Dominican College of San Rafael - Firebrand Yearbook (San Rafael, CA)

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activity of the var years— all these make a story no other American city can equal in color. Gertrude Atherton calls it My San Francisco. The great charm of the city is that to all who know her she is My San Francisco, this city of Saint Francis by the Golden Gate. Patricia Franks ' 50 113

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busy waterfront. The charm of Old Spain remains in Mission Dolores, in the old Arguello home in the Presidio, now an officer ' s club. The music of Spain lives on in the names of San Francisco streets: Em- barcadero, Portola Drive, Divisadero, Cabrillo, to mention but a few. Downtown San Francisco is as modern in its build- ings and crowded streets as any other world metropo- lis. Yet even there the flower stands are constant reminders that beauty as well as progress is a part of the San Franciscan ' s creed. Golden Gate Park, the third largest in the country and unquestionably the most beautiful (says the San Franciscan), is at its best when the cherry trees are in blossom and when the rhododendrons are in bloom. In its secluded beauty spots it is hard to realize that one is in the midst of a community teeming with life. And where but in San Francisco can be found a forest within a city? Her history presents a pageant of colorful scenes. The tiny village of Verba Buena, on the sandhills, the splendid years of the Spanish dons, the boom town of forty-nine, the sordid period of the Sydney ducks , the days of the Vigilantes, the Champagne days be- fore the fire, the first World ' s Fair, the prosperous years between two World Wars, the building of the bridges, the Fair on Treasure Island, the tremendous 112

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THE ARTS, 1947 jUR ELDERS tell us that we are living in a rest- less world, and the conservatives say that mod- ern art is an unhappy reflection of this restlessness. Perhaps that is because they do not understand it. We might seem to be in danger of stiffening into conservatism, because in our first two years of college we become steeped in the cultures of the Ancients and of the Middle Ages as we follow the course of the Hu- manities. Obviously such a danger must be averted. For this purpose our President, collaborating with Madame Rau, thought out the program of The Arts, 1947, a program in which the artists were to be al- lowed to speak for themselves and then have matters resolved in a panel discussion. As a result of this wise planning the college students have had the privilege of hearing lectures by the arch- itect, Eric Mendelsohnn, the sculptor, Jacques Schnier, the composer Darius Milhaud, and by critics of art, music, and literature, Douglas Mac Agy, Mar- garet Prall, Reverend John S. Kennedy, and Mark Schorer. Since the lectures, all over the campus conversa- tions have sprung up like autumn fires among those who bring nineteenth century expectations to twen- 114