About five years ago, a group of librarians at the University of California Berkeley, met to discuss how best to celebrate the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. From those discussions was formed the idea that a website should be created to present digitized copies of original historical artifacts created at the time of this terrible tragedy.

This online exhibit is one component of that multi-year effort. Its purpose is to act as a gateway to understanding the entire historical event and see how the extensive quantity of items that can be found at this 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire website relates to the whole.

Room One: San Francisco in the New Century
Room Two: The Day Our City Trembled
Room Three: A Firestorm From Hell
Room Four: Surviving a City in Ruins
Room Five: Reconstructing a New City

Each room represents a major theme of the Earthquake and Fire event and tells the story from the perspective of those who lived the experience. We have enlivened the exhibition with many links to relevant maps, photographs, silent film and sounds so that you too can experience one of the worst natural disasters ever to strike American citizens.

The exhibit is designed as a virtual exhibition, much like the experience you would have in a museum walking from room to room. There are plenty of navigation tools to move you back and forth from one room to another. There's a lot to see.

We hope you enjoy the experience!

Exhibit Curators: Joyce Mao, Dylan Esson, Philip Fradkin, and David de Lorenzo