Keeping History Alive

By Larry Clinton, President, Sausalito Historical Society

Last fall, the Historical Society officially launched a schools program with the third grade classes from Bayside School and Willow Creek Academy, and with the support of the Sausalito Public School District. The program includes classroom visits and field trips led by SHS docents.

During the classroom presentation, docents introduce students to the history of Sausalito using books, artifacts and "Then and Now" student workbooks filled with photos, maps, historical facts and space for the students to add their own research notes. The teachers then work with the students to research a particular building or site and write a paragraph on what they learned about their building and what it tells them about the history of the town. 

On the field trips, docents lead students, teachers and parents on a tour of the areas and buildings the students are in the process of researching. Students also have their photos taken in front of their chosen building or site.  The classes then have lunch in either Marinship or Gabrielson Park and enjoy an ice cream treat. 

Historic sites visited by the third-graders last Fall include the Ice House, Viña del Mar Park, and the present-day Sausalito Hotel, Winship’s Restaurant, Don Olsen Associates, Jewelry By the Bay, Scoma’s, Horizons, Galerie Engelstad, Georgiou Boutique, Marin Fruit Company, Crazy Shirts, Gene Hiller Menswear and Poggio Trattoria.

In a final awards ceremony involving both classes, school administrators and parents, students receive recognition of their accomplishments in the form of framed photos from their field trips and their written research, courtesy of  the Sausalito Historical Society and Sausalito Picture Framing.

With the cooperation of the Sausalito School District, teachers and parents, the SHS conducted two programs in 2010, with two more in the Spring and Fall of 2011. The Society plans to continue this program with two programs each subsequent year, focusing on different aspects of Sausalito history.  Each program involves approximately 40-50 students, over a dozen docents, numerous parents, school administrators and local businesses.

Assessing the effectiveness of last year's programs, teacher Paula Hammons of Bayside School wrote: "Thank you ever so much for the wonderful field trip experience: exploring Sausalito's downtown historic district.   The children (and adults) were engaged and stimulated by the wealth of information you shared.  We all learned a great deal.  Your impeccable preparation helped to make this a memorable day for all of us." 

Willow Creek teacher Ann Siskin added: “My third grade social studies curriculum and instruction would not be the same without this exceptional educational partnership! The program has provided students with hands-on, experiential learning opportunities that help bring our community’s history alive.  The program has encouraged memorable learning for every student.” And Superintendent Debra Bradley summed up the impact of the program with "I cannot say enough about the Sausalito Historical Society and how their efforts have brought richness to our students in both historical exposure, and personalized recognition to each of our students. Needless to say, the parents are thrilled as well and attend the recognition assembly with cameras in hand."

Feedback like this is the best measure of the program's success.

SHS  members contributed over $3,400 to offset the costs of last year's program, in response to a year end fundraising letter. Waterstreet Hardware, Lappert's Ice Cream and Sausalito Picture Framing provided in-kind donations to help with last year's programs.

 

Bayside School third graders proudly display photos from their field trip, after receiving congratulations from teacher Paula Hammons  (l.) and Historical Society members including Schools Program co-chairs Susan Frank (second from right, top row), and Bob Woodrum (bottom right).

Willow Creek students visit the Historical Society’s Ice House historical display and visitors center during their Fall field trip.

Photos courtesy of Sausalito Historical Society



Sally calls her lawyer.

Sally calls her lawyer

Former San Francisco madam Sally Stanford.

By Doris Berdahl

In the past few weeks, this column, assisted by a bulging file of newspaper clippings in the SHS archives, has recalled the 20-year period in the 1960s and ’70s when former San Francisco madam Sally Stanford did her star turn on the Sausalito political stage. In the early years, running for Sausalito City Council under her legal name, Marsha Owen, Sally frequently employed one of her favorite campaign strategies: threatening to sue. In fact, once it was more than a threat.

After her narrow defeat in her first run for council in 1962, it didn’t take Sally long to pick herself up, dust herself off and plan her next assault on those she perceived as her enemies. Within a month of the ’62 election, she was asking that the voter registration list and the ballots of that year be impounded, claiming that her “interests and prerogatives” had been “flagrantly violated.” Writing to the city manager, she declared “there’s something rotten in Denmark” and demanded to see for herself if everything had been run “fair and square.”

