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'06 Survivors Alma Pohlmeier and Marie Sagues >>
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In 2001, fewer
than a dozen survivors of the April 18, 1906 Earthquake and Fire
attended the annual early morning ceremony at Lotta's
Fountain that commemorates the disaster, which leveled San Francisco
and forever shaped its destiny. Also in 2001, only 32 attended the survivor's
luncheon at John's Grill and it was estimated
that few more than that number were still alive at all. Some have moved
to other parts, but all belong to a unique group of San Franciscans who
are our link to the past and to the pre-Quake City that lives only in our
recorded history and in our myths, apart from these few survivors. Bessie
Shum was two years old in 1906. She recalls her father carrying her mother,
whose feet were bound in the Chinese tradition, out of the house and into
the street. Other survivors who were days or weeks old during the Earthquake
repeat the stories they were told by their parents, stories of life in
the aftermath of the great disaster. Some lived in tents in the City's
parks. Some were taken to live outside the City while others remained with
their families here and witnessed the City's rise from the ashes. These
few individuals are the most precious jewels in the crown of San Francisco's
rich and triumphant past. |
