Homefront: Redwood City 1941

Homefront: Redwood City
A small town faces a big war; December 1941 to February 1942

December 2000

Contents: Introduction; Prelude; "A date that will live in infamy"; The Days After; Yuletide;

Japanese in Redwood City (with photo); Adjusting to War; In Comparison; Conclusion.

Notes; Bibliography; Contact information.

When Japanese bombs fell on Pearl Harbor the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, figurative bombs were also dropped on small towns across the United States. Destroyed in these communities were not battleships and cruisers, but rather the myth of American isolationism and the stability of an unchanging lifestyle. Although the most severe changes related to the war -- rationing, draft boards and the like -- were phased in over a long period of time, life still changed quickly in small municipalities during the immediate days and weeks after the Sunday morning attack in Hawaii. Redwood City, Calif., was no exception.

Redwood City is a suburban community about halfway between the metropolises of San Francisco and San Jose. The county seat of San Mateo County, Redwood City was incorporated in 1867 and named for the tons of timber that used to be hauled out from its waterfront -- the only deep water port in the southern part of San Francisco Bay.1 According to the 1940 census, the town had a population of about 12,400 at the beginning of World War II 2, compared to the about 75,000 it housed in 2000. Now a center of the Internet economy, Redwood City was a quiet, bedroom community with few industries -- other than its aforementioned port -- on Dec. 7, 1941.

After the war, Redwood City would transform from a sleepy bayside town into the booming suburb it is today. While San Mateo County as whole became an industrial force during the conflict, especially in South San Francisco, where a large shipyard was situated, Redwood City's transformation was more muted. Still, in the weeks after the war began, Redwood City was forced into a major upheaval that turned residents' lives upside down: Holiday celebrations were comparatively downbeat, Japanese Americans had to deal with a community no longer friendly to them, city authorities were forced to make war-related decisions that would affect their citizens.

Most changes in Redwood City after the Pearl Harbor attack were probably in step with those experienced by other similar-sized communities across the country. However, with its coastal location near a major city and large Japanese American population, Redwood City also faced situations that were unique to itself. Although there were significant gradual adjustments to be made as the war progressed -- men entering the service in large numbers, significant numbers of women joining the workforce, rationing, etc. -- there was no period like that after the first two months following Pearl Harbor for sheer, drastic change. People living in Redwood City, and those who worked there, such as in the press, had to face up to the shock of suddenly being at war, the perceived threat of attack, the removal of an active part of the population and a complete change to the national mood. "Redwood Citizens" were forced to adjust to the new world situation and change their lives in a very brief period of time, and most seemed to make a smooth, if uncertain, transition.

Prelude

The biggest piece of local news reported in the Dec. 6, 1941 edition of the Redwood City Tribune, a daily afternoon newspaper published in the city, was the announced relocation of the National Motor Bearing Company from Oakland to the southern part of Redwood City, near an existing airfield. The $180,000 plant would add an important defense-related industry, in addition to the Port, and much-needed employment to a city still recovering from the Depression. In fact, Chambers of Commerce across California focused attention on getting heavy, war-related industries to their cities.3

The addition of the plant was one of many signs the city was expecting a conflict. In the previous day's newspaper, for example, was a column by Tribune editor Ray Spangler saying he went to a conference in San Francisco in which the press was "told something of the type of relationship it might expect when we go to war." According to Spangler, the speakers forgot to mention the types of censorship already in place, "that even now make this land of free speech a mere hush of its former self."4

Spangler noted the press was already voluntarily omitting news of such topics as troop movements and industrial production figures that might become useful to the enemy. "Right here in Redwood City there are news items that have been held by request of the Navy Department. ... this is a type of entirely justified self-imposed censorship," Spangler wrote. "The danger of the thing is it is spreading to civilian authorities. While once a newspaperman was king to print or not print as discretion dictated, he now goes from office to office asking humbly for the charitable bits that public officials are willing to disclose. In the north end community, a husband batted his wife over the head with a chair, sending her to the hospital. The police said they were suppressing the story because it might create more trouble in the family. What more trouble?"

Redwood City -- and the nation -- would indeed face serious trouble two days later.

"A date that will live in infamy"

The weather report in the Dec. 6 Redwood City Tribune said the next day would be fair, with little change from Saturday's temperatures in the 50s. There would be early morning fog and gentle northwest winds. But things would get stormy that day, however it had nothing to do with the atmosphere.