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, she pointed out that 589 of her mailing pieces had been returned by the post office. She charged that her poll watchers had been “pushed out the door” of the Sausalito Woman’s Club and Christ Episcopal polling stations. A week earlier, the Chronicle had reported complaints from polling officials at those sites, who claimed that Stanford’s poll watchers had “sat down at the counting desks” and proceeded to “lean over the backs of the workers and breathe down their necks.”

In 1962, no legal action was attempted by Sally’s forces. But two years later, in the 1964 election, she again ended out of the winner’s circle, losing to Carl Gabrielson, a corporate executive; Mel Wax, a San Francisco newspaperman; and O’Hara Chapin, homemaker and member of the Sausalito Library board. The context of these losses is noteworthy. Both in ’62 and ’64, she took a dual approach to campaigning — unabashedly exploiting the vote-getting power of her former profession, at the same time running on a strong civic betterment platform. For the most part it contained conventional public improvement ideas and even some favorite planks of the environmentalists, normally her sworn enemies. More fire protection. Better policing. A local medical facility. More recreational areas. Limiting the spread of high-rise, multi-unit dwellings. Preserving the open beauty of Sausalito’s waterfront. (On the last two goals, her motives were clearly mixed. It certainly didn’t hurt that, if achieved, they would help preserve the bay views from her Valhalla restaurant. But, to give her credit, she ultimately put up much of the funding that kept development off Sausalito’s southern waterfront.) Included were several of her laissez-faire, pro-development themes, disguised in thinly veiled euphemisms , e.g., “fair and equitable” zoning laws. And in the splashy half-page ads she ran throughout her campaigns, her no-nonsense voice always came through, loud and clear: “Put a stop to some of the city council’s more outlandish follies!!”

In fact, so sober and businesslike was her campaign rhetoric that Chronicle columnist Lucius Beebe, long a fan of her earlier persona — before she abandoned San Francisco for solid citizenship in Sausalito — lamented that she’d had to embrace a “dreary standard of civic virtue, a melancholy degree of morality” in order to satisfy the demands of “that largely cheerless suburb across the Golden Gate Bridge.”

However, no amount of civic virtue and morality deterred a feisty Marsha Owen from filing suit in Marin Superior Court on May 12, 1964, claiming that the victorious candidates in the council election of that year were ineligible to take their seats, that illegal votes had been cast and that certain precinct boards were guilty of misconduct. She demanded that the ostensible winners relinquish their seats and be required to pay her court costs.

Her lawsuit came to nothing, and the defendants ultimately served their terms of office. But Beebe was no doubt heartened by the sight of the ex-madam sallying forth to do battle with the “sanctimonious ancients,” the “bogus artists, unsuccessful practitioners of belles letters, and self-identified aesthetes” of Sausalito who’d opposed her candidacy.

It took Sally three more tries before she won the chance to test his firmly-held conviction: that her presence at City Hall would profit Sausalito far more than the “gaggle of failures in beards who are now the town’s chief claim to Bohemian fame.”

Next time: Persistence pays off.



