History Westin St. Francis

1 history

1.1 1906 earthquake
1.2 through jazz age
1.3 fatty arbuckle scandal
1.4 1930s , world war ii
1.5 1950s present
1.6 labor relations

history

the st. francis hotel, after opened in 1904

the st. francis hotel begun trustees of estate of charles crocker, 1 of big 4 railroad magnates had built western portion of transcontinental railway. built investment crocker s 2 young children, templeton crocker , jenny crocker. meant called crocker hotel, alternatively took name of 1 of earliest san francisco gold rush hotels, st. francis.

designed bliss , faville, st. francis followed style pioneered architect louis sullivan in chicago; simple face bare of bric-a-brac , ornamental frosting made of san francisco baroque toy shop. hotel opened on march 21, 1904, and, along older palace hotel on market street, became 1 of city s prestigious addresses.

1906 earthquake

damage dining room 1906 fire subsequent great earthquake

the san francisco earthquake of 1906 badly frightened guests, did no structural damage hotel. john farish, mining engineer staying @ hotel, described experience: awakened loud rumbling noise compared mixed sound of strong wind rushing through forest , breaking of waves against cliff...there began series of liveliest motions imagineable, accompanied creaking, grinding, rasping sound, followed tremendous crashes cornices of adjoining buildings , chimneys tottered ground.

enrico caruso

the earthquake lasted 55 seconds. hotel page described pandemonium inside hotel: found floor crowded screaming guests running every way. elevators out of order guests headed marble stairs, broken , cracked , falling below. hotel manager, james woods, wearing bathrobe, tried calm guests, of them rushed outside onto union square. later in morning, opera singer enrico caruso , alfred hertz, conductor of san francisco symphony, hosting tour caruso, both staying @ nearby palace hotel, fled palace , came st. francis, restaurant still open breakfast. caruso carried him signed photograph of president theodore roosevelt, , swore never return san francisco; never did.

the earthquake did not cause major structural damage hotel, did begin series of fires along waterfront began sweep west across city. broke water mains, firemen unable fight fires. hour after midnight fire reached union square , gutted hotel.

when fire put out 3 days later, found st. francis had suffered little serious damage. copper cornice had been warped, , of enamelled facing bricks had fallen off in heat, otherwise building intact. reconstruction began immediately. small temporary hotel, little st. francis, 110 rooms, built in middle of union square, house temporary guests. hotel re-opened in late 1907.

through jazz age

woodrow wilson in 1919

after re-opening, st. francis hosted dozens of celebrities came san francisco see panama–pacific international exposition (ppie) of 1915, ranging helen keller, three-time presidential candidate , orator william jennings bryan, came san francisco speak against american involvement in first world war, , former baseball player , evangelist billy sunday, came san francisco denounce sin , theory of evolution. exterior of hotel appeared in keystone studios newsreel/documentary two-reeler, mabel , fatty viewing world s fair @ san francisco, followed studio s biggest stars, mabel normand , roscoe arbuckle, toured city , ppie. former president theodore roosevelt stayed @ hotel in july 1915, (about midway through nine-month-long ppie) , used occasion denounce bitter enemy, president woodrow wilson, , call american entry world war i.

in september 1919, president woodrow wilson stayed @ st. francis toured country part of unsuccessful effort win support american entry league of nations. 1920 democratic national convention held in san francisco, , several presidential candidates stayed @ st. francis, including visit william jennings bryan.

mabel normand

during 1920s, st. francis became fashionable place stay celebrities , film actors coming hollywood. st. francis guests included silent film stars charlie chaplin, douglas fairbanks, mary pickford, cowboy star tom mix, mabel normand, fatty arbuckle, , directors d.w. griffith , cecil b. demille.other guests included novelist sinclair lewis, first american win nobel prize literature, circus impresarios ringling brothers, dancer isadora duncan, songwriter george m. cohan, , duke kahanamoku, champion swimmer of world, popularized sport of surfing.

one of appeals of st. francis jazz orchestra, led young musician named art hickman. band, in 1914 included bert kelly, played in rose room of hotel, before going on greater fame @ new york biltmore hotel , roof garden of new amsterdam theatre. during time @ st. francis, helped popularize such musicians paul whiteman , ferde grofe who, after leaving st. francis orchestra, went on compose grand canyon suite.

part of fame of st. francis because of legendary chef, victor hirtzler. hirtzler learned cook in strasbourg, france, , cooked royal courts across europe. according hirtzler, had created dish king carlos of portugal, called la mousse faisan lucullus, mousse of bavarian pheasant s breast , woodcock flavored truffles, sauce of cognac, madeira , champagne. dish expensive, , king ate frequently, bankrupted portugal twice , assassinated in 1908, followed downfall of portuguese monarchy in 1910. victor moved new york, became chef of waldorf hotel, , persuaded manager of st. francis, james woods, move san francisco.