Historian Ronald H. Bailey wrote of the Pearl Harbor bombing, "Of all the momentous events that would galvanize their lives of the next four years, this was the ones Americans would remember most vividly."5 That certainly was the case for Art Balsamo and other Redwood City residents.

Balsamo was 20 in 1941, and living near the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Franklin Street. The morning of Dec. 7, he was driving his Chevrolet convertible on El Camino Real to a nearby café when he heard the news that shocked the country -- Pearl Harbor had been bombed by Japanese planes.

" It was a beautiful day and I put the top down," he recalled. "I started up, got onto Jefferson Avenue, stopped at the signal and turned on the radio. It was full of 'December Seventh' (news), and it was two hours old (at that point). I got to James Avenue and made a U-turn."6 Balsamo rushed to the house he shared with two other men and attempted to wake a still-sleeping roommate.

"He says, 'What the hell are you waking me up for?' and I said, 'The Japs just bombed Pearl Harbor,'" Balsamo recalled. "He says, 'Get the hell out of here! Come on, Art.' I was always pulling jokes on them, that was the problem." Balsamo proved the truth of his story by flipping on the console radio in the home's living room

"We were sitting in the living room listening to this radio and I never did get breakfast," Balsamo said. "I don't even know what happened the rest of the day. I remember (hearing the news) so vividly." Balsamo enlisted in the Navy in February and became a Seabee -- a Naval construction crewman.

Disbelief was seemingly a common reaction to the news. Shirley McClellan, 13 at the time, had lived in a house near the intersection of Roosevelt Avenue and El Camino Real for about a year. "I was in the house and I heard it on the radio," she said. "I don't remember the words, but it was announced that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. I could just hear the announcer, and the excitement in his voice, the real shock." McClellan ran into the back yard, where her mother was talking to a neighbor over the fence. "I guess I said, 'Pearl Harbor has been bombed, we're at war.' My mother didn't believe me," she said.7

Like Balsamo, 21-year-old Reg McGovern heard the news while driving. He had been with a girlfriend on the way from Redwood City to the beach. "It came over the Mickey Mouse radio on my 1936 Ford," McGovern remembered. On a spur of the moment decision, he headed away from the sand and toward the San Francisco Embarcadero, where he was moved along by a National Guard soldier protecting the waterfront. "This guy touched our car with a goddamn rifle and said, 'Keep going, this is secure.'"8

At Redwood City Firehouse No. 1, it was a slow day, with the only call in the log book being a trip to Forester's Hall, 1204 Middlefield Road, to investigate a small fire. However, at 4:35 p.m. Fire Chief Mark Ryan "ordered all leaves canceled for 36 hours." In pencil was written the reason for the command: "attack of Pearl Harbor this AM." By 5:30 p.m., records show, the fire department had already mimeographed and mailed out "national defense" letters and questionnaires to other fire departments in the area.9

At about 6 p.m., Kotoharu Inouye, a 57-year-old chrysanthemum grower "regarded as the leader of the local Japanese community," was arrested without incident by FBI agents at his Valota Road home. Inouye had lived in Redwood City for 35 years at the time of his arrest and was the father of two American-born children. A local newspaper stated that "Inouye's family was taken by surprise by the seizure, but his son said he realized it was the proper procedure during such a time of crisis."10 Redwood City Police Chief C.L. Collins accompanied FBI agents during the arrest and expressed the opinion that the Japanese would be interned.

The Days After

The Redwood City Tribune, as usual, had no Sunday paper, but its Monday afternoon edition declared above the masthead that the "U.S. Declares War." Citizens were not only told of news of worldwide importance, but also how it could affect their own lives. A front page map clearly stated that the West Coast was unlikely to be attacked, because the "Japs have no bases near and must first get by Hawaii." Still, that didn't prevent the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors from declaring a county emergency.11 The column one story noted that safety plans, including what to do for the safety of school children, were being discussed at a meeting of various city and county officials that day.

