Seeking Refuge on the “Castle” Grounds
I’ve walked or biked past our local “castle” hundreds of times: Its Romanesque Revival campus perched on a hillside above my home town has a magical quality to it, particularly at dusk. In the days when our boys were reading J.K. Rowling’s books, it seemed as if Harry Potter might swoop through it spires any moment during a Quidditch match.
The San Francisco Theological Seminary
Only in recent years, as I began researching my new book, The White Devil’s Daughters, did I realize that “the castle” is where a key chapter in my book takes place. After the devastating earthquake and fires of San Francisco, the girls and women of the rescue home in San Francisco’s Chinatown fled to the castle grounds, living lived in a barn on its grounds for a week.
I’ve written about the “castle,” or the San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo (its real name) for this month’s issue of Marin Magazine. It was on the grounds of the Seminary where a large group from the Presbyterian Mission Home in Chinatown sought refuge from the disaster. And today, its library still holds century-old records of the home in Chinatown where thousands of women passed through on their way to freedom.
Here’s the story for Marin Magazine, along with some of the archival photographs from my book. The book launch party will take place on Thursday, May 16th, at Book Passage in Corte Madera, Ca.
Let me know about May 16.
Just send you the invitation!
Ms. Siler,
I am so sorry I missed your event at the Elks Lodge in San Francisco due to illness. I’m an Elk and was looking forward to hearing you speak. I’m reading your book and it’s fantastic! At the moment, I’m reading about the 1906 Earthquake.
As a native San Franciscan, it’s so interesting to read about where you grew up and familiar sites.
I specifically bought your book so I could see your event and I’m so glad I did and so sad I missed you. I wanted to tell you what a wonderful delight the book is to read. I’m putting your first two books on my reading list.
Continued successful. Thank you.
Best wishes,
Christina
Thank you so much, Christina. I’ll be at the San Francisco Public Library’s Koret Auditorium in conversation with Vanessa Hua on June 26th. It would be lovely to meet you at that event! Warmly, Julia