The Art Deco Society of California is not sponsoring this event, but we'd love to see a large ADSC turn out to honor this beloved art deco icon.

A Historical Celebration of Coit Tower San Francisco Sunday June 1st, 2008 noon to 2:30pm SEATING IS LIMITED TO THOSE IN ART DECO ATTIRE! To reserve a seat, please contact Stephen Worsley directly at stephen@savecoit.org or call him at 916-281-8268. Tax deductible donations welcomed to: CDP 25 Kingston St, SF, 94110. The CDP mission is to enact legislation which will permanently ban any commercialization in Coit.

Come join us at the Lillie Coit Memorial Tower's to celebrate the buildings recent addition to The National Historic Registry, #07001468. This is the result of the work of The Coit Depression Preservationists (CDP), and their founder Stephen A. Worsley and their efforts to preserve the glory of Coit Tower as it is and always has been.

We San Franciscans will all gather under this monument to thank The Department of the Interior for bestowing this great honor upon our town.

This celebration will be held in the Spirit of San Francisco in 1934, Art Deco day wear from any strata of 1930's is strongly encouraged. This free event promises to be fun and educational for the entire family. The San Francisco Fire Department will make a presence with antique equipment, a thrilling flag unfurling ritual at high noon, and speeches commemorating the Volunteer Fire Men, 1849-1866. WPA labor speeches will highlight the events surrounding Bloody Thursday which changed the face of labor unions in America. Commemorations will follow of the artists of the New Deal's Public Works of Art Program (PWAP) from North Beach who left the greatest artistic treasure that is Coit Tower, a time capsule of life in San Francisco 1934 during this terrible scarring experience which changed this country and people forever.

Come one, come all, let the children play with vintage toys, share in the memories of the Great Depression and Coit's new National Historic status, or just enjoy the band and the tunes of the Hit Parade and the stunning view.

SEATING IS LIMITED TO THOSE IN ART DECO ATTIRE!
To reserve a seat, please contact Stephen Worsley directly at stephen@savecoit.org or call him at 916-281-8268.

Tax deductible donations welcomed to:
CDP 25 Kingston St, SF, 94110.

The CDP mission is to enact legislation which will permanently ban any commercialization in Coit.

LILLIE HITCHCOCK COIT
by GERTRUDE ATHERTON

LILLIE HITCHCOCK COIT was one of those rare beings destined not only to become a legend, but to attain that eminence long before her life was ended. Born at
West Point, where her father was a doctor in the U.S.A., she came at the age of seven with her parents to the San Francisco of 1851, and, despite her tender years, immediately became a personality. Her friends were not children, but young army officers, which may have had something to do with the rapid maturing of her mind.

At the age of fifteen she began her famous career with Knickerbocker No. 5, running to all the fires, and regarded by the young firemen as their beloved mascot. A few years later she was made an honorary member of the company, and always regarded that honor as the proudest of her life. She wore the numeral as an ornament with all her costumes, and one went into the coffin with her.

The San Francisco Society of that day was exclusive and rigid, and as the
Hitchcocks were valued members it may be imagined that it was frequently agonized over the vagaries of its Lillie. But she seems always to have done exactly as she pleased without giving real offense, and she comes down to us as a girl both sensationally independent and chaste, a rare combination in any era. So much for the genius of personality!

In her will she gave practical evidence of her affection by leaving a third of her fortune to the city and county of San Francisco, "to be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved."

We love it too Lillie.