Ironically, right next to a story announcing Inouye's arrest, was an editorial headlined, "We must guard against hysteria and animosity while speeding defense." The piece stated that the public must avoid hysteria and "indiscriminate animosity" toward the Japanese residents of the community. "It should be remembered that we are at war with Japan, but not with our Nipponese neighbors, many of whom can be counted on for self-sacrificing devotion to this country." The same editorial said any spies or saboteurs would be ferreted out by federal authorities -- the orders of which should be obeyed without question.12

The City Council had a brief organizing meeting Monday night, then a full-blown special session on Tuesday, Dec. 9. On first reading, legislators passed "An ordinance of the city of Redwood City for defense purposes and necessity" -- specifically, a law that gave city authorities the power to enforce blackout regulations.13 Penalties for ignoring a blackout order were set at a $500 fine or 90 days in jail.14 Also on Tuesday, firefighters continued to inventory the equipment available in Redwood City and neighboring communities. A 9 a.m. log entry stated, "All men on shift working on National Defense data -- gathering same."15

McClellan returned to her eighth grade studies at McKinley School on Tuesday. A series of air raid drills ensued at school, although McClellan did not remember much else of the early days on campus after Pearl Harbor. "In my time, people weren't as developed as they are today," she said. "They didn't have the media, television and all. Yes I did understand the word, 'war.' It was scary and frightening."16

Although Redwood City suffered no attacks, real -- such as a Japanese submarine's shelling near Goleta -- or imagined, as in the false air raids reported up and down the coast, including San Francisco, the atmosphere was tense. In the tense days after Pearl Harbor, preparations were made for the Japanese attack that some thought was imminent. On Jan. 5, 1942, in the midst of other defense preparations, such as a discussion on the proper operation of police and fire sirens, the Redwood City Council authorized the chief of police to purchase a machine gun and six high-powered rifles.17 Some residents thought the precautions were necessary. "I gave it some wonder," McClellan said. "What came to my mind (was the thought), 'Why are we exempt here in the United States?' You'd hear of other countries in wars and terrible things that were happening. That's true today. We've been very fortunate we haven't been attacked."18

Not all were as convinced. "I was always skeptical, I didn't think they were going to come over," McGovern said.19

With feelings high after Pearl Harbor, and the draft soon to be fully implemented, local draft boards were forced to make allowances to accept more registrations. Registration headquarters was moved in late December from the fire house to the real estate office in the Redwood City City Hall.20

Yuletide

War could not totally dampen the Christmas spirit in 1941. Blackouts could not force every light out: "Just as there will always be Santa Claus, there will always be Christmas Trees," wrote an un-bylined author in the Dec. 23 Tribune. "Lighted ones remain in spite of blackout threats. Although outdoor lighting (is prohibited), the Christmas Spirit is strong enough to bring out efforts to brighten up the world. As a result, it is still worth driving around Redwood City to see lighting effects."

Such was a common attitude across the country, according to historian A.A. Hoehling. "Somehow in the midst of grief and apprehension, the people of the United States found a certain heart to prepare for Christmas."21

In fact, the adage that "war is good for the economy" was confirmed in a Christmas Eve story in the Redwood City Tribune. "It will take more than a war scare to keep people of Redwood City from observing the Yuletide spirit," wrote reporter Otto Tallent. "That was observed today when a survey of local business establishments showed a tremendous increase in business over this time last year."22 One possible reason stated was that local shoppers were too nervous about traveling to San Francisco and getting caught in an air raid to leave Redwood City. In addition, the improving economy, with more jobs, meant there was more money in circulation. "You just can't stop the American people," one merchant is quoted as saying. "When a holiday comes around, they're going to celebrate, war or no war." Conflict or not, inmates of the San Mateo County Jail in downtown Redwood City also kept to routine, having their usual holiday meal of roast pork and applesauce.23

As usual, Christmas 1941 was a time of happy homecomings. Jack Galvin, a Redwood City resident and San Jose State football player, showed up unannounced at his parents' doorstep on Christmas Eve. Galvin and his teammates were in Honolulu for games against the University of Hawaii and Willamette University the day the Japanese attacked. The Spartans were stuck in Hawaii for almost two weeks after the bombing due to security concerns, and earned their keep by hiring themselves out as security guards for undermanned military installations.

Eventually, their ship sailed -- under a veil of secrecy -- for the Golden Gate under the escort of a cruiser and two destroyers. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world," Galvin said. "After the first day, I forgot all about football."24

Japanese in Redwood City

Like many neighboring communities, Redwood City had a large number of residents descended from Italian, German and, especially, Japanese ancestry. "Redwood City had a big Japanese community," McGovern said. "I remember our school picture. There were no blacks in it, but all stuffed together was a whole bunch of Japanese."25

(Above: Japanese-American students at Sequoia High School gather for a picture days before they were interned. Courtesy Redwood City Public Library.)

Although the exact number of Japanese-American residents is difficult to pinpoint, a cursory check of Polk's 1941-1942 Redwood City telephone directory show numerous Japanese names. Included are T. Honda at 1301 Redwood Ave., Takeshi Yatabe at 1443 Hudson Street, Mitsuzo Yamada, 921 Woodside Road, and Fugio Matsuyama, 1576 Valota Road.26 All were listed, in a day when phone books noted occupations, as being in the gardening or nursery businesses. In fact, there were several nurseries in the area of the southwest part of the city, most within a reasonable distance of the intersection of Woodside and Valota roads.

The primary product of those nurseries was the perennial flower of the Chrysanthemum, for which the growers of Redwood City were famous. During the depressed 1930s, Japanese Americans conducted various promotions in order to keep the industry lucrative, one of which was the popular Chrysanthemum Festival in Redwood City.27 On Sept. 10, 1941, for example, the Redwood City Tribune ran an article headlined "Japanese planning for county fiesta." The story noted the San Mateo County Japanese American Citizens League planned an exhibit at a Sept. 18-21 county event. Sam Kariya, of Belmont, was appointed chairman of a floral exhibit that would display red, white and blue flowers, mostly chrysanthemums. The display would financially back the USO and U.S. Savings Bonds.

Ethnic Japanese were well-involved in the Redwood City community, threats of war notwithstanding. On another page of the Sept. 10 paper, there was an announcement noting that Mr. and Mrs. Tsuhomu Kono, of Redwood City were now the proud parents of a 6-pound, 4.5-ounce son, born in Palo Alto.

Well before official internment policies took effect in early 1942, steps were taken against Redwood City Japanese Americans soon after the war began. As mentioned previously, Kotoharu Inouye was arrested on Dec. 7, and other similar arrests followed.28 Longtime Redwood City resident Gene Firpo stated that his mother, who worked at a downtown Bank of America branch, was instructed on Dec. 8 to pull any Japanese-sounding names out of the bank's files for review by federal authorities.29 But there were also defenders of the Japanese American among those in influence in Redwood City. Besides the aforementioned Dec. 8 editorial in the Tribune, the Redwood City City Council, meeting in special session on Dec. 15, urged that restraint be shown in dealing with citizens of Axis ancestry.

The council unanimously passed a resolution urging citizens "to be tolerant, fair and just in their attitude toward and treatment of" those of Japanese, German and Italian descent. The resolution noted that the Constitution granted safeguards of law to all ethnicities and stated, "many members of these racial groups, particularly those of Japanese descent, who are citizens of the United States find themselves identified through no fault of their own with the enemies of this country because of physical racial characteristics." In addition, the resolution indicated that mistreatment of those citizens might cause them to become embittered against the United States and "might cause them to go into activities inimical to the best interest of this nation."30

After President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 in early 1942, allowing the internment of Japanese Americans, some 1,200 San Mateo County Japanese Americans joined about 7,000 others at the Tanforan Race Track in San Bruno, from which they were transferred to Camp Topaz in Utah to wait out the war.31

McClellan remembers there was a Japanese boy in her class that was interned. McClellan also personally witnessed a German butcher who lived nearby detained by the authorities and knew an Italian grocer that was interned briefly, although his wife and child were not. "I wondered why that was happening," she said. "I remember thinking, 'Why would they pick on those people? Those people do the same thing my people do: working and living.'"

Balsamo said things look different in hindsight. "They thought the Japanese were coming over here and that's why they kept all the Japanese out," he said. "People nowadays say, 'That was wrong, we shouldn't have done that.' But it was different times. In those days it was 'the inscrutable Oriental.' I think if you had put it to a vote of the people whether they should get the Japanese out of here and intern them some place, it would have passed overwhelmingly. It was wrong, now we know, but at the time ..."32

It should be noted that of the four Japanese names in the phone book listed above, only one, T. Honda, is also listed in the first post-war Polk's directory, released in 1946.

Adjusting to war

With the perceived threat of air raids, citizens -- and the local authorities -- were forced to make adjustments. After a fire station whistle, used to summon auxiliary firemen to duty during a structure fire, was mistaken by many on Dec. 11 as an air raid warning, Fire Chief Mark Ryan declared that the whistle would from that point on only be used for air raids or drills, and no other purpose.33 An actual air raid siren was installed in central Redwood City on Dec. 13.34 Also on Dec. 11, Mayor Harold Anderson announced that Redwood City would be divided into districts, and an air raid warden appointed for each.35

Readers of the Dec. 23 Redwood City Tribune were presented on an inside page with line drawings listing "eight things to do in case of an air raid: keep under cover; if outdoors, lie flat; leave a car or bus; turn off gas connection; avoid top/street floors; open windows partially; put out and conceal lights; be calm and avoid panic."

In that vein, citizens were also required to submit to mandatory neighborhood blackouts. McClellan lived in a small house with a central hallway. During the occasional blackout drills Redwood City faced, her family would huddle in the hallway, with doors closed at every entrance point, and whittle away the time. "In the living room, even with the shades drawn, you couldn't have a light on because the light would peep out. It was amazing to me how far a cigarette match could be seen at night," McClellan said. "We'd sit there in that little hallway. (A neighbor) would come by sometimes, I don't know why - the hall was very small, and we would just sit there and read."36

In order to set a good example, the City Council on Dec. 15 accepted a city manager recommendation that the office hours at City Hall be changed. The hours were adjusted by a half-hour to allow City Hall to close at 4:30 p.m. "to enable employees to reach home before dark during the winter months and during the present emergency."37

Besides light, "Redwood Citizens" also had to do without something else usually taken for granted by the general populace: the daily weather report. A Christmas editorial in the Redwood City Tribune outlined the reasons: "Among the early casualties of the war in the Pacific was the published daily weather report. Suspension of that widely useful service, which has been relied upon for use in personal plans in a thousand ways every day, was for the purpose of withholding information that would be helpful to the enemy."38 The editorial quoted from a pre-war report that stated accurate weather reports could be very useful to a potential enemy armada.

Sports were also quickly curtailed due to blackout threats and travel restrictions. A Sequoia High vs. Hayward High wrestling match on Dec. 10 was canceled because Hayward schools were closed. A Dec. 12 Sequoia basketball game, scheduled for the evening, was moved to the afternoon in order to avoid conflicts with blackout orders.39 The Sequoia Union High School District Board of Trustees debated replacing physical education courses with first aid classes that same day.

With the war, came an increased military presence in Redwood City as soldiers and sailors on leave or furlough passed through town. City counclimembers on Feb. 2, 1942 were asked to debate a request from Lt. Col. Darrow Moencher of the VII Army Corps in San Jose that cities prohibit the use of any intoxicating liquor on the streets or any public place in the city. The Redwood City Council at first decided to see if any nearby towns had similar ordinances, then two weeks later rejected the ordinance outright, saying it "did not appear to be necessary for such an order at this time."40

In Comparison

Redwood City's adjustment to war was in step with that experienced in many communities, both locally and nationwide. The confusion and shock seen in southern San Mateo County was repeated both across the country and throughout the Bay Area.

For example, the disorientation felt by Shirley McClellan and Art Balsamo's roommate is similar to that of 13-year-old Douglas Jaynes, of Florence, Ala. Jaynes, with "a youthful distortion of geography (that) reflected the worst fears of citizens of more advanced years"41 ran around town crying that the Japanese were headed toward Florence via a tributary of a local creek. More locally, San Franciscans were forced to deal with paranoia as well.

Buildings in the city were reinforced against perceived attacks. The main phone switching center, for instance, had a 10-foot high stack of sandbags stockpiled around it to prevent damage from bombs that never came.42 Troops from the same National Guard unit that moved Reg McGovern from the Embarcadero shot and seriously wounded a woman who was slow to respond to their demands to halt at a Bay Bridge checkpoint. Mrs. Marie Sayre did not remotely resemble a Japanese American, unlike the Chinese American man killed by an angry mob in Seattle that same day.43

The Redwood City Tribune of Dec. 8, 1941 was like other newspapers of that day in having a curious mix of content. Fronts pages nationally shouted "War!" and similar headlines, while inside pages, sometimes prepared much in advance of the news section, spoke of "gay supper parties" and the customary frivolity of holiday plans. "They suddenly read like epitaphs for an era," wrote Hoehling.44

Conclusion

Redwood City was turned upside down in the days following Pearl Harbor. Within days, the medium-town casualness that characterized the town before the war was replaced first with confusion, then preparation, then adjustment. The war could not fully dampen Redwood City's Christmas spirit, save perhaps for the town's population of Japanese Americans, who had already seen members of their community arrested and who would soon be forced to leave themselves. Residents were forced to make a quick transition to a war footing, and though their stability was a casualty, their spirits, apparently, were not.

