About SF State Over the Years
This collection consists of photographs of San Francisco State University throughout decades of the twentieth century. It documents when San Francisco State campus was in the city’s Western Addition up to 1953 and the development and transition to our current campus located adjacent to Lake Merced. This collection reveals multiple lenses into student life at SF State through depictions of campus facilities and living areas, events, student life, and other activities chronicling tremendous cultural and social change. (more)
- Total number of items
- 1,265
- Total number of views
- 473,735
Featured items
Collections
Graduations and Commencements
Photos taken during the graduation and commencement ceremonies over the years.
Old San Francisco State Campuses
San Francisco State University has been located in three separate sites since it was established in 1862. Originally, it was located downtown at Powell Street near Clay Street then called the San Francisco State Normal School. Its location was moved to Buchanan Street bound by Haight, Laguna, and Waller Streets. This...
Aerial Views of San Francisco State Campus
Aerial views of the campus over time show how the campus few within a new development center in the southwest corner of the city. This collection includes a series of aerial views from the 1970’s and several undated but from an earlier period.
SFSU Buildings
While SF State’s Lake Merced campus was modern and well equipped, it was becoming a homogenous liberal arts college with green lawns and State Architect designed buildings. Legend has it that when architect Frank Lloyd Wright visited the campus, he quipped, “plant ivy.”
Frederic Burk School (Teacher Training)
The Frederic Burk School, a training facility for the School of Education, was unique in the California State College System, offering kindergarten to sixth grade while providing observation opportunities for student-teachers. It closed in 1971. This collection includes images of the school, personnel, and activities. Highlights include a...
Library Scenes
This collection includes images from the original J. Paul Leonard Library predominantly from the 1970’s. Images show students, library staff, and activities in the building, prior to its 2012 renovation. Highlights include students searching through the card catalogs.
Campus Visitors and Speakers
Willie Mays – Frederic Burk School - Willie Mays (1931-2024), known as the “Say Hey Kid" was regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Mays started in the Negro leagues for the Birmingham Black Barons before joining National League teams playing for the New York/San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets. Mays received...
Dorm Scenes (Student Life)
This collection includes student life and activities in the three main SFSU dormitories of the 1970’s. These included Mary Ward Hall, Merced Hall (later dedicated to Mary Park, a beloved custodian – the only building in the CSU named after a staff member), and the former Verducci Hall (which was removed after damage from the 1989 Loma...
Students and Alumni
This collection includes images of students predominantly from the 1970’s. The images portray campus life, buildings, and classrooms from that era.
Faculty, Staff and Administration
San Francisco State University has drawn faculty, staff, and administrators that share the original mission of providing students individualized instruction so that "experience teaches". This collection includes images of individual faculty and administrators with descriptions of their background and era. Familiar names of current...
Student Union Scenes
San Francisco State University’s student union is known for its distinctive design. In 1967, students hired architect Moishe Safdie to design a new eleven-story union, but the Trustees rejected it. Construction of a new $8-million building began in 1973, continuing the tradition of student unions as spaces for exploration, with art and...
Concerts, Theater and other events
San Francisco State University has been a center of cultural events throughout its history. Music, theater, poetry readings, are just some of the events held over the years.
Academic Technology Archive
Academic Technology has been woven through San Francisco State’s original mission to train teachers to be resilient for over a century. This collection consists of a selection of photographs taken by Audio-Visual/Instructional Television Center (AV/ITV) staff, now part of Academic Technology, to document aspects of San Francisco State...
Contact
DIVA Team
These collections are hosted by the DIVA Team at Academic Technology, San Francisco State University.
For questions about the collection, please contact the DIVA Team:
Email: digitize@sfsu.edu