adolph sutro, the populist millionaire [ 27:58 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

This week’s podcast explores the history of the millionaire philanthropist who gave so much to our city and whose story is — amazingly — almost forgotten.

For further edification:
» The Western Neighborhoods Project– outsidelands.org
» Sutro bio from 1898 – sfmuseum.org
» Sutro Baths – National Park Service
» Sutro Baths – San Francisco Public Library
» Sutro properties photos

random episode from the archives:
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Musical support:
Thanks to Paul Quiggley for this week’s music “Snow Scene”, made available through a Creative Commons license.

—
Correction – 4.3.06
As it turns out, Adolph Sutro was not the first Jewish mayor of San Francisco. that honour belongs to a man with the unlikely name of Washington Bartlett, who was elected to the office in 1882 and 1884, and then in 1886 became California’s first Jewish governor. I strive to make these podcasts as accurate as possible, checking a number of sources before I record – but in this case five sources listed Mr. Sutro as the first, and I didn’t get to number six until the show was on the air!

The name “Washington Bartlett” may sound familiar to you if you’ve downloaded the “birth of Yerba Buena” series, but it’s just one of those odd coincidences… the man elected first alcalde of Yerba Buena under United States rule, and the one responsible for changing the city’s name to “San Francisco” in 1847 was also named Washington Bartlett.