Sausalito’s Sea Lion

Sausalito’s Sea Lion
By George Hoffman
The following column is excerpted from George Hoffman’s 1976 book “Saucelito-$au$alito  - Legends and tales of a changing town.”
That bronze sculptured sea lion sitting proud and defiant off shore at Hearst point, was put permanently in place in 1966. But it has a history of several years before that, when its counterpart existed in concrete and haydite.
Al Sybrian is the sculptor responsible for the Sea Lion. Al was well known in Sausalito for his drawings, stone walls, drinking and conversation. He was good in all, and often excelled in the latter two. He could drop in to say hello of an afternoon and make his goodbyes five days later. The walls he built were works of art. Al lived in a small house directly beneath the old Hearst wall, which is half way between Ondine Restaurant and Valhalla. From his house he could see sea lions on the rocks not over a hundred feet away. He sketched them endlessly. One day in 1957 he talked to a neighbor, Mr. Gratama, and said he would like to make a sculpture of a sea lion to be placed or waterfront, but he had no money for materials.
“How much will it take?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a hundred dollars.”
Mr. Gratama talked to Julie Sweet [and other neighbors]. Together they put up the money. Al set to work immediately. The half finished wall he was working on would have to wait. When Al was inspired his concentration never wavered. Within three months he had finished. He notified his benefactors and they came to see what he had done. They were amazed. Instantly they recognized it as being a good work of art. They all knew of Al’s ability, but now they were looking at an accomplishment that just a short time before was only a promise. The sculpture stood four feet high, molded in concrete with the slight pink color from haydite. The lines were graceful, yet pronounced, and the turn of the head was a position familiar to everyone who has ever watched sea lions. The party exclaimed profusely, and like thousands since, could not keep their hands off of it. It had that appeal.
The statue sat around for a few months while Al and his benefactors wondered what to do with it, where best to display it. The most obvious spot was overlooked for a long time until [Lawrence] Steese happened by.
“Public land, on the waterfront,” he said. “Right outside your door. On top of that old manhole cover down there. It gets covered up during high tides, so we can get it out there during a low one. Perfect place. When do you want to do it?”
“During the next low tide,” said Al.
A phone call or two got enough friends to carry the sea lion down the rocky beach and put her in place. It was 1 a.m. when they accomplished the task. The next morning a traffic jam occurred on Bridgeway as commuters stopped to view the new occupant of the waterfront.
For eight years she sat there unperturbed, indomitable, giving joy and satisfaction to viewers. Her grace and silence became a trademark. Homeward bound weary commuters got a lift when viewing her, children played on her back, thousands of pictures were taken of her by tourists and townspeople. She was growing as popular as Denmark’s Little Mermaid. But the sea lion wasn’t made of good material. High tides, winds, battering logs and debris during winter storms had been beating against her unprotected sides, taking their toll. The sea lion was breaking up. Cracks in the concrete grew larger, pieces were falling off.
Al looked the sculpture over one day and announced was going to destroy it. As the creator he had the right to do it, and his heart told him he must.
Enid Foster, the grand dame of Sausalito artists, heard about it and knowing Al, she knew he would do it. She immediately wrote the city council asking for funds to cast the statue in bronze. An outcry from many residents was heard, so the council, in their charitable wisdom, agreed to contribute $100 and made a plea that the citizens get behind the effort to make it a community project. The job would cost $3,000, of which the artist would get $700. That was a fair price, for there was much work to do. Al would have to make a mold from what was left of the statue.
Weeks went by. A few contributions trickled in, mainly from artists. Sybrian had moved the original sculpture to San Francisco in the expectation that funds would come in.  He was getting discouraged. Then the Sausalito Foundation put up the money and the project was completed.
So in 1966 a bronze sea lion was placed in her present position.
Al Sybrian wasn’t present on the day of official dedication. He was in San Francisco helping Steese install a new vat for Steam Beer. A more important mission.

“Saucelito-$au$alito” is part of the permanent collection of the Historical Society, and can also be checked out from the Sausalito Library.


Sea Lion drawing by Bill Dempster from “Saucelito-$au$alito.”


Neil Davis. Vs. Sally Stanford

Neil Davis. Vs. Sally Stanford

By Larry Clinton

Sally Stanford ran into some stiff opposition when she began her political career, as evidenced in the following article, which is excerpted from the San Francisco Chronicle of April 9, 1962.

A Bartender Tees Off On Sally

The proprietor of the avant garde no Name Bar became the first man in Sausalito yesterday to tangle politically with ex-madam Sally Stanford.

Neil Davis, a gentle philosopher and mixologist, charged Sally’s election to the city council would make as much sense as “appointing Elizabeth Taylor our ambassador to the Vatican.”

Retorted Sally: “From what I read in the papers I doubt Liz would qualify for the job, whereas I know my way around City Hall.”

Davis poured himself a straight shot in his bar before hurling his political darts at the one time keeper of  San Francisco’s swankiest bordellos.

(Seven men running against Sally for two council seats in tomorrow’s election have meticulously avoided dueling with the quick-witted ex-madam.)

“All of a sudden I find it very refreshing that Polly Adler just faded away and avoided politics,” Davis began.

The wail of Miles Davis’ trumpet provided background music for the barkeep’s political dissertation.

Chaos

“Anyone that has ever attended council meetings,” Davis continued, “knows that Sally and the council, especially the mayor, have not been involved in one of the great love affairs of our time.

“She has called them everything in the book.  With this in mind I think the voters of Sausalito will be well aware of the fact that a vote for Sally could only result in chaotic, riotous and bitter council meetings.”

