Presidio Commemorates 100th Anniversary of SF Earthquake

Presidio of San Francisco (March 29, 2006) — Join the Presidio Trust and National Park Service in commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

The Presidio will commemorate the 1906 earthquake with a free, daytime family event on Saturday, April 22 that includes the 91st Division Army Band, a presentation by the Red Cross on earthquake preparedness, and live period music and the outdoor exhibit, “Survivors: Life in an ’06 Quake Camp,” featuring tents set up to reflect the living conditions of earthquake refugees at the Presidio. Saturday’s activities begin at 11 am. The exhibit will be open weekends from noon to 4 pm beginning April 1.

The Trust will also host a free series of lectures about the 1906 Earthquake on Wednesdays from March 29 to April 19 at 7 pm in the Presidio Officers’ Club Moraga Room. Please join us for these interesting speakers and topics: Jack Boatwright, seismologist, United States Geological Survey, “The Devil’s Dance: Ground Shaking and Earthquake Effects in San Francisco from the 1906 Earthquake”; Andrea Davies Henderson, adjunct professor, Stanford University, “Discriminating Disaster Relief: Women and Minority Refugees after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire”; Frank Blackburn, San Francisco assistant fire chief, ret., “The Great 1906 Fire: Was it Inevitable?” and Richard Torney, descendant, “The Torneys of 1906.”

The final lecture on April 19, “The Torneys of 1906″, includes a special wine reception. The great grandson of Lt. Col. George Torney, a doctor at the Presidio who helped to prevent the spread of disease after the earthquake, shows rare family photographs of the three days following the quake and Jeff Bundshu of the Gundlach Bundschu Winery hosts a complimentary reception and reads family letters recounting the devastation to their family winery and home.”