Tours & Walks

July 3 (Saturday) 11:30 AM for Pfaelzer, 1:00 PM for Harry Bridges & Immigration Talk (Free)  - Angel Island Immigration Post - North east side of the island
(Please note: The time has changed due to Jean Pfaelzer's presentation was added)
11:30 AM - Inside the Mess Hall next to the Immigration Post
BEFORE ANGEL ISLAND: THE FORGOTTEN WAR AGAINST CHINESE AMERICANS 
Jean Pfaelzer's presentation
Talk and Slide Show.  As part of LaborFest's commemoration of the 100 years since the founding of Angel Island, Jean Pfaelzer, author of prize winning book "Driven Out: the Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans" (New York Times Best Books, Asian American Book of the year Univ. of Calif. Press) will talk about the brutal and systematic "ethnic cleansing" of Chinese American workers in California in the second half of the nineteenth century, and how Chinese miners, railroad workers, field laborers, domestic servants and prostitutes fought back against the violent purges and deportations --with the first general strike in California, the earliest farm worker strikes, and the first law suits for reparations. 

1:00 PM - Outside the court yard
The Trial of Harry Bridges & Immigration Talk
On The 100th Anniversary of Angel Island Immigration Station
By Harvey Schwartz, Mike Daly
In 1939, the US government had the first of five trials in an effort to deport Australian born ILWU president Harry Bridges for being a member of the Communist Party. The first trial was on Angel Island which also was an immigration station for newly arrived immigrants and war prisoners. ILWU  historian Harvey Schwartz will provide a report on the effort to deport Harry Bridges and Ironworker Mike Daly will report on the history of immigration of this important island. It is also celebrating it’s 100th anniversary as an immigration station.
Angel Island guide and historian Richard Kandel will give a talk and will be able to show us a room which has Chinese poems on the wall carved by some of the immigrants.
http://www.udel.edu/PR/drivenout/

Pfaelzer's presentation will start 11:30 AM (new schedule) inside the Mess Hall
The Harry Bridges & Immigration will start 1:00 PM in the outside court yard
Please bring your own lunch. (There is a store and a restaurant, however, the price might be little high.)
You may need to hike for 30 min. or more, so please wear comfortable shoes. (You can take a tram with fee)
You can bring your bike on the ferry.
Ferry from San Francisco by Blue & Gold $16.00,
from Oakland $ 14.50 (415-773-1188)
Departure Schedule to Angel Island:
From SF Ferry Building - 9:20, 11:20 AM
From Pier 41 - 9:40, 11:45 AM (Ticket at the booth west of Pier 39)
(If you want to attend Jean Pfaelzer's presentation, please catch 9:20, 9:40 ferry)
From Oakland - 9:00 AM, From Alameda - 9:10 AM
Departure Schedule from Angel Island
To San Francisco - 4:30 PM
To Alameda/Oakland - 3:10 PM
www.blueandgoldfleet.com
www.angelisland.com

For A Full Tour of The Angel Island Immigration Station 
The tour schedule is as follows: 11:00 am, 1230pm, 2pm, and 3:30pm on July 3. The fee is $7 per person, which can be paid for at the Cove Café by the ferry landing, or can be put in the donation box at the Immigration Station. Anyone who definitely wants to go on a guided tour should purchase a ticket at the café. The café only accepts cash.
Ryan Mayeda, Sam Shirley & Casey Lee
United States Immigration Station, Angel Island State Park.
For more info, call (415) 435-5537
aiusis@parks.ca.gov

July 3 (Saturday) 1:30 PM  (Free) - Meet at the east end of the Rincon Center lobby- Mission at Steuart, SF
Historic Rincon Murals Tour
By Jay Streets & the Rincon Mural team (City Guide)
The Rincon murals were the very last WPA project to be completed. When these murals were unveiled, powerful voices called for their destruction, but 40 years later, they saved the Rincon Center from demolition. The historic lobby murals tell many stories, from San Francisco history to the politics of the Cold War era. Discover the artistic and political background of these treasures.

