(click each for larger)
Elbridge Ayer Burbank (1858-1949)
San Francisco Research Trip
23 June - 5 July 2011
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| Burbank's Streetcar | "Hotel Manx" |
Landing in San Francisco on Thursday afternoon, 23 June, I rode the BART system to the Powell Street station - and walked to my first stop, the California Historical Society building at 678 Mission Street. The staff was very helpful, showing me to their original (manual) card catalog, which contained many references not yet digitized to their on-line database. It was in this reference set I discovered they possessed a folder containing information about E. A. Burbank. They retrieved the folder and I found in it a single large newspaper article concerning his death. The article was from the S.F. Chronicle dated March 23, 1949, and provided a significant piece of information. We already knew Burbank had lived in the "Hotel Manx" at 225 Powell Street for almost twenty years, but I had read one article describing his room as being on the roof, while another article stated he had lived in the basement. The article specifically stated he had lived in a 8 by 12 foot room for 18 years ... room 809! The person in charge of the Historical Society's art collection stopped by to speak with me, revealing they do have some of Burbank's art - including an original pencil sketch of Will Rogers, which was the only piece on display. She provided a business card and indicated she would send me a spreadsheet detailing their Burbank holdings. I stopped to admire the Will Rogers piece on the way out.
List of California Historical Society holdings:
(See each image page for full credit)
All medium are graphite on paper
Missing images are in off-site storage...
No identified donor:
1. China Town, n.d., 8 x 12 inches; acc# 62-74-1-2
2. Colton Hall, Monterey, California, 1940, 8 -7/8 x 11 -1/2; acc# 69-43-1-2
3. Grant Ave., San Francisco Chinatown, 1940, 9 -5/8 x 12 -1/4; acc# 69-44-1-2
Gift of Joseph A. Baird, Jr.:
4. Napa River/Calif., 1928, 7 x 11; acc# 72-3-1-2
Gift of William S. and Polly Clark:
5. Ferry Building, SF, 1940, 8 -3/8 x 11 -1/4; acc# 85-3-1
6. Coit Tower, 1940, 11 -1/2 x 8 -3/4 (framed); acc# 85-3-2
7. Japanese Tea Garden, 1940, 8 -1/2 x 8 -5/8 (framed); acc# 85-3-3
8. Grant Avenue, Chinatown, SF, 1940, 8 -1/2 x 8 -5/8 (frame); acc# 85-3-4
9. Cliff House and Seal Rocks, 1940 8 -3/8 x 11 (framed); acc# 85-3-5
10. Will Rogers, 1940, 12 x 10 (framed); acc# 85-3-6
Given to CHS in 1936 by the artist (wow):
11. The Ferry Boat Apache, 1935, 10 x 13 -1/4
12. Star of England (ship), 1935, 10 -3/4 x 12 -1/4 [ship photos]
13. Iron Ships at Alameda, 1935, 9 -1/4 x 12 -1/2
14. Old Point Loma Lighthouse, 1935, 11 -1/4 x 12
15. Cement Drawbridge at Belvedere, Calif., 1935, 10 x 12 -1/4
I walked from the California Historical Society to the Villa Florence hotel, 225 Powell Street, where I had a reservation.
On my way, I noticed a very old "Wells Fargo Bank" and decided to see if it was their museum (I knew it was in S.F.). It was not, but an employee informed me it was not far. I set out again and soon discovered another old Wells Fargo Bank - only to learn I still needed to walk more. The third bank was a more modern building, housing the museum and a great old Wells Fargo Stage Coach. They did not have any Burbank art on display, but the employee there gave me the email address of the corporate curator. Off to the Manx!
My route now took me through Union Square, where I noticed the wonderful "Dewey Memorial", dedicated to Admiral Dewey (1837 - 1917).
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| Dewey Memorial | Villa Florence "Hotel Manx" |
Upon my arrival at the hotel, the desk clerk asked if I had a preference as far as floor. I asked if room 809 was available and was surprised to hear her respond that guest floors only went to the 7th floor. She continued,
I was shocked ... there IS an eighth floor, but guests are not allowed? She said something about old meeting rooms. I decided not to ask more questions since I had already made an appointment to meet with the hotel manager the next morning at 9 AM. I requested an "exterior room" on the seventh floor and took the tiny elevator up - I wondered if the elevator was an original ... and if Burbank had used it. When I reached the room, I discover the "exterior" view was to an interior area, too small to be a courtyard - more like an airshaft. I called and moved to an exterior room on the fourth floor - directly over the hotel entrance with a great view of Powell Street with its cable cars . "klang, klang". I went around the block to the UPS store and made several copies of the newspaper article from the Historical Society as well as color copies of Chief Black Coyote's wonderful portrait so I could provide them to anyone interested in Burbank's story. Back at the old "Manx", I left a copy of each for the hotel manager - so he would be more aware of Burbank prior to our meeting in the morning.
