The 1906 earthquake survivor who fought for the homeless population of San Francisco

Kelly wrote in April 1908: “I had a full legal right to the hut, as it was built from the money which had been sent here to San Francisco to rehabilitate indigent and destitute refugees…the hut was built on public land, and it was not right to pay dollars or any other amount per month for the rent of these huts.”

So what exactly did Kelly do that prompted the relief organization to take such cruel and unusual action towards her? It started almost immediately after the earthquake and fire.

Earthquake refugees gather at Jefferson Square as smoke still rises from the 1906 fires. (OpenSFHistory/wnp37.00042)

When city officials encouraged camp residents to leave the parks, she was a staunch opponent. Rents in San Francisco were inflated after the fire — they doubled on the unburned western addition, for example — and many locals lost their places of work. Poor workers simply cannot move into new homes.

When city officials encouraged camp residents to leave the city for cities with cheaper rent, Kelly spoke publicly about the financial futility of doing so. The money that she had to bring in for herself, and her family daily goes to San Francisco to work, was completely useless.

Jefferson Square Campground, viewed north from Turk Street (OpenSFHistory/wnp59.00056)

Soon, Kelly was leading rallies and giving speeches on behalf of her community – in her words, “a steady, honest, hardworking class of people who never asked for alms from anyone and always paid for it.” She demanded that cash grants be distributed directly to the refugees. She publicly criticized camp administrators, city officials, and the relief agency.

Kelly did not pursue the slow bureaucracy that prevented the refugees from getting their dues, but rather the men at the head of the organizations. At one point, it accused “almost every man holding any prominent position in the relief headquarters” of using relief money to buy expensive cars for their personal use. Another time, she led and delivered speeches in front of 3,000 protesters outside a banquet attended by city officials. “Let the whole world know that while we are starving, they are fed,” read their banner.

Kelly had no qualms about calling out these individuals and publicly portraying them as arrogant, self-serving cowards. Of those present at that particular banquet, Kelly later wrote, “Fearing that we might force entry and share in their good menu, they crept quietly out the back entrance of the hotel and got into their cars, so as not to come again to finish the banquet until after the poor and tormented refugees had returned to their cold and gloomy tents.”

Although Mary’s delivery sometimes erred on the dramatic side, her intense sense of injustice was not without cause. Funds and provisions to assist earthquake survivors were sometimes unfortunately mishandled, and in ways that served to strengthen the stratum structure prior to the earthquake. Financial assistance from the Relief Foundation, for example, was distributed to a caste system that first benefited landlords, business owners, and well-connected people. The poor, the hungriest, and those least able to find work are often left to fend for the longest.

Officers distribute flour near Moscone Stadium (then Lobos Square). (OpenSFHistory/wnp15.1682)

One horrific example of this occurred after the relief organization tried to sell some flour sent from Minneapolis to distribute to starving refugees. When the donors heard about the company’s intent to sell, they objected. The company responded by throwing several barrels of flour into the bay. This kind of malevolent mismanagement is what led Kelly, along with about a hundred other women, to storm the city’s main relief depot on July 6, 1906 and walk out with 2,000 pounds of flour. The San Francisco Chronicle reported: “The women announced that the flour was sent here for them, and that they would take them.” The local press described the incident as a “riot” by “angry” women who “did not listen to reason”.

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