July 4 (Sunday) 11:00 AM (Free) Meet at 18th Street & Tennessee - Muni #22 or 3rd St. train
Dogpatch & Portrero Point Walk
By Natalie Wisniewski (City Guide) with Labor Photographer Joe Blum
Designated as a San Francisco Historic District, this colorful neighborhood has important ties to many of the city’s past commercial industries. From its historic working class cottages and industrial age relics to the current proliferation of ultra-modern lofts, we’ll explore the past and present of this surprising, eclectic neighborhood in transition.
Watch slide show on this event

July 6 (Tuesday) 3:00 PM (Free) Meet in front of Landmark at One Market St. - Muni #22 or 3rd St. train
Historic Market Street Labor Walk
By Chuck Schwartz (City Guide)
From the Ferry Building to the Mechanics Monument, Market Street provides a cross section of San Francisco history as it slices diagonally across the city. Lining the city’s first boulevard, dubbed the Path of Gold as it was rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake, are historic buildings, monuments and modern skyscrapers. Also hear about labor’s relevance on this historic street from the Gold Rush to Bay Area Rapid Transit and vintage streetcars

July 8 (Thursday) 11:00 AM (Free) Meet in front of St. Patrick’s Church -Mission Between 3rd & 4th
SOMA, Yerba Buena Gardens Walk
By Val Flood (City Guide)
Learn how the retired president of the Alaska Salmon Packer’s Union used union tactics to influence urban redevelopment in SoMa (South of Market) – organizing the longshoremen living in SRO (single room occupancy) hotels with neighborhood activists to preserve their housing and communities. Understand the history and development of the area, from the earliest rough neighborhoods called “South of the Slot”, to the proud civic achievement that is today’s Yerba Buena Gardens complex. Learn to look at this neighborhood with a new eye - even people familiar with the area will discover beautiful gardens and unique sculptures that are “hidden in plain sight”.

July 9 (Friday) 1:00 PM (Free) Meet in front of Berkeley High School - Corner of Milvia & Alston
WPA Berkeley Walk
With Harvey Smith
This walk will explore the “New Deal nexus” there that includes Berkeley High School, the Community Theater, Civic Center Park, Post Office art and the old Farm Credit Building.  Following the walk, participants can view the exhibit “75th Anniversary of the WPA in Berkeley and its New Deal Context.”
For more info: 510-684-0414

July 10 (Saturday) 10:00 AM (Free) Meet at 75 Folsom St. - Entrance of Hills Brothers Coffee Building, SF
San Francisco Waterfront Labor History Walk
With Lawrence Shoup and Peter O’Driscoll
There are many stories to be told about labor struggles in San Francisco. This story is about the maritime industry from 1835 until the burning of the blue book in 1934.
Also labor historian Larry Shoup will talk about the history of the 1901 transportation workers strike which included the Teamsters and was smashed by the San Francisco police. This strike in part led to the formation of the San Francisco Union Labor Party which in 1905 swept the election and took control of the city.
Watch slide show on this event

July 10 (Saturday) 12:00 Noon ($15-50 sliding scale donation requested to benefit Shaping San Francisco)Meet at 1310 Mission St. - at 9th, SF
Labor Bike Tour
By Chris Carlsson
From the pre-urban history of Indian Slavery to the earliest 8-hour day movement in the U.S., the ebb and flow of class war is traced. SF’s radical working class organizations are shaped in part by racist complicity in genocide and slavery, but from the 1870s to the 1940s there are dozens of epic battles between owners and workers, culminating in the 1934 General Strike and its aftermath. This is an entirely different look, during a four hour bike tour, at San Francisco labor history.

