San Francisco's DNA

Alec Scott will speak about the institutions that have helped make San Francisco San Francisco. The remit of his book, Oldest San Francisco (Reedy Press) was to identify the oldest businesses, cultural organizations, charities in the city -- and to try to tell the city's story through those. Here are potted histories of some Gold Rush-era businesses and non-profits -- the oldest restaurant (Tadich Grill), bakery (Boudin), hardware store (Center) and children's charity (Edgewood). The city's longtime obsession with food is reflected in short profiles of San Francisco's oldest chocolate maker (Ghirardelli) and on the taquerias that helped introduce and popularize the Mission Burrito. Here are the stories of America's first non-sectarian free clinic (the Haight-Ashbury), its first proper senior center, and the oldest (and now last remaining) cable car. A short talk about some of the institutions that have given San Francisco its distinctive feel.