San Francisco is Preserving the History of the Russian-American Community

Why was the San Francisco Planning Department at this year's Slavic Festival? If you didn't have a chance to visit their booth and learn about the great work being done to preserve Russian-American History in the City, please read on!

Impact of Russian-American Community in SF

In 2023, the SF Planning Department kicked off a multi-year effort to identify and evaluate local Russian-American cultural resources and offer recommendations for their preservation.

The end result of this effort will be a Russian American Historic Context Statement (RAHCS), a document that chronicles the history of the Russian community in San Francisco. The context statement identifies long-time Russian residential enclaves, Russian-owned businesses, properties associated with prominent Russian-Americans and Russian descendants, and important religious, social, and political organizations that have influenced San Francisco’s Russian-American heritage. 

Expertise in Russian-American Heritage

The current draft of the Statement was authored by Dr. Nina Bogdan, who co-authored Russian San Francisco (2010), and has published an article about the San Francisco Russian community in the Journal of Russian American Studies (2021). She has presented regularly on the history of San Francisco’s Russian American community since 2010, both at community events and at academic conferences. Dr. Bogdan was born and raised in San Francisco’s Russian-American community.

Upcoming SF Historic Preservation Committee Hearing

On Wednesday, July 16th, SF Planning Department staff will present a 10-minute overview of the RAHCS including the scope and intent of the document, authors, community engagement events and partnerships. The goal is to advocate for the importance of preserving cultural heritage, including Russian-American and broader Slavic heritage in San Francisco. After the presentation, members of the public will be allowed to comment.

The SF Planning Department will address and incorporate comments and questions from the July 16th hearing and then present the RAHCS for adoption as a living document at the next Historic Preservation Commission on October 15th.

Open to the Public

Members of the Russian-American community and the general public are welcome to join this Historic Preservation Commission Hearing:

• Wednesday, July 16th beginning at 12:30 p.m.

• Commissioner Chambers, Room 400, City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place