July 10 (Saturday) 2:00 PM (Free) Meet at the Japantown Peace pagoda- at Buchanan near Post
Japanese and African American Worker’s Stories
Walk in San Francisco’s Nihon Machi (Japantown)
By Alan Sable (City Guide)
San Francisco’s Japantown, one of only three remaining in the United States, dates from the great earthquake and fire of 1906, when the Japanese population united west of the fire line. Uprooted by World War II, the Japanese were replaced mostly by newly arrived African-American workers, who brought their vibrant musical heritage with them. The area was one of the first to experience the dramatic changes of 1950s urban renewal programs – which continue. In recent years the area has seen a wealth of Japanese architecture next to the classic Victorians and a rebirth of African-American culture in the Fillmore Jazz Preservation District.

July 11 (Sunday) 10:00 - Noon( (Free ) Meet at Yerba Buena Garden - Mission between 3rd & 4th St., SF
Shellmound Walk on Native Sacred Sites
There are many Sacred Sites beneath the pavement of San Francisco, under the buildings and occasionally the grass.  These Sacred Sites, called Shellmounds, still exist and are honored by the Muwekma Ohlone and other Native Americans.  This walk will begin with a description of Bay Area Shellmounds and their status.  Participants will meet at Yerba Buena Garden and walk to several Shellmound sites, ending at Chrissy Field or Hunter’s Point. San Franciscans walk on Sacred Sites and burial grounds every day in the City.  Come learn where they are and what their meaning is to Native people. 
Walk led by: Corrina Gould (Chochenyo Ohlone), Shellmound Walk co-Founder, Indian People Organizing for Change, Johnella Sanchez (Shoshone Bannock), Shellmound Walk co-Founder, Perry Matlock (Anishinabe, Bad River), Shellmound Walk organizer, Local 510 Sign Display Union
For more info: 510-521-9405, alamulticultural@gmail.com

July 11 (Sunday) 12:00 - 4:30 PM ( (Free ) Meet at Strauss Statue - in the visitors’ plaza
Golden Gate Bridge Walk
Since no large group can walk together, we will take tour in many groups throughout the time, and the last group will leave 4:30 PM

Tour lead by Mike Daly (Ironworkers 377), Linda Cahill (City Guides), plus representatives of the bridge painters and ironworkers
Although other bridges are now taller and longer than this 1930’s icon, the Golden Gate Bridge remains the most recognized structure in the world behind the Eiffel Tower.  Learn why the bridge was so hard to build, how it changed the building of bridges around the world and what today’s bridge workers face as they maintain the world’s largest sculpture.  This unique tour combines historical content from City Guides with a walk on the world’s most famous bridge led by its very own iron workers and painters.
You can watch slide show on this event

July 12 (Monday) 9:00 AM (Free ) SFPUC Headquarters   - 1155 Market Street, SF
SF Water Project -What It Is and How Does It Work
(This event is completely full, sorry no more reservations.)
Join us for a FREE tour of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) Peninsula projects.  The tour will highlight the Crystal Springs/ San Andreas Transmission System Project, Baylands Revegetation Project and Pulgas Temple Balancing Project.  Featured on the tour will be a presentation on the labor force efforts of these projects. 
(Lunch will be provided)
Tour Schedule
9:00 AM   Departure from SFPUC Headquarters - 1155 Market Street, SF
9:30 AM – 10:15 AM Tour of Crystal Springs Reservoir
10:40 AM – 11:20 AM Tour of Baylands
11:50 AM – 12:30 PM Lunch
12:35 PM – 1:25 PM Tour of Pulgas Temple
2:00 PM  Arrival back to SFPUC Headquarters
Sign up now. To make a reservation for this tour, please contact SFPUC Labor Relations and Community Programs Division at 415-554-1530
or e-mail: contractorshelp@sfwater.org
(This event is completely full, sorry no more reservations.)

July 12 (Monday) 1:00 PM (Free ) Portsmouth Square - Washington Street side near the elevator at Kearny
Chinatown Walk
Chinese labor, discrimination by government and unions, sweat shops, housing
By Ernie Ng (City Guide)
Walk through unique hidden alleyways to hear the history of America’s largest and oldest Chinese community.  Learn how immigrant labor struggled for fair treatment while mining gold, building railroads and working in the building trades. Led by City Guide Ernie Ng, a San Francisco Chinatown native.