Sally, twirling a huge diamond ring on her finger, survived the initial shock of the Davis charges and launched a sharp-tongued counter attack. . . So far as her relations with Mayor Philip Ehrlich are concerned, Sally said it was “the man’s actions, not the man, that annoy the hell out of me.

“In fact, I think Phil Ehrlich’s rather handsome. With proper tutelage he might grow up,” she snapped.

As for the Davis charge that she would convert the council meetings, if elected, into a chaotic, riotous and bitter affair, Sally had a ready reply.

“I won’t if they shape up and fly right,” she said.

Neil Davis will share memories of some of the legendary characters who frequented the No Name from 1959-1973 in a talk sponsored by the Historical Society on Monday evening, Jan. 31.  The event will be in City Hall Council chambers beginning with light refreshments at 5 PM.  Admission is free for SHS members, $10 for non-members.  Advance reservations are required.  Call 415-289-4117 or e-mail info@sausalitohistoricalsociety.org.



A Look Back at December, 1910

A Look Back at December, 1910

By Larry Clinton

A century ago, long before Herb Caen popularized three-dot journalism at the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sausalito News entertained readers with pithy items on local characters and institutions.  Here are a few excerpts from the issue of  December 24, 1910.  Note how life went on as usual during the holidays.

P. Holstein, formerly of Holly-Oaks, was recently in Ottawa, Canada. The formal opening of Hotel Holly-Oaks under the management of Mr. Henry B. Russell, an experienced hotel man, will take place next Wednesday evening. Invitations have been issued. Mr. Russell announces he is going to have it strictly up-to-date and he is having the place thoroughly renovated.

Congressman-elect William Kent was a luncheon guest of President Taft at the White House on Monday. Mr. and Mrs. C. H. F. Peters, after an absence of several weeks, are again domiciled in their pretty cottage on Lower San Carlos Avenue. The Bank of Sausalito was tastefully decorated with evergreens.

The Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company, after a lapse of several months, resumed work of putting in new timbers in the Corte Madera tunnel.  

Sausalito Aerie No. 676, F.O.E., will hold a public installation of its officers in Eagles’ Hall on Thursday evening, January 5th. Dancing will follow. Invitations will be issued for the occasion.

William English spent Thursday evening in our bastille, and was released the following morning. Wm. had been imbibing very freely and used vulgar language on Water Street near the park. The language was far from being select and that which you would not like your children to hear or use.

We are glad to notice the progressive spirit of A. F. Broad, better known as Teddy, who is replacing the old steps from Bulkeley Avenue to Harrison Avenue with concrete steps. Mr. Maddock and his son, former residents of Sausalito, are doing the work.

Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue Joseph C. Pohley of Santa Rosa was here Thursday on official business. He surveyed the still for the manufacture of denatured alcohol and of molasses at Pine Station.

C. Buhman swore to a complaint charging Frank Salinas with robbery. Salinas was arrested by Constable Cramer and brought before Justice Renner who released him on $500 bail. Salinas claims that Buhman owes him a bill of long standing and that his appeals for payment have been met with by Buhman flashing a deputy sheriff star from inside his vest and pointing a revolver at Salinas. Monday evening a similar exhibition took place in the presence of several men and Salinas for his own protection grabbed Buhman by the neck throwing him to the floor and no attempt at robbery was made. Both men are from Tiburon.

Invitations are out for a Full Dress Military Hop at the Post Gymnasium at Fort Baker on Thursday evening, Dec. 29th, under the auspices of the Fort Baker Athletic Club. All enlisted men will be in full dress uniform. The gymnasium will be tastefully decorated for the occasion with festoons of different colored incandescent lights and evergreens. Government Steamer leaves Folsom street wharf at San Francisco at 7 30 p.m., touching at Alcatraz and Ft. McDowell, returning at midnight. Bus service between Sausalito and Fort Baker from 7:30 p.m. until midnight.

You can access and search 1885-1923 issues of The Sausalito News from the Historical Society website (www.sausalitohistoricalsociety.org).  Go to the Links page and click on Sausalito News.  When a new website opens up, scroll down to the last of the newspapers listed in the window. Commands at the top of the page allow you to  search entire newspapers by date, or to make keyword searches, as on Google. When you find an article that interests you, left click on it and use the commands that open up in a black drop-down menu to view the entire page of the paper, to zoom in or out, to “clip” a printable copy of the entire article, or to view the article as scanned text, which then should be saved to your word processor and proofread against a printed clip for accuracy.