Celebrating Russian-American Heritage in San Francisco: The Adoption of the RAHCS
- Ann Kutner
- Oct 19
- 3 min read
Updated: 11 hours ago
For over two years, the SF Planning Department has been diligently recording Russian-American history and cultural resources. This effort is led by Dr. Nina Bogdan, a San Francisco native of Russian-American descent. Her extensive research and earlier writings on the subject have greatly enriched this project.
Once the draft was complete, Melanie Bishop from the SF Planning Department presented the first version of the Russian American Historic Context Statement (RAHCS) to San Francisco's Cultural Heritage Preservation Committee. During this presentation, the commissioners were informed about the document's scope, intent, authors, and community engagement events. You can read more about the July presentation here.
RAHCS Adoption: A Milestone Achieved
On October 15th, the RAHCS was presented for acceptance by the Cultural Heritage Preservation Committee. After a heartfelt introduction by Dr. Bogdan, Melanie Bishop shared updates made to the document since July. These updates included community feedback, events, map updates, and research recommendations. The Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the RAHCS.
"This is one of the best historic context statements that I think I've read because it allows us to look at things not myopically, but in terms of what happened. We can see the parallels [across] many communities who had to endure a lot of the same challenges that you have pointed out here... it's one of the very few historic context statements that do that." - Commissioner Diane Matsuda
What's Next for the RAHCS?
In the short term, SF Planning will translate the RAHCS into Russian and make copies available in public libraries. This will ensure that more community members can access this important document. In the longer term, they plan to conduct further research that includes the histories of people from Ukraine, Serbia, and Poland. SF Planning will also advocate for recommendations that propose a Russian Heritage Day and expand Russian language education programs.
What Does Adoption Mean for Our Community?
The history of Russian immigrants in San Francisco is now officially documented by the City. In 170 pages, we have an encapsulated view of how Russians have influenced San Francisco's development and growth since the 19th century.
The author has vividly preserved the family lives, businesses, cultural events, and religious affiliations of Russian Americans in the City. Through images and stories, we can see what physical history still exists and what has sadly been destroyed or redeveloped.
To that end, the document serves to identify and evaluate historical Russian American properties for preservation. This ensures that no more history is inadvertently removed. Learn more about the rich history of SF Russian Americans in the RAHCS.
In Appreciation of Our Contributors
Many people and organizations dedicated their time to bringing the RAHCS to life. A great big thank you to:
Dr. Nina Bogdan
Melanie Bishop and SF Planning leaders and staff
Russian Center of San Francisco
Museum of Russian Culture
Russian American Community Services
Russian Life Newspaper
Slavic Voice
San Francisco Public Library
Western Neighborhoods Project
Erica Uribe of incommon