July 15 (Thursday) 3:00 PM (Free ) Hayes Valley Farm - Entrance on Laguna between Oak & Fell, SF
Hayes Valley Farm Tour
Located in the center of San Francisco, Hayes Valley Farm, is an education and research project with a focus on urban agriculture.
Situated on city-owned lots bordered by Oak, Fell, Laguna, and Octavia streets, the project is organized by an alliance of urban farmers, educators, and designers that comprise the Hayes Valley Farm Project Team. Tours of the farm are held every Thursday and Sunday to highlight the innovative strategies used on the farm in order to meet the needs of our planet and the surrounding communities of San Francisco.

July 17 (Saturday) 10:00 AM ($15) Meet at front of Bill Graham Auditorium  - 99 Grove St., SF
WPA Bus Tour
Seats still available
With Gray Brechin & Harvey Smith
Join Gray Brechin and Harvey Smith as they travel through history on a bus tour of historic sites built by unionized labor. You will learn about the major contribution workers made during the depression era of the New Deal program. They will discuss 75 years of the WPA. Please be aware that the tour will take about 5 hours depending on the traffic and the discussions.

Meet at front of Bill Graham Auditorium, between the City Hall and the Main Library.
Reservation required: Call (415) 642-8066 or by e-mail: laborfest@laborfest.net and leave your name, # of reservations and phone number to get back to you in case of any changes. Make reservation, then send check to:LaborFest, P.O. Box 40983, SF, CA 94140
(Sandwiches and drinks will be available on the bus with small fee.) Bus will return to Civic Center.
Tour lasts about 5 hours.

July 17 (Saturday) 10:00 - Noon(Free) Mare Island - (Direction will be given once you make a reservation)
Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial Dedication
We will be remembering events around the 66th anniversary of
the explosion at Port Chicago and dedicating the memorial as the newest
unit of the National Park System, established on October 28, 2009. Park
Ranger Shelton Johnson from Yosemite National Park, who was featured in the recent Ken Burns series, The National Parks, will be the keynote speaker.

During World War II, 320 military and civilian men gave their lives in
service to our nation when the munitions ships they were loading exploded.
On the anniversary of that event, we take the opportunity to honor all
those who served their country, share memories, honor stories of struggle,
and note lessons learned. As we commemorate the tremendous loss of life in
the largest home front disaster of World War II, we will also be
celebrating the richness and diversity of our nation's history as preserved
by the National Park Service.

Due to limited seating, and U.S. Army regulations, reservations are
required for this event. Please email (poch_general_info@nps.gov) or phone
(510-232-5050), and provide the following information:
1. First and last name of each individual attending
2. Email of primary contact person
3. Mailing address for primary contact person
4. Phone number for primary contact person

When your reservation is confirmed, you will be sent information and
directions to the event. All attendees will board shuttle buses between
9:00 and 9:30 a.m. to reach the Memorial site, which is within the U.S.
Army’s Military Ocean Terminal Concord. The program will begin at 10:00
a.m. and conclude about noon. Buses will return participants to the parking
area around 12:30 p.m.

MORE INFORMATION about Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial: www.nps.gov/poch
For bus tour information, please visit the website or phone: 925-228-8860.

July 17 (Saturday) 10:30 AM (Free) Meet at Harry Bridges Plaza - Front of Ferry Building, SF
San Francisco General Strike Walk
Join a walk with historian Luis Prisco, ILWU Local 10 longshoreman Jack Heyman and others.  This walk and history talk will look at the causes of the ‘34 General Strike and why it was successful. How was the strike organized and why are the issues in that strike still relevant to working people today? Also you will walk by the key historical sites in this important US labor struggle. Bring your lunch with you.
Be prepared for a long walk.
Please sign-up for this tour by calling Louis Prisco at 415-841-1254,
or e-mail: penguinflow@hotmail.com

July 18 (Sunday) 6:00 PM ($40) Pier 41 left of Pier 39 near outside ticket booth  - Fisherman’s Wharf, SF
Building Bridges and Labor Maritime History
Boat Tour
Sorry, tickets all sold out
5:45 PM Boarding, 6:00 PM Departure
Boat leaves promptly at 6:00 PM
Tour lasts 3 hours
A complimentary meal will be provided, however, if you are on a special diet please bring your own food.
Join us for this evening cruise on labor history and a close up look at the massive construction project of the eastern span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. The skills of the ironworkers, operators, carpenters, laborers, electricians and maritime workers who are building this monument are creating a vital link and beautiful artifact of the Bay Area.

