May 19 - August 15, 2011
Display Cases, Corridor between the Doe and Bancroft Libraries
Open during the operating hours of The Doe Library

This exhibit results from The Bancroft Library's efforts to preserve the 3.6 million negatives of the Fang Family San Francisco Examiner Photograph Archive. It presents photographs, reproduced from original negatives, documenting war efforts in the San Francisco Bay Area. Themes include civilian defense, rationing & salvage, women in uniform, supporting the troops, women in industry, and bond drives.

In 2006 The Bancroft Library received the San Francisco Examiner Photograph Archive from the Fang family and the Anschutz Corporation. It is a priceless visual record of the Bay Area throughout the 20th century and is the largest single gift of visual materials to the library. Its receipt more than doubled Bancroft's photographic holdings. Since receiving the archive, staff have been working to stabilize and preserve this irreplaceable historical record. All 3.6 million negatives have now been re-housed and placed in a cold vault maintained at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Save America's Treasures grant program, and now continues with support from the Council on Library and Information Resources.