people free from slavey in the states and areas of rebellion against the US, freedom didn’t happen without military enforcement. On the second day of his command of the Texas District, and 2 1/2 years later, US Major General Gordon Granger declared to the people of Galveston that all enslaved people were indeed free. Upon hearing the news, the spontaneous celebration by Blacks on June 19, 1865 or Ju...neteenth is the oldest known celebration of the abolition of slavery in the United States. NPS celebrates Juneteenth with articles, the film 20 & Odd, and links to resources to learn more about the Places of Struggle, Community and Triumph! Dive deep into the rich history of Blacks which is American History at this link, https://go.usa.gov/x6Q4R. #AfricanAmericanHeritage, #AfricanAmericanHistory, #AfricanAmericanStudies, #BlackEducators, #BlackEducatorsMatter, #BlackStudies, #BlackTeachers, #BlackTeachersMatter, #FindYourPark, #Juneteenth, #outdoorafro Caption: Members of the interracial crew who sailed on the tall ship RATHDOWN.

Get ready for the next free, monthly chantey sing! Grab a cool beverage, download a virtual background, and get into the maritime mood for another afternoon of salty sea songs. Hundreds of people have gathered at the park for the chantey sings for more than 40 years; the exact date when they started is a mystery. So, we are celebrating this maritime tradition all year long with virtual chanteys and special guest appearances. Next Event Date: Saturday, June 19, 11:00AM (PDT) F...or more information, visit https//maritime.org. #EnglishFolkMusic, #40YearsOfChanteys, #40YearsOfShanteys, #CalMaritime, #chanteys Caption: ALICE built in 1891, Tacoma, WA, circa 1903-1905. Looking aft on main deck; crew and officers posing for group portrait. Man with accordian. e72e7dd9-3097-434a-b46f-2bb392f47483.

What does an honest day’s work mean to you? Virtual Tour: Chance and Fair Play This is a virtual tour of the ship Star of Alaska/Balclutha. We’ll explore the core ideas of equality and opportunity in the Alaskan fish canneries in the early 20th century. From 1904 1930 Star of Alaska traveled yearly to Alaska carrying fisherman and cannery workers. The differences in on-board working and living conditions between the fisherman and the cannery workers, divided by race and cla...ss, is a reminder that ocean travel does not just transport people and goods, but societies and their values. Join Rangers J.R. Earnest and Chris Edwards for the live virtual program on June 17 at 11:00am. When was a time you made a choice only because there’s was no other to make? #AlaskaHistory, #Balclutha, #CalMaritime, #CanneryWorkers, #EncuentraTuParque, #FindYourPark, #HydeStreetPier, #MaritimeHistory Caption: Black and white historical photograph of Star of Alaska entering Chignik Bay, Alaska. Sails furled, calm sea, glaciers and snow-capped jagged mountains in the background. Fred Heick Collection. Unknown date.

Plan Like a Park Ranger Top 10 Tips for visiting San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Your fun at a national park doesn’t start when you get here. With these Top 10 Tips for visiting San Francisco Maritime NHP, you’ll have fun learning about the park as you plan your trip. Now, you can be your family and friends’ personal park ranger with these Top 10 Tips on our website and on the NPS app. In one nifty guide, you’ll learn about historical ships and maritime museu...m, park hours, fees, what to do and see, kid friendly activities, accessible features of our park, parking, food, pets, restrooms and much more. Check out our Top 10 Tips before and during your trip on your mobile device: https://go.usa.gov/x6k2A. #PlanLikeAParkRanger, #ActiveSeniors, #EncuentraTuParque, #FamilyFun, #FindYourPark, #LatinoOutdoors, #OutdoorAfro, #ParkRX Caption: Park Ranger leading a tour with docents in the Maritime Museum Building (MMB) before the pandemic. The MMB is now open Wednesday Sunday, 10 a.m. 4 p.m.

The Golden Gate Bridge opened this day in 1937! You might know the beloved bridge is named not for its distinct orange color, but for the strait that it spans. But did you know the Golden Gate Strait got its name even before the Gold Rush... or that it was named after the Golden Horn of the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul... because the explorer who named the strait envisioned it as a gateway to trade with the Orient? Discover more fascinating tidbits about San Francisco’s m...ost famous landmark including how we might have wound up with a candy-cane or bumblebee-colored bridge in the Better Lives, Bitter Lies episode Chrysopylae. Listen to it here: https://www.nps.gov/podcasts/better-lives-bitter-lies.htm. #GoldenGateBridge #GoldenGateStrait #BlackPointCove #AsianAmericanPacificHeritageMonth #SanFranciscoHistory #MaritimeHistory #FindYourPark #EncuentraTuParque Photo credit: Golden Gate National Recreation Area, 2014. https://npgallery.nps.gov//8e2966cc6d84452ba4/original.jpg? Image Description: Colored, close-up photograph of supports beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. The water, sky, and mountain ranges in the distance are visible through the slats of the supports.