Labor historians, photographers and building trades workers will talk about labor history and the construction of the new East Bay Span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Gray Brechin, Mike Daly, Joseph Blum, Harvey Schwartz and others will present along with labor musicians including the Cork musician Máirtín de Cógáin and his band, and Carol Denney and friends.

To make your reservation:
By E-mail: laborfest@laborfest.net or call: (415) 642-8066, and leave your name, phone number and number of people in your party.
We will contact you back to confirm your reservation. Then, you should mail a check ($40/person) to LaborFest, P.O.Box 40983, San Francisco, CA 94140.
We don’t send you tickets, but we will either e-mail or call you back to let you know that we received your check, and as soon as we receive your check, your reservation will be confirmed. You will get your ticket at the pier before you get on the boat.
Please be there at least 30 minutes before the departure time in order to go through paper work.
*VIDEO-Máirtín de Cógáin Project Sings Labor Song At 2010 LaborFest Boat Ride
*Slide show l
*New Bay Bridge span dazzles as it takes shape - SF Chronicle article by John King

July 19 (Monday) 1:00 PM (Free) Meet at benches in park at foot of Larkin St  - Aquatic Park, SF
Fisherman’s Wharf Walk
Canneries, women’s pay issues, maritime unions by Randy Bradner (City Guide)
Get beyond the tourist trinkets to see a side of Fisherman’s Wharf seldom seen by tourists.  Learn about the canning industries, the struggles of maritime & shipping unions and how San Francisco’s Italian fisherman built their community.   All within sight of historic ships and a postcard landscape of land and sea.
SF Weekly - By Michael Leaverton

July 21 (Wednesday) 10:00 AM (Free) Meet on the corner of Clay and Montgomery
“Working Women” in the Early Days of San Francisco
By Harlan Hirschfeld (City Guide)
Sodom & Gomorrah, that was San Francisco from 1848 to 1906. Sex, drugs and rock and roll was a way of life. Join us on a 90 minutes walk through the early years of “Baghdad by the Bay” with a special emphasis on the working woman.

July 24 (Saturday) 9:30 AM (Free) Meet at Coit Tower entrance, SF 
Coit Tower Mural Walk
With Gray Brechin, Harvey Smith, Peter Driscoll
Seventy-five years ago this month artists who were working with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) were working on the Coit Tower murals. These political artists were very much influenced by the general strike, and this is reflected in these historic murals.
A media hysteria was also whipped up against the art and the artists in an effort to censor them. Fortunately this failed and the murals remain a testament to the people of San Francisco and the labor movement.

July 24 (Saturday) 1:00 PM (Free) Meet at 16th St. & Capp- Redstone Building - near 16th BART station
Redstone Labor and Culture Walk
With Louis Prisco
Two buildings near each other: the Redstone Labor Temple was HQ of the 1934 general strike and the National Guard Armory was an anti-strike center.  Murals in the Redstone lobby tell us much about San Francisco labor history; a walk through the diverse and culturally vibrant neighborhood outside will consider art, ethnic history and the class struggle. Please sign-up for this toour by calling Louis Prisco at 415-841-1254, or e-mail: penguinflow@hotmail.com
Slide show

