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Caption: "Fort Stevens, Or.," c. 1910. View of buildings at Fort Stevens, part of the Three Fort Harbor Defense System protecting the mouth of the Columbia River from enemy incursion or attack (the other forts being Fort Columbia and Fort Canby, both in Washington). Built during the Civil War, the fort remained active until after World War II. In June 1942, Fort Stevens gained the dubious distinction of being the only military installation in the continental United States to come under enemy fire when a Japanese submarine surfaced off the coast and fired seventeen missiles at the fort. The missiles destroyed the backstop to the fort's baseball field, but otherwise did little harm. Fort Stevens was decommissioned in 1947. It was later turned over to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, and currently is the site of an Oregon State Park.

Date: 1910

Caption: "Venice, Calif," c. 1911. Unidentified woman standing on a bridge over Lion Canal in Venice, California. In 1905, Abbot Kinney built a series of canals as part of a development project along Santa Monica Beach, hoping to recreate the look and feel of Italy's iconic "Floating City" in southern California. Called Ocean Park at first, gondoliers sailed boats under elegant bridges such as the one shown in this photograph, in an effort to attract businesses, residents, and investors. In 1911, the name officially changed to Venice. By 1929, however, many of the canals had been filled in to create roadways, and those canals that remained fell into disrepair. A revitalization movement in the early 1990s has restored some of the canals, and made the area a desirable residential neighborhood.

Date: 1911

Caption: "U.S. Battle Ship California. May 28, 1937." The USS California, a Tennessee-class dreadnaught battleship, was the fifth U.S. ship named after the Golden State. Launched in 1915, the California served as the Pacific Fleet's flagship for twenty years. The California was docked at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked in 1941. Two bombs struck and eventually sunk her, killing ninety-eight of her crew and wounding sixty-one more. The California was subsequently refloated, with repairs done first at Pearl Harbor and then at Puget Sound Navy Yard. She then sailed to assist numerous campaigns in the Pacific Theater of the war, earning seven battle stars for this service. The California was decommissioned in 1947, and sold for scrapping in 1959.

Date: 5/28/1937

Correspondence from I. C. May to S. H. Thompson regarding food stamp policy

Date: August 14, 1942

Vendome Stables

Date: 1890

This item has no description.

Date: undated

Caption: "The China Clippers [sic] First Start Across the Pacific Ocean. Nov. 22, 1935." View of the China Clipper, a Martin M-130 four-engine flying boat constructed for Pan American Airways in 1935. One of the largest planes of its time, the China Clipper flew the first transpacific commercial airmail flight between San Francisco and Manila in the Philippines. The China Clipper was destroyed in a crash ten years later, in January 1945, at the Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Date: 11/22/1935

Caption: "Benicia Arsenal Office," c. 1915. William McCarthy began his career as an inspector of armaments for the U.S. War Department at the Benicia Arsenal in 1903. The arsenal was established in 1851 as the first Ordnance Supply Depot in the West, from which it supplied and supported U.S. troops from the Civil War through WWII and the Korean War. It was deactivated in 1963.

Date: 1915

Caption: "Street Car Strike," c. 1907. San Francisco's street car union workers called for a strike after their request to be paid three dollars per eight- hour work day was declined. At the start of the strike, two strikers were shot by strike breakers and many more causalities were reported. Hundreds of passengers were injured during the strike due to inexperienced operators, and twenty-five of those passengers died as a result. In total, the upheaval resulted in thirty-one causalities.

Date: 1907

Caption: "CHICAGO AND BENNINGTON, OFFICERS & CREW." View of the USS Chicago. The flagship of the US fleet in the Pacific at the time, the USS Chicago was called to the fort after a boiler explosion on the USS Bennington killed sixty-six and wounded dozens more. A board of inquiry into the cause of the explosion was convened on board the Chicago. The board found that no error on the part of the Bennington's crew contributed to the explosion.

Date: 1905