As #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth ends, how can you keep learning about Filipinos and Filipino Americans in Pacific maritime history? Some stories can be found in the park’s collections on American President Lines (APL). Like its predecessors, the Dollar and the Pacific Mail steamship companies, APL has carried people and cargo between the Western U.S. and Asia since the mid-1800s and Filipinos have been part of their passengers and crew. For example, two photos here show ...Filipinos aboard the luxury travel liner President Cleveland in 1955. A third photo features six sailors with their names inked onto the photo standing with Capt. Frank J. Sommer on the President Taft in 1924. Who were they? What are their stories? These are questions for Filipino American History Month and beyond! Like APL, Filipinos have a long history of trans-Pacific voyaging. October is celebrated as Filipino American History Month precisely because the first known Filipinos in the continental United States were galleon crew who landed in Morro Bay, California on October 18, 1587. The next APL container ship you see on San Francisco Bay is possibly crewed by modern-day Manila men too: today, 25% of the world’s seafarers are Filipino. View more photos from APL Records at https://calisphere.org/collections/801

Seize the opportunity to play Missions all over the Bay Area! Join Agent Seal from Agents of Discovery to explore Hyde Street Pier with San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park's fun and engaging Mission. Remember, if you complete 4 Missions, you will become a Bay Area Explorer and earn a special patch. Complete 7 Missions and have the chance to be entered in a draw to win a CA State Golden Poppy Annual Day Use Pass! Find out more here: https://agentsofdiscovery.com/bay-area-explorer/

When was a time you discovered more than you expected to? Ranger JR shows us a space on the steam tug Hercules that is always an eye opener for visitors. You can see his exact location on the second diagram image. From the outside, the Hercules does not seem such a big vessel. When visitors glance into the upper space of the boiler room this perception often changes. Glancing down through the deck grating, or down the ladderway, brings an appreciation for how much of Hercules... is below deck. As an ocean going tug, Hercules and her powerful machinery sits deep in the water. It’s not until you discover it for yourself that this is appreciated. Some visitors in fact, prefer not to step onto the grating as it seems so deep beneath it. But the space houses the boiler that breathed steam-life into all the machinery on the ship. From the main engine, to the smallest pump. This cavernous space is the heart of Hercules. After a first-hand look, when was a time you had to rethink your evaluation of something or someone?

Whether written as a creative outlet or as a way of recording daily life (or both), letters, journals, and diaries, penned at sea or ashore, offer later readers a fascinating glimpse of first-person history. During National Arts and Humanities Month, we offer these samples of prose from our collections: Gold Rush Families: San Francisco through Letters and Stories, sickness, gambling and the rough justice in 1850 San Francisco as recorded in correspondence between family ...members at https://www.nps.gov//histor/gold-rush-families-letters.htm; and Journals Detail Four Niantic Voyages, a study of four journals written between 1835 and 1840 by a talented diarist who sailed on the first four voyages of the iconic Gold Rush ship Niantic at https://www.nps.gov//his/nianticjournalsshorterversion.htm. #ArtAndHumanities #Literature #FindYourPark See more

What was a time when you just felt a need to jump into a job, get your hands dirty, and learn something by doing it? Ranger Chris certainly got his hands dirty on board the 1907 steam tug Hercules. Wanting to learn some typical steam engine related jobs, he volunteered to learn how to replace the packing of a steam valve in the vessel’s machine shop. You can see the location on the second composite image. Steam technology brought a host of new and very different jobs and skil...l sets to the Maritime trades compared to the age of sail. Keeping the machinery running smoothly was critical to performing the ship’s mission and doing it safely. The packing of a valve allowed the valve to do its job of controlling the flow of steam or liquid, but also prevented it from leaking out of the system, or failing outright. When worn down through regular wear and tear, the valve would need to be removed, taken apart, the old worn packing removed and replaced, and then reassembled. It was a typical, and often dirty, job. When was a time you volunteered for something and it ended up being more than you expected?

Great songs! Don't miss!

Happening now - our monthly, online Chantey Sing! Listen at https://maritime.org/events-home/chantey-sing/

When was a time you saw something completely out of its normal context? Where in the universe are Rangers JR and David?! If you are one of our regular followers, you might guess the correct answer, but if you don’t know much about us, then seeing Park Rangers aloft on a square-rigged sailing vessel is a big surprise. Most people think of Rangers and locations such as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, or Yosemite. Historical locations are sometimes a second thought, but aloft on ...an 1886-built ship is out of the normal. Here, JR and David are standing on the foot rope of the crossjack (pronounced crow-Jack) yard (horizontal pole) during a public demonstration. This is the lowest yard on the aft-most, or mizzen, mast of the full-rigged ship Balclutha. In the second composite image you can note the exact location. Even though the crossjack is the lowest yard, once you start a journey aloft, everything seems to be a long way down. Where are some other surprising places you’ve seen Park Rangers?

