Earthquake Exodus, 1906: Berkeley Responds to the San Francisco Refugees

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arthquake Exodus, 1906 tells the story of the ten-week relief effort in the East Bay after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. Within hours of the earthquake, the people of Berkeley began to organize a citizens’ committee, knowing that terrified masses of stricken refuges would pour into their town within hours. By revisiting both their challenges—smallpox, fires, and keeping public order—and acts of grace, such as taking in the homeless, setting up temporary camps, and dispensing food, Richard Schwartz illuminates a nearly forgotten episode in Bay Area history. Containing many breathtaking photos and illustrations not seen for nearly one hundred years, this new visual history offers up singularly human details of one of the nation’s most infamous disasters.
Reviews
“Even more compelling than the photos are the hundreds of stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things." Martin Snapp, Berkeley Voice
“Superb.” -Phil Wood, owner, Ten Speed Press
“A beautiful gem.” Malcolm Margolin, publisher emeritus and founder of Heyday