“I killed the president because he was the enemy of the good people – the good working people,” were among Czolgosz’s last words before being executed.
Looking Back: William McKinley Monument
Looking Back: Portals of the Past
The phrase “Portals of the Past” for the surviving Towne mansion entrance is attributed to contemporary writer Charles K. Field. In 1906, Field contributed articles to Sunset magazine, a Southern Pacific Railroad promotional tool. Field later became an editor and owner of Sunset.
‘Looking Back’: John McLaren
McLaren, born on Dec. 20, 1846 in Scotland, finished his basic schooling at age 14 and looked for outdoor work. His first job was gardening at a small estate. After a few years of experience, McLaren moved on to working at a larger estate before enrolling as a student in the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh one winter.
Looking Back: William D. McKinnon
Why is it so hard to get a good look at Chaplain William D. McKinnon’s face on his monument in Golden Gate Park? How could the McKinnon Monument Committee and the San Francisco Parks Commission have disagreed so strongly over whether or not that statue should even be in the park?
Looking Back: Forester Monument
The monument, made of white Italian marble, was planned to serve as a fountain for people and horses, according to Chris Pollock’s book on Golden Gate Park.
Looking Back: Baseball Player
Although the current baseball season isn’t its normal self, you can go to Golden Gate Park and visit the monument that celebrates baseball to conjure up some feelings of baseball nostalgia.
Looking Back – Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant’s bust was seen as underwhelmingly smallish when first revealed in December 1896. A San Francisco Planning Commission report from 2005 on Golden Gate Park for the National Register of Historic Places said that patriots seeing the Grant monument would “feel their breasts swell with pride.” How could attitudes change so strongly that the bust was angrily pulled down in 2020?
Looking Back – Starr King
When America faced healthcare challenges during the Civil War, Starr King rallied Californians to pitch in. In 1862, King made fundraising speeches and raised more than $1 million on behalf of the United States Sanitary Commission canvassing California and the whole Northwestern coast up to Vancouver Island …
Looking Back – Ludwig van Beethoven
Kinen Carvala looks back at the history of the Beethoven statue in Golden Gate Park.
Looking Back – Pioneer Mother
Kinen Carvala helps give the women pioneers of the west some of the credit they deserve.
Looking Back – Link to a List of Stories Exploring the History of San Francisco’s West Side
Link to “Looking Back,” a column by Kinen Carvala exploring stories about the history of San Francisco’s west side.
Looking Back – Robert Emmet
A statue near the Academy of Sciences celebrates Robert Emmet who is described on the statue’s base as “Irish patriot executed in Dublin.”
Looking Back – James Garfield
By Kinen Carvala Entering Golden Gate Park from Stanyan Street heading west, visitors might notice a huge monument that sits atop a large stone pedestal on the right side of JFK Drive, […]
Looking Back – Cervantes
The memorial has two life-size bronze statues of characters from Cervantes’ most famous novel, “Don Quixote.” The titular protagonist and his sidekick Sancho Panza are both kneeling and looking up at a larger-than-life bust of the author.
Looking Back – Roald Amundsen
Amundsen’s goals were to survey the Magnetic North Pole (which compasses point to) and sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, which required passing north of Canada through the dangerous Northwest Passage, a task which had never been successfully done.