charles evans hughes

in 1916, hirtzler again cooked dish had political consequences. crocker family fervent republicans, , hosted dinner @ hotel charles evans hughes, republican candidate president of united states, locked in close race incumbent woodrow wilson. twenty minutes before banquet began, waiters, members of culinary workers union, went on strike. hughes wondered if banquet should canceled, hirtzler insisted upon going ahead, , served meal himself. when union learned hughes had crossed picket line , eaten dinner, distributed thousands of leaflets denouncing him anti-union. on election night, hughes went bed believing had won election. next morning awoke , learned had lost california 3,673 votes, , losing california had lost election wilson. margin of defeat less turnout of union voters in san francisco. saving dinner, hirtzler had lost election hughes.

fatty arbuckle scandal

pictures, july 23, 1921, roscoe fatty arbuckle on cover

in 1921, st. francis scene of hollywood s first great scandal. silent film comedian roscoe fatty arbuckle, fame @ time rivaled of charlie chaplin, , number of friends guests in rooms 1219, 1220 , 1221. on september 5, 1921, had party in suite, friends , acquaintances hollywood. 1 guest young actress hollywood named virginia rappe. in mid-afternoon arbuckle summoned house doctor , reported virginia rappe sick, , young woman taken room , put bed. arbuckle himself went personal appearance @ movie theater, , returned hollywood next day.

a few days later arbuckle learned virginia rappe had been taken hospital , had died, , friend of young woman, maude delmont, had been @ party, claimed police arbuckle had assaulted , raped her. (delmont s testimony later regarded unreliable police, when discovered delmont had lengthy prior record of extortion. not called witness.) story in headlines of newspapers around united states. girl dead in wild party @ hotel headline in san francisco chronicle, , s.f. booze party kills young actress headline in san francisco examiner.

arbuckle brought trial manslaughter in november 1921 in 1 of publicized trials california , city of san francisco had ever known. arbuckle s lawyers argued virginia rappe had died of natural causes, caused alcohol. in december, after on 40 hours of deliberations, jury unable reach verdict. arbuckle s second trial in january–february 1922 following year ended in hung jury, found not guilty jury in march–april 1922 third trial after 5 minutes of deliberations.

arbuckle free, career ruined. films withdrawn h. hays, president of motion picture producers , distributors of america, , became known hays office began systematic censorship of american motion pictures, result of arbuckle affair.

1930s , world war ii

the 1939 world s fair on treasure island, in san francisco bay, attracted many celebrities san francisco , st. francis. salvador dalí posed newspaper photographers in bathtub of hotel room, lobster on head, holding cabbage in 1 hand, , wearing pair of emerald-green goggles, , cary grant stayed in hotel, entertaining friends scenes noël coward s play private lives.

after attack on pearl harbor, san francisco became major transit point soldiers , sailors going pacific theater of war. shops in lobby of st. francis turned small rooms military officers. hundreds of soldiers, sailors , officers danced in mural room of st. francis big band music of harry owens , royal hawaiians, , vocalist, hilo hattie.

in april 1945, st. francis played host twenty-seven delegations attending founding meeting of united nations, held in san francisco opera house. st. francis host delegations iran, canada, turkey, egypt , france, represented french foreign minister georges bidault, stayed in same suite fatty arbuckle scandal had taken place. st. francis hosted several latin american delegations, along u.s. under secretary of state americas, nelson rockefeller. soviet delegation, led soviet foreign minister v.m. molotov, , soviet ambassador united states, andrei gromyko, stayed @ st. francis.

1950s present

in april 1951, st. francis hosted general douglas macarthur, received tumultuous welcome when returned korea after having been dismissed command president harry truman. entertainer al jolson died while playing cards in suite @ st. francis on october 23, 1950—jolson had returned entertaining troops in korea.

president gerald ford, secret service personnel , bystanders pictured outside st. francis after assassination attempt sara jane moore.

the st. francis still owned crocker family until end of world war ii, when crocker family sold hotel magnate ben swig, sold edwin b. degolia. in 1954, hotel became twenty-third property of western hotel chain, based in pacific northwest, became western international , westin hotels.

with acquisition western hotels, hotel changed home of elderly san francisco socialites, of whom lived in large suites in hotel, modern hotel focusing on tourism , conventions. old mural room, decorated albert herter in 1913 7 murals comprising pageant of nations, banquet , ballroom had hosted many of america s famous big bands, replaced in 1970 6 hundred room tower, designed st. francis compete fairmont, rival on nearby nob hill. architect william pereira designed new building completed in 1972. murals rolled , removed storage.

the st. francis became hotel republican presidents stayed when in san francisco, while democratic presidents stayed @ fairmont. president gerald ford shot while leaving hotel in september 1975 woman named sara jane moore. former marine named oliver sipple moved hand ford not hit. president ronald reagan frequent guest of hotel. st. francis hosted many world leaders, including queen elizabeth ii , emperor hirohito of japan.

in march 2016 hotel purchased anbang insurance group, beijing-based chinese insurance company, part of $6.5 billion deal involving st. francis , 15 other luxury hotels , resorts.

labor relations

beginning in november 2009 unite here local 2, representing san francisco hotel workers, asked public boycott westin st. francis hotel because hotel s owner, starwood hotels , resorts worldwide had not renewed settled contract workers respect wages, benefits, , working conditions. hotel 1 of 8 in san francisco being boycotted, , scene many protests including picketing , flash mob.