TRACY: Founder of the Sausalito Historical Society

Story by: Steefenie Wicks

The phone rang in the middle of the night, Fire Chief Steve Bogal putting in a call to his friend Jack Tracy, “Jack,” he said “You better get down here. I think that we just found a body.”   Jack got out of bed and was on site in less than 30 minutes.  He paced over to the area behind the movie theater on Pine Street, which now had a fire truck and 2 police cars on guard.   He nodded to the Chief, others walked over, kneeled down, took a look at the body that was now exposed from the wash-off.  He walked back over to the Chief who asked him, “What do you think?”  
“Miwok” Tracy replied, “I always said that there was a burial ground around here.”    As he walked off, one of the police officers turned to the Chief, asked, “ That the coroner?’  The Chief looked over at Tracy, as he climbed back into his car, “No,” he said, “that’s Jack Tracy, he’s the town historian, he started the Sausalito Historical Society .”
The above is taken from an interview I did with Jack Tracy back in 1990.  Tracy started the Sausalito Historical Society in 1975.   How he was able to accomplish this?  “I went to my personal friends asked for a donation of $5.00, they in turn went back, asked their friends and so on.  Before I knew it we had raised enough funds to successfully began the dream.”
The first event the organization put together was for the opening of the new City Hall building on Litho Street, where we sit today.  He was asked if it was possible to do a display that would spotlight the history of the town.  The display was an unbelievable success which opened at 7 in the morning and did not close till 7 pm that night.
Days later the Mayor approached Tracy, asked what he would need to start a Sausalito Historical Society, Tracy replied, “Permanent space!”
The next day Tracy toured the new City Hall building with the Mayor. They decided that the second floor would be the best place for the new organization.  This floor would eventually house a Victorian room, a Library of historic books, maps, paintings, glass bottles from the waters of Sausalito, chairs and tables from the first school, old fire men helmets and WWII goggles, along with the many objects collected from Sausalito families that made personal donations from their heritage.
Tracy wanted the Sausalito Historical Society to be a private organization with no money from the City, free from conflict with the political structure of the town.  He wanted this to be a Historical Society for the residents -- the people who he believed were making the Sausalito history of tomorrow. Tracy found that locals wanted to participate in helping to establish their history.  The fee to join the Historical Society was set at $5.00; Tracy did this because he felt that it made it easier for folks to donate at the end of the year.  These private donations of both money and artifacts helped get the organization established.  
Tracy felt that by preserving Sausalito’s past, you can tell were its life came from;
through the objects and artifacts on display at the Historical Society you can get a picture of what Sausalito’s past was like, maybe even a glimpse into her future.
Over the years the Sausalito Historical Society became a known entity of the City.  The reputation of Jack Tracy as a fundraiser is well noted, as is his ability to be gifted with some of the real treasures that exist in the Historical Society today.  His lasting efforts to establish the Marinship display at the Bay model and his book Sausalito Moments In Time are just two of his marks that he left on the history of the town.
But Tracy would never forgive me if I did not finished the story about the Miwok Indians of Sausalito:
Shortly after the bodies of the Miwok Indians were discovered, Tracy contacted some of the spokespeople from the local Miwok Indian Tribe and asked them to come to Sausalito, to bless the found area and the remains which were re-entombed where they were located.
Tracy tells the story of how a young man and woman of the Miwok Indian tribe came to visit. along with an older woman who was their spirit leader.  When he asked permission to tape the interview, the young woman agreed, but smiled and said, “Some things are meant to be recorded and some things are not.”  After the members of the tribe had left, he sat down to listen to the tape; but to his surprise, there was nothing on it but Tracy saying, “testing, 1, 2, 3…”.
Sausalito has always had a reputation for strong-minded residents, people who take on projects for the town’s good and get them done. Stories like this tell the background of the town, how one person, with the help of his friends, could change the town’s historical path forever.
Because of his deeds the town felt it was proper to honor both Jack and his wife, the longtime City Clerk Janet Tracy, with the naming of a Sausalito street after them:  
Tracy Way



Tracy Way runs between El Portal and Anchor streets behind Vina del Mar Plaza.
Photo by Steefenie Wicks