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The Archaeology of San Francisco Jews

This illustrated talk will be mainly about two San Francisco archaeological sites associated with Jews: the former cemetery of congregations Sherith Israel and Emanu-el under Dolores Park and the 1870's Frohman site at what is now the Yerba Buena/Moscone Station. In addition to archaeology, this work involved research in a range of primary archival sources, ranging from the manuscript minutes of several Jewish organizations to cemetery relocation records. The presentation draws on Adrian Praetzellis' article “Archaeology of San Francisco Jews” (IJHA 2021) and bounces off his work on Jewish sites in San Francisco, Oakland, and Sacramento.

Adrian Praetzellis’ experience in archaeology began on Roman and Medieval sites in the UK. Moving to the USA, he reoriented to the archaeology of California and has since worked at sites ranging from a 12,000+-year-old hunting camp in Lake County to the remains of an 1870's “parlor house” (a high-end brothel) in downtown Los Angeles. Adrian has a Ph.D. in Anthropology/Archaeology (UC Berkeley) and is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Sonoma State University. He is married with two children and three grandchildren, photos of whom he will happily share.

Jul 11, 2021 01:00 PM in Pacific Time (US and Canada)