Berkeley 1900 is a book that really tells of the everyday lives of everyday people in Berkeley, California 100 years ago. 
 We see the world as they did through the medium of the Berkeley Daily Gazzette and old photographs from the era. We feel what life was like for children, woman, emmigrants, bussinessmen, animals and the Bay itself. We witness what people did for leisure, medicine, food, government and the whole of small town life. 
 The format is so raw and unemcumbered that it sweeps us away. In thirty chapters Schwartz prepares the reader with a textual introduction and follows with newspaper articles (scanned exactly as they appeared 100 years ago in the Berkeley Daily Gazzette), interwoven with quotes from people of the town in 1906 (so the book is as much their own voices as possible) and 175 hundred year old photographs, often puntuating a specific article. There are a total of about 650 newspaper articles from 1900 and 1905. 
 Richard Schwartz has given birth to a concept, a way of looking back which has moved everyone who has taken its ride into our past. 
 "Mr. Schwartz has put together a must read book for everyone who loves Berkeley. As we move into the Millennium, it is funny, sobering, and just plain interesting to read about daily events of life in Berkeley in 1900. There are lessons to be learned here, and stories to be told and retold." --Mayor Shirley Dean of Berkeley 
 "Berkeley 1900 is the first book on Berkeley to approach a true history of day-to-day life in the neighborhoods at the turn of the century." --Stephanie Manning, Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association 
 "A vivid picture...a fascinating, bottom-up view of Berkeley during the most important decade of its history." --Dr. Charles Wallenberg, Professor of History, Vista College, Berkeley, California 
 "By giving us the raw data with which the history of place is constructed, Richard Schwartz has revealed both a time and a town that some of us only thought we knew. Newspaper articles and advertisements, as well as vintage photographs, permit the reader to view Berkeley's past without the processing of an intermediary, and in doing so, the material reveals a country which is alternately more exotic and familiar than we could have imagined. Schwartz has aided the reader by organizing the material by subject and providing brief introductions, thus serving as a knowledgeable but unobtrusive guide through that landscape. This splendidly rich composition should serve as a model for other communities seeking to understand how they have developed and who they are." --Dr. Gray Brechin, Historical Geographer, University of California, Berkeley 
 "It was a good day when Richard Schwartz walked into the Berkeley Historical Society on the day we pondered disposing of these newspaper articles, which we were not able to archive because of their condition. His extracts from that material bring an intriguing picture of how we did things in the past in Berkeley and may help us to do better in the years of the new century." --Ken Cardwell, President Emeritus and Linda Rosen, President, Berkeley Historical Society

Berkeley 1900, Daily Life at the Turn of the Century

History

Richard Schwartz

Americas

RSB Books

Earthquake Exodus, 1906 tells the story of the ten-week relief effort in the East Bay after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. Within hours of the earthquake, the people of Berkeley began to organize a citizens' committee, knowing that terrified masses of stricken refuges would pour into their town within hours. By revisiting both their challenges—smallpox, fires, and keeping public order—and acts of grace, such as taking in the homeless, setting up temporary camps, and dispensing food, Richard Schwartz illuminates a nearly forgotten episode in Bay Area history. Containing many breathtaking photos and illustrations not seen for nearly one hundred years, this new visual history offers up singularly human details of one of the nation's most infamous disasters.

Earthquake Exodus, 1906

Schwartz, Richard

Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley

Berkeley s enduring reputation as a haven for eccentrics the magical, the magnificent, and the malevolent has contributed greatly to the community s rich cultural history. Though most of today s residents and visitors are unfamiliar with Berkeley s earliest roster of offbeat characters, their legacy became part of the foundation for one of the country s most vibrant intellectual communities. In the mid-twentieth century, Berkeley grabbed the national spotlight as a bastion of free thinkers and rabble-rousers. But the area had been long established as a fertile home for visionaries and individualists in the 1870s and 1880s, and even as far back as the gold rush era. Early Berkeley was a true frontier town embodying all the excitement, potential, and danger of America s Wild West. From the outset, it was a place where new ideas were tested, and where people who didn t feel quite at home in other locales seemed to find comfort and camaraderie. Of course, most of the town s population consisted of stalwart men and women from ranchers, road builders, and business owners to maids, saloon keepers, and farmhands who worked hard following their careers and visions of their lives. And among them lived innovators, artists, and campaigners whose head-turning discoveries and endearing antics were preserved in local newspaper accounts. These publications also captured the more sordid events of the day. In a place where urban areas hardly encroached on endless acres, disputes over land led to sad cases of murder; early attempts to mete out justice were often inconsistent and accounts of them are often baffling. Some of the events and sentiments of that era are still quietly influencing our culture today. A century or more ago, anyone on the street would have easily identified these famous local characters. Over the years their stories sadly faded from common memory. But any community will benefit from reexamining its forgotten social and cultural roots. To that end, I present this book about early Berkeley s eccentrics, heroes, and cutthroats as a tribute to all those whom ever have dreamed here or called this place home. Richard Schwartz.