How interwoven are Filipino and American maritime heritage? Few examples might be as literal as Manila rope prized aboard ships from the 18th to 20th centuries for rigging, machinery rope, fishing nets, and whaling lines. (It gets a special mention in Moby Dick as stronger, more elastic, and more handsome and becoming to the boat than the hemp rope it phased out.) Though also called Manila hemp, the rope is crafted with fibers from abacá, a banana species native t...o the Philippines. Spaniards took advantage of it to rig galleons on the Manila-Acapulco trade, then pushed it on the world market after wars blocked European and American hemp supplies. By the 1900s, Manila rope dominated the Pacific; when the United States annexed the Philippines, it controlled and created abacá-producing regions for rope in naval, agricultural, and commercial use. The San Francisco-based Tubbs Cordage Company once the largest rope-making firm on the Pacific Coast invested in abacá, as the pictured advertisements (including a sign at Hyde Street Pier) show. It also opened a Philippine subsidiary, the Manila Cordage Company, that is still in business today. Abacá is no longer primarily used to make ship cordage, but it is still valued for construction and industrial uses as well as everyday items like Manila paper, folders, and envelopes, plus textiles, tea bags, and twine. #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth #FAHM2020 #FindYourPark Stereograph Images: Manila hemp industry, Philippines: Loading a vessel. ca. 1906. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2002714930/. Manila hemp industry, Philippines: Filipino rope factory, hacking the fiber. ca. 1906. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2002714932/.

What was a time you did something just for the raw experience of it? Looking at the first image here... where in the world do you think Ranger JR is? He is tightly enclosed by piping, valves, and machinery. He cannot fully stand up and in simply getting to his location he had to perform some contortionism. This is a space on the museum submarine USS Pampanito (SS-383), run by the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association. You can see the exact spot in the second image ...showing the ship plans of the Pampanito’s sister ship USS Sand Lance. Located at Pier 45 in San Francisco, Rangers occasionally visit the Pampanito and on one occasion, we really wondered what it was like to actually maneuver ourselves into this space in the forward engine room, outboard of the starboard diesel engine. This is a space the crew of the boat occasionally would have needed to crawl into for maintenance and repair needs. We wondered What was that experience like? So, we decided to find out. Cramped and claustrophobic indeed! Though we were fortunate not to need to do this at sea or in the rough conditions that the crew had to deal with. When was a time your appreciation of something went sky-high after having attempted it yourself?

Whether personified, as a metaphor, or simply employed as a backdrop, artists frequently use water the sea, the ocean - to help tell their stories. For National Arts and Humanities Month, we invite you to listen to the very different tacks these poets have taken when approaching their subjects from across the waves: e. e. cummings (https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm), Samuel Taylor Coleridge (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YciYRPqeLE), Eugene Field (https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm), John Masefield (https://www.nps.gov//l/historyculture/a-wanderers-song.htm), and A.E. Poe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R84RMKVFHnA) #ArtAndHumanities #Literature #FindYourPark

#MusicMonday recommendation: prepare to raise your voice at the West Coast's longest running public sea chantey sing-along - now gone virtual! The singing begins at noon PT this Saturday, October 24 courtesy of the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association. Old salts will hear new twists on some favorites; greenhorns will discover a musical tradition that mixes driving worksongs and sweet ballads. Check https://maritime.org/events-home/chantey-sing/ for viewing instructions, historic virtual backgrounds, and a "Chantey Pathfinder" https://go.nps.gov/chanteypathfinder of research into recordings, books, and journal articles about music of the sea.

Happy 54th birthday to the National Historic Preservation Act! Since 1966, the NHPA has saved the structures and landscapes that serve as witnesses to our national narrative: America’s aesthetics, identity, and the legacy of its storied past. The NHPA also created the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (https://www.achp.gov/) and the National Register of Historic Places (https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/index.htm). Try using this link to search for some hi...storic places near you (https://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp)! Image from the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)/ Historic American Engineering Record (HAER)/ Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) collection in the Library of Congress: View of port bow of ship berthed at Alaska Packers' yard, Alameda. Wm. Muir collection. (B2.28240) - Ship BALCLUTHA, 2905 Hyde Street Pier, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA.

John C. Fremont referred to the entrance to San Francisco Bay as the "Golden Gate to the Orient." What happened when ships passed through on their way to build empires on the other side of the ocean? "Little Brown Brothers," our latest Better Lives, Bitter Lies podcast episode, examines a chapter of United States history, beginning with the Spanish-American War, that brought the US government to Asia and Filipinos to California -- both realizing their own distinct version of the American Dream. Listen to this fascinating story by subscribing to Better Lives, Bitter Lies on the Apple Podcast app. You can also listen now on the park's website: https://www.nps.gov/safr/learn/photosmultimedia/podcasts.htm. #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth #HispanicHeritageMonth #FindYourPark