Local Historian is Youngest Author of 'Historic Photos' Series

By Dmitry Kiper

It is daytime. Some men are wearing three-piece suits and bowler hats. Some have dark, dirty pants and vests on. There are also a few girls in the crowd, some wearing long dresses and hats with bows.

They're all standing outside a saloon - founded in the 1850s - that featured taxidermy, live monkeys, kangaroos and a trained parrot "legendary for its fondness for alcohol and ability to curse in four different languages."

In her new book, "Historic Photos of San Francisco," Richmond District resident Rebecca Schall - who, at 25 years old, is the youngest author ever published by the "Historic Photos" series - writes: "From its founding, San Francisco has been a haven for eccentrics, mavericks and curious individuals."

"Historic Photos of San Francisco" is no average coffee-table book. Many of the captions for its 200 photos are large paragraphs full of rich, well-researched historical facts and anecdotes from the 1860s to the 1960s.

"This is not the kind of book that you'd quickly flip through," said Schall. One photograph from 1861 shows a pro-Union rally at the intersection of Market and Montgomery streets. The rally was a reaction to rumors "that Confederate sympathizers would commit acts of sabotage at strategic San Francisco targets."

Schall wrote her undergraduate thesis on the role of San Francisco in the Civil War. And because so few people are familiar with this subject, she gets especially excited when talking about it. But anytime she talks about San Francisco history, she is ready to leap off the chair.

"My friends know that when they're around me, there'll be some sort of history lesson," she said.

Despite her love of San Francisco, she doesn't romanticize the City. Discrimination against Chinese workers, the incarceration of Japanese residents Ð most of them citizens -during World War II, and a shoot-to-kill order issued by the mayor after the 1906 earthquake are all included in the book. There are also many references to saloons, hold-ups, murders, opium dens, brothels and gambling halls.

Although most captions are full of fascinating and insightful historical details, the page-long chapter introductions - there are seven - have occasional bursts of optimism usually found in high school history books.

Schall has light olive-green eyes, side-parted wavy brown hair and high cheek bones, like Mia Farrow. From a very young age, she preferred history to fairy tales. She became fascinated with San Francisco history at the age of five when she discovered old photos of the Sutro Baths, Playland and Ocean Beach.

She loved the contrast between how tame and quiet - or non-existent - these places are and how busy and exciting they once were.

"It was amazing to me that these places existed," she said. "I wanted to go back to old San Francisco."

Her father, Gerald, greatly encouraged her love of history. "Some fathers are interested in fishing, and they teach their kids to fish," he said. "I was interested in art and history, so I took her to Europe."

Schall has traveled to Europe and all over the states nearly every summer since she was six years old. As a teenager, she saw Napoleon's stuffed horse at a museum in Paris, which, she said, made the past seem less abstract. She would often ask her grandparents and the parents of her parent's friends for their personal history.

Her interest in history was primarily an interest in people. Schall became a "self-educated San Francisco historian" by reading dozens of history books about the City.

As a college student, she became increasingly involved with San Francisco's historic landmarks. One summer, she worked on an archeological dig in the Presidio uncovering the remains of an early 19th-century house. It was a dirty job. In order to sift through the dirt for tiny historic materials - often with the help of a high-pressure hose - Schall wore a heavy raincoat and rubber boots.

A few summers later, as a graduate student at San Francisco State University, she helped design exhibits at Mission Dolores. Built by Ohlone Indian workers in 1791, it is the oldest building in the City.

The research for "Historic Photos" was a full-time job that took Schall several months. Besides poring over history books, old newspapers, posters and ads, she interviewed many seniors and went to many of the sites where the photographs were taken. While looking through various photo books, she noted what their captions said and made an effort to say something new and insightful.

For Schall, the book is about the people of San Francisco.

"When I see a picture of Ocean Beach in 1901 with horses and carriages, and women in Victorian-style dresses, I realize that San Francisco once belonged to them," she said. "Now San Francisco is a part of me. But one day, people will look at pictures of 2007 with a sense of antiquity."

For more information about "Historic Photos of San Francisco," $39.95, contact Lisa Francis at Turner Publishing at (615) 255-2665 or go to the Web site at www.turnerpublishing.com.