In San Francisco, history is as close as the sound of the fire engines and trucks racing by, sirens wailing. The San Francisco Fire Department took shape, as did the city, from the ashes and embers of the Great Fire of 1906. In the tumultuous seaport full of those seeking California's newly found gold, volunteer fire companies had to adapt to a teeming city full of canvas tents, wood shacks, kerosene lanterns, ocean breezes, and hilly winding streets. From a force that initially pulled han...

The officers of the San Francisco Police Department would be the first to tell you that police work in this city is nothing like Dirty Harry, The Streets of San Francisco, or Nash Bridges. It's a gritty reality, occasionally infused with glamour, but always characterized by the innovation and unusual proceedings found as a matter of course in this unique city. The department was established in 1849, when the population surge from the Gold Rush created a desperate need for law enforcement. ...

Everything changed on the morning of December 7, 1941, and life in San Francisco was no exception. Flush with excitement and tourism in the wake of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, the city was stunned at the severity of the Pearl Harbor attack, and quickly settled into organized chaos with its new role as a major deployment center for the remainder of the war. �Frisco� teemed with servicemen and servicewomen during and after the conflict, forever changing the face of this wa...

Race Traitor brings together voices ranging from tenured university professors to skinheads and prison inmates to discuss the "white question" in America.Working from the premise that the white race has been socially constructed, Race Traitor is a call for the disruption of white conformity and the formation of a New Abolitionism to dissolve it.In a time when white supremicist thinking seems to be gaining momentum, Race Traitor...

For over forty years, John Garvey was the “ballast” of Commonweal magazine. His award-winning essays and consistently notable columns revealed not only his acuity and alacrity, but his uncommon spiritual insight. These in turn provided momentum and substance for whatever followed in an issue of the magazine because Garvey never hesitated to wrestle with some of the most challenging and intractable topics of the day, and did so with a rich pastoral sensitivity, and a refreshing and...