Events

Register for Adolph Sutro's Urban Forests: Influences and Lasting Benefits

Celebrate Adolph Sutro's 191st birthday with guest speaker Jacqueline Proctor, who will talk about Sutro's urban forests: influences and lasting benefits.

While Adolph Sutro is known for creating the Sutro Baths and Cliff House, hiding in plain sight are the forests he planted atop SF's hills.

Planted in the 1880s, Adolph Sutro created a four-mile-long forested greenbelt including West of Twin Peaks District, transforming its development into tree-themed residential parks, including Forest Hill, St. Francis Wood, and Sherwood Forest. The forests on Mt. Davidson and Mt. Sutro continue to provide residents of the second densest city in the U.S. the opportunity to enjoy and be surrounded by hillsides covered in year-round greenery. Why did Adolph Sutro choose to create this unique urban forest landscape and why is it still here over a century later? Drawing from Sutro’s personal papers, biographies, and other sources, Jacqueline will share the motivation and impact this lush green foliage has had on San Francisco.

Jacqueline Proctor has been living at the edge of, and exploring, the forest on Mt. Davidson with her family since 1980. After a career in urban management and planning, she is pursuing her interests in local history and architecture. In addition to creating the MtDavidson.org website and JacquieProctor.com blog, she has written two books: San Francisco's West of Twin Peaks and Bay Area Beauty: The Artistry of Harold G. Stoner, Architect. She also leads walking tours as a volunteer for San Francisco City Guides: Mt. Davidson Stroll and West Side Whimsy.

This event will be on Zoom. We will send you instructions 24 hours before the event on April 28th at 4:00 pm. If you register after 4:00 pm on April 28th, then the instructions will be emailed at 3:00 pm the day of the event, an hour before the event starts. Please note all times are Pacific Daylight Time.

This virtual event is sponsored by the California State Library Foundation.

In this virtual talk, Marty Jessup will share the story of finding her great aunt buried at a Black church and how it led to research on persons enslaved by her ancestors.

About the speaker: Marty Jessup has researched and identified the enslaved people owned by her ancestors in the Shores community of Fluvanna County, VA. She is a member of the African American Genealogy Society of Northern California and the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Greater Richmond Virginia Chapter.

Join us on Wednesday, February 24 at 4:00 pm (PST) via Zoom. For more information and to RSVP, visit Sutro's Eventbrite page.