July 31 (Saturday) 10:30 AM (Free) Meet at the fountain in Latham Square  - Telegraph and Broadway
Oakland 1946 General Strike Walk
With Gifford Hartman of the Flying Picket Historical Society. This walk will revisit the sites of Oakland’s “Work Holiday” that began spontaneously with rank-and-file solidarity with the striking - mostly women - retail clerks at Kahn’s and Hastings department store whose picket line was being broken by police scab herding. Within 24 hours, it involved over 100,000 workers and shut down nearly all commerce in the East Bay for 54 hours. In 1946 there were six general strikes across the U.S.; that year set the all-time record year for strikes and work stoppages. The Oakland “Work Holiday” was the last general strike to ever occur in the U.S. and the walk and history talk will attempt to keep alive the memory of this tradition of community-wide working class solidarity.
Sponsored by Laney College Labor Studies (510-464-3210) and the Flying Picket Historical Society (SFBay@FlyingPicket.org).  
Meet at the fountain in Latham Square, in the intersection where Telegraph and Broadway converge across from the Rotunda Building (Oakland City Center/12th St. BART).

July 31 (Saturday) 11:00 AM (Free) Meet at the corner of 8th St. and Railroad Ave. Mare Island
Mare Island Naval Shipyard: Laboring for the Navy 
TOUR:
Founded in 1854 as the first U.S. Naval installation in the Pacific, Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo was the Navy’s largest civilian shipyard, employing at its peak of production during WWII more than 40,000 workers, including women–Rosie the Riveters, as they became known. Learn about some of the labor issues that influenced work life at the shipyard and walk through the central shipyard with some of the workers who built and repaired Navy vessels up until the base closure in 1996. Bring your own lunch to enjoy at the picnic grounds next to the Naval Cemetery in the Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve, followed by the afternoon tour. Drinks will be provided. E-mail or call for a ride from the Vallejo Ferry terminal. The Ferry terminal can be reached by BARTLink bus from the Del Norte BART station or by ferry from the San Francisco Ferry Building. Hosted by Mare Island Heritage Trust. For information call 707-249-9633 or e-mail myrnahay@pacbell.net
Visit: www.mareislandpreserve.org

July 31 (Saturday) 2:00 - 3:30 PM (Free) Shoreline Heritage Preserve Visitors Center  - Mare Island
Mare Island Naval Ammunition Depot:  A “Mutiny” that Changed History
TOUR:
On August 9, 1944, 3 weeks after the Port Chicago Explosion that resulted in the greatest loss of life on home soil during WWII, 258 African American sailors took a stand that changed history, yet few people know where their “work stoppage” viewed as a way to bargain for better and safer working conditions, took place. Visit Mare Island Naval Ammunition Depot in Vallejo where the men were ordered to return to loading munitions. Their refusal to return to work resulted in the Navy’s court-martial and imprisonment of 50 men. Due to advocacy by then NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall and even Eleanor Roosevelt, the Navy became the first of America’s armed services to desegregate. Join retired ILWU member Jeff Bonneville and Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve manager Myrna Hayes in a narrated walking and driving tour. Hosted by Mare Island Heritage Trust.

Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve manager Myrna Hayes's note:
Regarding the ferry, it is such a nice ride up the Bay and the absolute best way to get to Vallejo from San Francisco. Our motorcoach service from the El Cerrito Del Norte BART is equally comfortable and convenient from East Bay and as alternative to the ferry or in combination with it. Note that the ferry service also has express busses directly to and from the SF Ferry Building that supplement the ferry schedule, too for more flexibility. Having talked up the ferry and bus, we do have a challenge in that they are right across the Napa River from our tours, but no bus/shuttle or ferry service the few hundred yards any longer now that the base is closed. So, I recommend that folks call ahead for a taxi or I am trying to arrange with our Union Locals to provide some informal shuttle services. Otherwise, driving is the other option, which for many requires renting a car or reserving a car-share. 
The taxi trip would not be very expensive. I can call about the total price. However, for the two tours, they are about a mile distance from each other, so we will need to arrange something to ensure that people can come to both. I think an informal carpool will work and I will have some of my volunteers to stand by for that. Let's see what we can work out.

For information call 707-249-9633 or e-mail myrnahay@pacbell.net Visit: www.mareislandpreserve.org