View of the collapsed section of the Bay Bridge after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. photo by Maggie Hallahan

What does a state that has experienced more disasters than any other have to show for a century of emergency response? Is it possible to feel safe and secure anywhere in the United States after September 11th? The exhibition State of Emergency: Disaster Response in California, on view at the Oakland Museum of California from September 11, 2002, through March 30, 2003, suggests that California is more prepared for disaster than most states. Over the years California has become, as a result of having to cope with many natural and human-caused disasters, a model in disaster preparedness, response and recovery.

The exhibition begins with a survey of California disasters since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire and then chronicles, in 45 dramatic color photographs by independent photographer Maggie Hallahan and the Governor's Office of Emergency Services photographer Robert Eplett, the past decade of disaster in California. The exhibition presents vivid images of this period, starting with the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, during which every county in California has experienced at least one declared disaster.

In addition to the photographs, State of Emergency: Disaster Response in California looks at California’s system of readiness through maps, objects recovered from disaster sites, and emergency response equipment. It offers a historical overview of the last century of California disasters and the development of the state's Office of Emergency Services (OES). Video interviews of relief workers provide personal accounts of their efforts, while interactive educational programs provide children and adults with a deeper understanding of relief work.

	Exhibition Events

Since its creation in 1970, OES has responded to earthquakes, fires, storms and flooding, and winter freezes in agricultural areas, as well as the civil unrest in Los Angeles following the acquittal of officers in the Rodney King case. “Rescue workers put their lives on the line every day,” says exhibition curator Marcia Eymann. “The exhibition is a chance to meet the real people behind the effort and learn how OES works.”

In Eymann’s research for the exhibition, many firefighters and OES staff members said to her, “I love what I do because I help people every day.” Eymann points out that the exhibition gives the public a chance to understand what emergency response work is like.

The two photographers whose work is featured in the exhibition have had an especially close look at California's decade of disasters. Robert Eplett, as official OES photographer since 1989, has often traveled with the governor to disaster sites, and is usually the first photographer allowed on the scene. Maggie Hallahan, who trained as a firefighter so that she could closely document the action, was one of the few photographers allowed behind the scenes in the 1991 Oakland Hills fire.

Artifacts in the exhibition include:

• Historical and contemporary firefighting equipment, including helmets, breathing apparatus and an example of a wildland fire uniform adopted by the Oakland Fire Department as a result of the experience in the 1991 Oakland Hills fire;
• A hazardous materials suit and testing kit;
• A HAZMAT vest, developed by Oakland firefighter Dan Keenan, that was used for urban search and rescue at Ground Zero in New York;
• A camera designed to search through rubble for survivors;
• Letters from Oakland schoolchildren to firefighters who went to New York after 9/11;
• A rebar from the 1989 Cypress Freeway collapse;
• A decorative architectural fragment that fell from the dome of San Francisco's Emporium department store during the 1989 earthquake;
• The only possessions that survived the 1991 Oakland Hills fire from four Oakland Museum docents' homes. 17 museum docents lost their homes in the fire; and
• Firefighters' jackets and helmets for visitors to try on.

A fireman in the 1991 East Bay Hills fire holds a cat he has just coaxed from a burned-out tree. photo by Maggie Hallahan

Brief history of the Office of Emergency Services
Because of California’s geographic location, with its volatile and diverse environments, and the state's population density, Californians experience more natural and manmade disaster than other regions of the U.S. The vulnerability of California’s border during World War I led the state legislature to form the State Council of Defense, an organization created to investigate civil and economic life, protect public health, and encourage military training of Californians. Through the years the organization has grown with the needs of the state, culminating in the formation of OES in 1970.

OES coordinates and maintains resources for all statewide emergency relief work and is responsible for training workers, including volunteers from the private sector. In addition to relief work, OES is involved in preventive measures, such as reducing natural and manmade hazards by negotiating government policy-making.

Commemorating the one-year anniversary of 9/11, State of Emergency: Disaster Response in California pays tribute to California relief workers and government agencies that have spent a century changing laws and building systems to better respond to emergencies.

Presenting Sponsor:
History Guild of the Oakland Museum of California

Additional Support:
Verizon; Oakland Association of Insurance Agents, Inc.; Travelers; Clark, Bacquie & Clark

Media Sponsors:

© 2002 Oakland Museum of California | Credits |Phone: 510-238-2200