I met the manager on Friday morning. The first thing he said was,
We rode the elevator to the seventh floor, exited to the left, and made several turns. We stopped next to a flush-mounted doorway with a key lock, but no doorknob. The manager realized he did not have the key and called for the person in possession of the key to come to us. Soon the door opened. A VERY old stairway appeared - it could NOT have been painted since Burbank was alive! I'll be walking the same stairway Burbank used when he was in his 70s AND in his 80s AND the day he died... We ascended the stairs...
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| Door to 8th Floor | Stairway looking up | Stairway looking down | 8th Floor - One Big Room Now! | Original Floor Shows Where Walls Were |
As soon as our meeting was over, I walked to the Powell Street Station and boarded BART for Oakland. It was a surprisingly short walk from the Oakland BART Station to the Berkeley Campus. I stopped by the University Book Store for a T-shirt for my college age son, and went on to the Bancroft Library. I had previously contacted the library, and so once signed in, the staff began bringing out the items I had already requested. I had specifically requested to see the oil of Carmel Mission and was extremely disappointed to learn they do not move framed oils from storage to the library for viewing. I was most pleased to see the print of President Lincoln. While Siweka and (what I call) the unknown "Man with Glasses" showed Burbank's age (he was 87 when he painted the man with glasses), the original pencil sketch of Mr. Dollar is perfection.
For those unfamiliar with Burbank's Lincoln effort - he was printing and mailing a Lincoln print, at his own expense, to each library in every US city with a population of more than ten thousand.
In 1934 he was mailing to cities beginning with "N"'.
| University of California - Berkeley Bancroft Library (full credit is on main page for each image) |
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| Siweka | Mr. Dollar | Abraham Lincoln | Mission Carmel See also |
Man With Glasses - 1946 | ||||
The S.F. Public Library was only a few blocks away, and since they were open until 8, I decided to go and see what they might have. I had previously contacted them via e-mail, so the Special Collections staff had already done some thinking about which collections I should look through. They welcomed me and showed me where to start searching while retrieving the Burbank items from the special access area.
I was most pleased to discover the original pencil sketch of the Dewey Memorial in Union Square!
They also have one of the wonderful Mare Island foldouts (in need of framing and conservation if anyone out there wishes to call the SF library and make a donation!).
| San Francisco History Center San Francisco Public Library (full credit is on main page for each image) |
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Library's was not copied due to damage and fragile state. |
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Dewey Memorial |
Mare Island | |
Several more trips to the library revealed many SF Chronicle newspaper entries for Burbank. He had submitted several pencil sketches to the paper, which they were happy to publish.
I wonder where the originals are now?
The newspaper research area happens to be right next to their collection of original Telephone Books and City Directories!
| San Francisco Public Library | ||||||
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| 1935 | 1936 | 1937 |
1939 | |||
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| San Francisco Public Library | ||||||
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| 1943 | 1944 | 1945-46 |
1948-49 | |||
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One day, upon leaving the library, I decided to walk to 1123 Sutter Street - Halstead Funeral Home (now Halstead N. Grey-Carew & English, Inc.).
Halstead held Burbank's funeral in their Chapel. It was a Saturday, but when I rang the doorbell one of the Directors answered and invited me in.
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The Director allowed me to view and photograph their Chapel. I asked if they still had the original funeral documents.
She said "no", then informed me they had turned all their old documents over to a group associated with the Salt Lake City Genealogy folks (Hey, I know those guys!) - and gave me their website information.
I went to the website that night and downloaded Burbank's funeral documents.
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On the far West side of Golden Gate Park are three scenes sketched by Burbank. An electric streetcar was an easy ride over.
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| Dutch Windmill | GJOA Ship Monument (Ship was returned to Norway in 1972) |
Seal Rock | ||
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Looking for this one... CA Historical Society has it! |
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| Lots of beautiful areas in the Park | ||||
I took a bus out to the "Laguna Honda Home" where Burbank died. It is now the Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center. The original building is still there! Their website image features the newest wing. Be sure to watch their wonderful video (only a short view of the original gate and building)
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