The Story of the Golden Gate Bridge

Cross Section of a Riveted Plate used in steel construction. Copyright: Allan G. Smorra

The California Historical Society’s current exhibition is: A Wild Flight of the Imagination — The Story of the Golden Gate Bridge and it runs until October 14, 2012. You will find many fascinating drawings, paintings, tools and photographs of the bridge and the surrounding landscape before, during and after construction.

Illustrations and drawings from two of my favorite people, Chesley Bonestell and Irving Morrow, are on display, including some paintings from Mr. Bonestell that have been stored away out of sight until now. Works from Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Maynard Dixon and John Eberson are also among those on display.

Golden Gate Bridgeworkers Protest at 75th Anniversary Events

Without a contract, as many as 100 union workers held a protest last evening at Fort Mason during the first of many celebrations commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge.

All is not well at the Second-happiest-place-on-earth. After 38 meetings, over ten months of negotiations, GGB officials are unwilling to move past the first item on their agenda: Healthcare cuts to active and retired employees.

380 members of 19 unions make up a Coalition that has exceeded the District’s monetary target of budget savings. What is at stake is the District’s demand that the workers give more in the form of cost-sharing and reforms on vested retiree benefits. The proposal is to put retirees into a plan where they can only access the ever-shrinking pool of Medicare-only doctors. The cost of this new plan is not available.

Currently, retirees have access to the same medical plans that active employees use. This enables the retiree to keep up their relationship with their current doctors/choose new ones within their respective plan if needed. This was part of the package that they agreed to when they came to work at the bridge.

A Wild Flight of the Imagination: The Story of the Golden Gate Bridge

SF Fleet Week 2008

In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge the California Historical Society will open an exhibition on February 26, 2012, 79 years to the day that groundbreaking festivities took place. As part of the region wide celebration organized by The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy the exhibition will feature rarely seen artwork, photographs, film footage, and historic bridge artifacts.