San Francisco State Teachers College from Market and Herman Streets (January 1922)

Institutional Overview: 1906–1920s

San Francisco State’s early twentieth-century history was shaped by disaster, rebuilding, and expansion. The 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed the institution’s original Powell Street campus, forcing relocation and reorganization. By 1909, the school had established a permanent campus at Buchanan and Waller Streets, adapting existing structures and constructing new facilities to support its teacher-training mission.

In 1921, the California Legislature authorized expanded three-year programs at State Teachers Colleges, marking the formal transition from San Francisco State Normal School to San Francisco State Teachers College. During the 1920s, enrollment increased, curriculum broadened, and new academic initiatives—including visual instruction and student journalism—reflected evolving educational philosophies. These developments laid the foundation for the institution’s later growth into San Francisco State College and, ultimately, San Francisco State University.

Following World War I, interest in international affairs broadened among faculty and students. In November 1922, students began publishing a campus newspaper.

President Frederick Lister Burk recruited Anna Verona Dorris (1889–1975) to San Francisco State in 1922. A geography professor and strong advocate for visual instruction, Dorris played a defining role in shaping early curriculum. While serving as principal of the Thousand Oaks School in Berkeley, she held a joint appointment arranged by Burk and organized visual instruction departments for both institutions, advancing progressive educational methods in the early 1920s.

Credits: Some descriptions were developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI.