San Diego: A Pictorial History.
By Raymond G. Starr.
Norfolk, Virginia: The Donning Company Publishers, 1986. Illustrations.
Bibliography. Index. 225 pages. $27.95.
Reviewed by Gary F. Kurutz, Director of Special Collections
at the California State Library, Historical Photography Editor for San
Francisco Adventurers and Visionaries, and authority on collections of
historical photographs.
San Diego, because of its spectacular natural setting,
fabulous climate, colorful people and rich heritage is a photogenic city.
Fortunately, too, this Southern California metropolis has been blessed with a
number of skilled photographers, artists and illustrators who have chronicled
its development. Many of these images have been preserved in local and
statewide research institutions. In recent years, the interpreters of San
Diego's past have mined these iconographic treasure troves to produce a shelf
full of pictorial histories ranging from articles in scholarly journals to
multivolume sets. Neil Morgan, Richard Pourade, Ray Brandes, Iris Engstrand and Thomas Scharf number among those who have mixed words with pictures.
The latest contribution is Raymond G. Starr's San Diego: A
Pictorial History. Published as part of The Downing Company's Portrait of
America Series, it is embellished with over 350 photographs, maps,
documents, drawings and illustrations reproducing newspapers, posters and other
historical documents. Dr. Starr, a Professor of History at San Diego State
University, presents in his introduction an eloquent summary of what this book
accomplishes: (it) "illustrates the transformation of San Diego from a desolate
little village on the last corner of the earth to the seventh largest city in
the nation, with the proud - if self-proclaimed - distinction of being one of
the most livable places in the United States. The book focuses on the many
people (of many races and cultures) who did it, the institutions, and the
setting."
Professor Starr's heavy emphasis on the twentieth century
makes this volume a particularly important contribution. Calling on his vast experience
as an urban and regional historian, the author weaves a well-written and
compelling explanation of San Diego during this volatile century. For example,
rather than dwelling on San Diego's founding and picturesque rancho era, he
instead explains how this romanticized time period contributed flavor and
atmosphere to the city's character. The 1915 Exposition, profusion of mission
revival architecture, Hispanic place names and other symbols illustrate this
fact. Starr gives much play to the city's economic and cultural development,
social strife, struggle to maintain quality in the face of growth ("Smokestacks
versus Geraniums"), redevelopment projects and the creation of world class
zoos, parks, museums and educational institutions. Included are realistic
appraisals of the city. For in-stance, he tells how the cold war saved San Diego
from the ravages of peace by keeping strong the military-industrial complex. All
these factors helped shape this onetime "last corner on earth" into "America's
finest city."
The vast quantity of illustrations and their informative
captions form the cornerstone of this city history. Dr. Starr selected from
libraries, museums and archives up and down California not only dramatic and
entertaining views of bathing beauties, surfers, airplanes and such musts as
Bum, the Stingaree and Katherine Tingley but also images that clearly confirm
that this dream city did have nightmarish moments. Photographs of KKK meetings,
floods, store closures during the Depression, housing shortages during World War
II, sprawling suburban subdivisions, border problems and McCarthyism graphically
show that many national problems also visited this semi-tropic paradise.
Students of urban history will be pleased by the number of illustrations devoted
to the development of parks, the military, aeronautics and other local
industries, politics, housing developments, tourism and San Diego's place as a
leading "Sun Belt" city. The inclusion of a photograph of Oscar's drive-in
restaurant and the huge neon sign of the Campus drive-in demonstrate Starr's
sensitivity to the automobile culture we all endure.
Picture researchers and historians of Western pictorial works
will be equally as pleased. Dr. Starr provides captions packed with information
about each image. In fact, the sometimes "chatty" captions are almost as lengthy
as the text. The author frequently mentions the name of the photographer or
artist who created these visual documents. Furthermore, he states when a picture
is undated or touched up. So often pictorial histories are deficient in this
area. Many of the illustrations appear to be fresh views attesting to Starr's
ability to ferret out images from less than obvious sources. Inevitably, though,
familiar eye-catching pictures are liberally sprinkled throughout.
While San Diego: A Pictorial History deserves high
praise, it does have a few blemishes. The quality of the reproductions is not
the best and some originally fine crisp views have been "muddied." Also, the
lengthy captions, although invaluable, cause some problems. On occasion, this
reviewer thought the caption was part of the text and visa versa. Perhaps the
designers might have devised a better way of setting off the illustrations'
descriptions such as with ruled borders or a distinctively different type face.
Considering Dr. Starr's careful recognition of photographers, it may have
enhanced the book to have included a profile of one of these men who made books
like this possible.
San Diego: A Pictorial History serves as one of the
better examples of how an historian, tuned to public history, the "new social
history" and archival and library resources, can fashion a pictorial that not
only satisfies the casual observer of San Diego but also the scholar. Finally,
Professor Starr's enthusiasm for this "Harbor in the Sun" keeps the words and
pictures flying by at a rapid fire pace.
