The Turners

Yesterday I discovered one of my great grandfathers founded a Turnverein Hall on Bush Street in San Francisco. This hall was a place one could go hear music and practice gymnastics. The Seamens Friendly Union met here, and the Vigilance Committee.  Plays were performed, and debates held. This is the radical root of San Francisco that I have traced to the Longshoreman’s Hall and the first Acid Tests.  The Turner hall offered music and other entertainment as an alternative to gambling and prostitution. My father was a Merchant Marine and would be pleased to know the first institution for furthering sailor rights met in the Bush hall.

“All seamen are invited to attend at the Turn Verein Hall on Bush Street between Stockton and Powell Streets on Thursday Evening, January 11 at 7 1/2 o’clock to form a Seamens Society for the Pacific Coast.”

The Vigilance Committee combatted corruption and violence…