CALIFORNIA 1900 - on the Threshold of a New Century
Turn-of-the-century art, artifacts, and photographs from around the state
October 21, 1999 -- February 19, 2000

pt 1 | pt 2 | pt 3 | Exhibit Checklist | Bibliography & Acknowledgements

California 1900 - part 1

The turn of the century was a period of transition and momentous change. These years witnessed the beginning of some of the great innovations and themes of the twentieth century, and in these, California was an active participant, contributor, and leader. Automobiles were taking to the roads, advances were being made in industry and agriculture, cities were being illuminated with electricity, the arts were shaking loose of long-held ideals, and conservationists were becoming increasingly concerned about the environment. California was assuming a larger place on the national stage and was helping the United States to become a leader in world affairs. By the turn of the century, California was a major player in agriculture, commerce, industry, and the arts. The state's population increased significantly as well, and the Golden State was now home to nearly one-and-a-half million people. San Francisco, the state's most populous city, had reached nearly 350,000, and Los Angeles surpassed 100,000

California cities were transformed by innovations in power, construction, and transportation. Because of its gold-rush-era development and larger population, turn-of-the-century San Francisco far exceeded Los Angeles in commerce and manufacturing. San Francisco had become an industrial city by 1880, whereas Los Angeles did not become industrialized until the early twentieth century. During this period, however, migrants were moving to Los Angeles in great numbers, and by 1910 the city's population swelled to 300,000 people. Migrants to southern California were less diverse than those who had rushed to San Francisco during the Gold Rush. In the early years of the twentieth century, Los Angeles had relatively few foreign-born residents, with most new settlers coming from the eastern United States or from within California.

One of the most visible technological advances in California cities just before the turn of the century was the coming of electricity. A symbol of progress and the future, electricity illuminated the new era as it gradually replaced gas lighting. While the state's largest cities began receiving electricity first -- San Francisco as early as 1879 -- the business districts of smaller communities were being electrified in the years around 1900. The great pride and excitement caused by electricity was frequently commemorated with festivals and other events. When a long-distance power line was connected between Folsom and downtown Sacramento in 1895, for instance, Sacramento celebrated by hosting a Grand Electric Carnival, which became an annual community event.

California cities were centers of resources, transportation, communications, and labor. Long hours and harsh working conditions in California industries led workers in the second half of the nineteenth century to organize into unions. These unions gained significant power by the early 1900s, and while Los Angeles remained one of the country's least unionized cities until well into the twentieth century, San Francisco became a union stronghold. In the summer of 1901, there was a great waterfront strike in San Francisco in which teamsters joined with sailors and longshoremen in tying up the city's port for several weeks. When police were used to help break the strike, the Union Labor party of San Francisco was organized. Eugene Schmitz, who ran on the Union Labor party ticket, was elected mayor in 1901, 1903, and 1905. In 1905, a Union Labor candidate filled every seat on the city's board of supervisors.

Female workers in San Francisco also organized and became labor activists. In 1885, they established the Ladies Assembly of the Knights of Labor, and in the 1890s many women's unions were established. In the early twentieth century waitresses, laundry workers, and chocolate makers went on strike. Even though their salaries were usually dramatically lower than men's, more women than ever were entering California's workforce. Women were also becoming increasingly involved in politics and aimed to correct restrictive laws and policies. Many were interested in social and political reform and fought for suffrage. The California legislature first approved a woman suffrage amendment in 1896, which was rejected by voters; it was not until 1911 that California women were granted the vote.

In 1900 the most powerful corporation in California was still the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was the state's largest employer and landowner, and it had an overt influence on politics. Californians at this time, however, were increasingly discontented with the railroad's economic and political control, and with its monopoly on transportation, which extended to river and ocean steamship lines. Not until the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad was built (completed 1898) was there any alternative to the dominant Southern Pacific in the Central Valley, and only the Santa Fe provided competition in the south. Anti-railroad sentiment was expressed by important figures like Adolph Sutro and William Randolph Hearst, and was dramatically portrayed in Frank Norris's novel The Octopus (1901), a story of struggle between California wheat farmers and the powerful Southern Pacific. By 1911 Governor Hiram Johnson had removed railroad supporters from state offices, and the "octopus" began to loosen its hold on California.

back to Past Exhibits