Film: Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era

In the 1940s and 50s, the twenty block radius known as the Fillmore District was home to over a dozen nightclubs where many legendary African American musicians performed. The multicultural neighborhood, populated by African Americans, Japanese Americans, and Filipino Americans, was one of the few areas where people of color could go for entertainment. In their 2020 book Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era authors Elizabeth Pepin Silva and Lewis Watts chart the emergence of this exciting place in time with restored images and oral accounts from residents and musicians. In this video, the two authors join the California Historical Society for a discussion of the book, including examples of many remarkable photographs.

Elizabeth Pepin Silva is a writer, photographer, and documentary filmmaker. She has been writing about the Fillmore and its jazz scene since taking a job as historian and day manager of the Fillmore Auditorium by Bill Graham Presents in the late 1980s.

Lewis Watts is a photographer, archivist, and Professor Emeritus of Art at UC Santa Cruz, with a long-standing interest in African American visual history. His artwork has been exhibited or collected by major museums across the country and abroad.

This program at Golden Gate Valley is only a video screening. An author-in-person presentation will be held at the Main library on Sunday, January 7, 2pm. Video screening made possible with permission from the California Historical Society.

NR, 115 min., 2021. Closed captions (CC) in English.