Notes;

1. The US Navy would lease two docking berths and add improvements at the Port during the war, the only actual military installation in the city during the war. Davey Properties, History of Redwood City (1988, Davey Properties, Redwood City) 23.

2. City of Redwood City website, Redwood City History. (Linked from www.redwoodcity.org 1999.)

3. Andrew Role, California: A History, 5th Ed., (1998, Harlan Davidson Inc., Wheeling, Illinois) 265.

4. Redwood City Tribune, 5 Dec., 1941.

5. Ronald H. Bailey, Home Front: USA, (1978, Time-Life Books, Morristown, N.J.) 17.

6. Interview with Art Balsamo, October 2000, Redwood City, Calif.

7. Interview with Shirley McClellan, November 2000, Redwood City, Calif.

8. Interview with Reg McGovern, November 2000, Redwood City, Calif.

9. City of Redwood City, Fire Station No. 1 Log, Dec. 7, 1941. Karl Vollmeyer Archives.

10. Redwood City Tribune, 8 Dec. 1941.

11. ibid.

12. ibid.

13. Redwood City Council Minutes, Dec. 9, 1941, Redwood City Hall.

14. Redwood City Tribune, 9 Dec. 1941.

15. City of Redwood City, Fire Station No. 1 Log, Dec. 9, 1941. Karl Vollmeyer Archives.

16. McClellan interview.

17. Redwood City Council Minutes, Jan. 5, 1942, Redwood City Hall.

18. McClellan interview.

19. McGovern interview.

20. Redwood City Tribune, 23 Dec. 1941.

21. A.A. Hoehling, Home Front, USA, (1966 Thomas Y. Crowell, New York) 11.

22. Redwood City Tribune, 24 Dec. 1941.

23. ibid.

24. Redwood City Tribune, 25 Dec. 1941.

25. McGovern interview.

26. Polk's 1941-1942 Telephone Directory.

27. Mitchell Postel, Peninsula Portrait, (1988; Northridge CA: Windsor Publications) 101.

28. Redwood City Tribune, 9 Dec. 1941.

29. Interview with Gene Firpo, November 2000, Redwood City, Calif.

30. Redwood City Council Minutes, Dec. 15, 1941.

31. Postel, Peninsula Portrait, 103.

32. Balsamo interview.

33. City of Redwood City, Fire Station No. 1 Log, Dec. 11, 1941. Karl Vollmeyer Archives.

34. ibid. Dec. 13, 1941

35. Redwood City Tribune, 11 Dec. 1941

36. McClellan interview.

37. Redwood City Council Minutes, Dec. 15, 1941, Redwood City Hall.

38. Redwood City Tribune, 25 Dec., 1941

39. Redwood City Tribune, 12 Dec. 1941

40. Redwood City Council Minutes, Feb. 16, 1942, Redwood City Hall.

41. Bailey, Home Front: USA, 8.

42. ibid, 7.

43. Hoehling, Home Front, USA, 10.

44. ibid, 7.

Bibliography

Books

Bailey, Ronald. Home Front: USA. Time-Life Books, Inc., Morristown, N.J., 1978.

Hoehling, A.A. Home Front, USA. Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, 1966.

Postel, Mitchell. Peninsula Portrait: A Pictorial History of San Mateo County. Windsor Publications, Northridge Calif.,1988.

Role, Andrew. California: A History, Fifth Edition. Harlan Davidson Inc, Wheeling, Illinois, 1998.

Newspapers

Redwood City Tribune

Manuscript Collections and Documents

Karl S. Vollmeyer Archives, Redwood City Public Library, Redwood City, Calif.

Archives, City Clerks Office, City Hall, Redwood City, Calif.

Miscellaneous

Balsamo, Art, Redwood City, Calif., October 2000. Interview conducted by John Baker.

Firpo, Gene, Redwood City, Calif., November 2000. Interview conducted by John Baker.

McClellan, Shirley, Redwood City, Calif., November 2000. Interview conducted by John Baker.

McGovern, Reg, Redwood City, Calif., November 2000. Interview conducted by John Baker.

Pamphlets

Davey Properties, The History of Redwood City. Davey Properties, Redwood City, Calif., 1988.

Comments? Questions? E-mail John Baker at: jcb10@axe.humboldt.edu

John Baker's Home Page

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