Berkeley s enduring reputation as a haven for eccentrics the magical, the magnificent, and the malevolent has contributed greatly to the community s rich cultural history. Though most of today s residents and visitors are unfamiliar with Berkeley s earliest roster of offbeat characters, their legacy became part of the foundation for one of the country s most vibrant intellectual communities. In the mid-twentieth century, Berkeley grabbed the national spotlight as a bastion of free thinkers and rabble-rousers. But the area had been long established as a fertile home for visionaries and individualists in the 1870s and 1880s, and even as far back as the gold rush era. Early Berkeley was a true frontier town embodying all the excitement, potential, and danger of America s Wild West. From the outset, it was a place where new ideas were tested, and where people who didn t feel quite at home in other locales seemed to find comfort and camaraderie. Of course, most of the town s population consisted of stalwart men and women from ranchers, road builders, and business owners to maids, saloon keepers, and farmhands who worked hard following their careers and visions of their lives. And among them lived innovators, artists, and campaigners whose head-turning discoveries and endearing antics were preserved in local newspaper accounts. These publications also captured the more sordid events of the day. In a place where urban areas hardly encroached on endless acres, disputes over land led to sad cases of murder; early attempts to mete out justice were often inconsistent and accounts of them are often baffling. Some of the events and sentiments of that era are still quietly influencing our culture today. A century or more ago, anyone on the street would have easily identified these famous local characters. Over the years their stories sadly faded from common memory. But any community will benefit from reexamining its forgotten social and cultural roots. To that end, I present this book about early Berkeley s eccentrics, heroes, and cutthroats as a tribute to all those whom ever have dreamed here or called this place home. Richard Schwartz

Since its initial publication a decade ago, Berkeley 1900: Daily Life at the Turn of the Century has captivated readers with its unprecedented blend of serious history, fascinating images, and heartfelt storytelling. Its eyewitness accounts and unique views of Berkeley a hundred years past show how profoundly the landscape, culture, economy, and social values of modern Berkeley have been shaped by what came before. In this special tenth-anniversary edition, readers will discover a wealth of new source quotes and nearly 200 additional photos, making Berkeley 1900 more than ever the definitive account of a pivotal time in the life of one of America's most beloved cities.

Berkeley 1900: Daily Life at the Turn of the Century, 10th Anniversary Edition

Independent Publisher Book Awards 2018, Bronze Medal Winner - BiographyAs the Statue of Liberty stood unlit and unloved by American politicians in 1886, one of her saviors was creating a theatrical sensation at New York's Fourteenth Street Theatre. Actor M. B. Curtis, who had achieved overnight success in Sam'l of Posen, a groundbreaking play that transcended the common stereotypes of Jewish characters current at the time, was basking in public accolades at every curtain call when he came to Lady Liberty's aid. Curtis's rise to the top of his profession and his resulting fall from grace is a dramatic arc that rivals anything created for the stage. Actor, producer, real estate developer, promoter, hotelier, benefactor, and murder suspect, Curtis reached the highs of celebrity and fame as well as the lows of failure, illness, and a faltering career. The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty rescues his story from the dusty archives of forgotten history and reexamines an actor whose creativity and cultural influence still resonate today.

The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty: The Extraordinary Rise and Fall of Actor M. B. Curtis

Humor & Entertainment

Independent Publisher Book Awards 2018, Bronze Medal Winner - Biography As the Statue of Liberty stood unlit and unloved by American politicians in 1886, one of her saviors was creating a theatrical sensation at New York's Fourteenth Street Theatre. Actor M. B. Curtis, who had achieved overnight success in Sam'l of Posen, a groundbreaking play that transcended the common stereotypes of Jewish characters current at the time, was basking in public accolades at every curtain call when he came to Lady Liberty's aid. Curtis's rise to the top of his profession and his resulting fall from grace is a dramatic arc that rivals anything created for the stage. Actor, producer, real estate developer, promoter, hotelier, benefactor, and murder suspect, Curtis reached the highs of celebrity and fame as well as the lows of failure, illness, and a faltering career. The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty rescues his story from the dusty archives of forgotten history and reexamines an actor whose creativity and cultural influence still resonate today.

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the RSB Books publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by RSB Books

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the RSB Books publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Berkeley 1900, Daily Life at the Turn of the Century

Earthquake Exodus, 1906

Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley

Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley

Berkeley 1900: Daily Life at the Turn of the Century, 10th Anniversary Edition

The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty: The Extraordinary Rise and Fall of Actor M. B. Curtis

The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty: The Extraordinary Rise and Fall of Actor M. B. Curtis