March 3, 2024

Hi and welcome to the OneBeautifulPlanet.org newsletter #37!

This message goes to my 192 subscribers, with a big Thank you for signing up. If you have just subscribed, check out the weekly Newsletter archive. I wrote the first issue in June 2023, and an overview of the weekly effort at the 100th subscriber milestone.

Friedel Klussmann

I start every weekly message with a person, animal, or plant that inspired or intrigued me. It is a moment of reflection and gratitude, meant to find lessons and nurture curiosity. Last week I featured the vaquita, while previous weeks included animals like the albatross, the oyster, and the bison, and luminaries such as Buckminster Fuller and Sylvia Earle.

I recently connected with another environmental enthusiast from San Francisco, California through the My Climate Journey slack channel. After our conversation, I researched litter cleanup efforts in San Francisco and stumbled upon San Francisco Beautiful, an organization that traces its roots to 1940 and started by Friedel Klussmann. She was a fascinating figure, and played a key role in preserving the city’s iconic cable cars. Without her civic engagement, leadership, and dedication to conservation, it’s very likely this means of public transportation, and world-famous, iconic feature of San Francisco, would not exist today. Here’s her story:

Born in Germany in 1896, Klussmann immigrated to the United States in 1934, settling in California. She studied at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute) and became active in the San Francisco area art community, showing at the Oakland Art Gallery in 1932 and holding membership in San Francisco Women Artists from 1933-46 and the San Francisco Artists Association in 1936 and 1944.

After World War II, San Francisco experienced many changes. The city faced a population boom, housing shortages, financial deficits and blight. The Municipal Railway was no exception to the challenges facing the city. After heavy use during the war and a lack of maintenance, the aging cable cars had become rickety and old.  

At the time, Mayor Roger Lapham was focused on progress and renewal, and that included modernizing the city’s “old, outmoded and inefficient” transit system. The cable cars were at risk of being replaced. 

However, unexpected pushback came from a women’s group called the San Francisco Federation of the Arts which created the Citizens’ Committee to Save the Cable Cars. Friedel Klussmann steered the committee, which earned her the nickname “the Cable Car Lady.”  

Soon, a vicious and very public fight began. Klussman and the committee launched a resolution, petitions, and contests. They even received celebrity endorsements to save the cable cars, as several celebrities publicly announced they would no longer visit San Francisco if the cable cars were replaced. All of this public debate only seemed to elevate the cable cars ever higher into icon status.  

The matter was put to a public vote on November 4, 1947. Proposition 10 would require the Public Utilities Commission to maintain and operate the present cable car system.

In response to Klussmann’s actions, San Francisco’s Emporium department store sold cable car print dresses and devotees wrote poems and songs. Even former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt came to the railway’s defense. A San Francisco Chronicle editorial opined, “Can you imagine London without Big Ben, Paris without the Eiffel Tower, New York without the Statue of Liberty?”.

The November 1947 measure placed by Klussmann’s committee passed in a landslide vote and saved the iconic cars from extinction. Later on, in 1964, the cable cars were named a historic landmark and a subsequent 1971 City Charter amendment required the three cable car lines to operate in perpetuity. After her death in October 1986, the cable cars were draped in black cloth to pay respect to her passing, and in 1997, the Friedel Klussmann Memorial Turnaround at Fisherman's Wharf was dedicated in her honor.

Friedel Klussmann is one of San Francisco's truly modern heroines. Thanks to her determination and leadership, San Francisco's internationally acclaimed cable cars continue to run on important streets and attract millions of visitors to the city. Her story speaks to the power of civic engagement, and rallying public support for subtle but important, soul-preserving, cultural causes embedded in everyday life that sometimes (often?) get overlooked by officials and government focused on modernity and efficiency.

Sources:

• https://www.sfmta.com/blog/how-friedel-klussmann-saved-cable-cars-70-years-ago

• https://trolleytuesdays.blogspot.com/2021/04/trolley-thursday-42221-friedel-klussman.html

• https://www.streetcar.org/75-years-ago-cable-car-war/

Mindset

“A day without laughter is a day wasted.”

— Charlie Chaplin

In the Works

On the action front, together with three other amazing volunteers: award-winning Beth Intoccia of Litter Lifters of West Vincent, Scott McDowell of Bensalem Green Cleanup Goup, and John Judy of Project Spearhead Earth, we cleaned up the marina grounds at Neshaminy State Park, on the banks of the Delaware River.

In less than two hours, our mighty little group cleaned up more than 500 lbs. of random trash, plus a tire, a computer monitor, and a car bumper. We had a lot of fun, and after posting the cleanup on the DeTrashed and Bucks County groups on Reddit, I received several inquiries from local folks interested in participating in future events. That is encouraging, since this is a beautiful area that remains in need of help.

On the knowledge sharing and gathering front, I updated the environmental humor section of the website, with an episode from the show Seinfeld. I am referring to the one where Kramer adopts a highway and has all sorts of hilarious adventures as a result.

This is quite timely, as I have in fact recently signed up for the Adopt-A-Highway program myself! More on that in future newsletters as I begin my work taking care of this particular piece of the Pennsylvania roadway system. See my acceptance letter below:

If you found this newsletter helpful or interesting, please share with your friends, contacts, and anyone you know who may benefit from following my journey. Let’s gain some knowledge, and take action toward a cleaner, healthier world!

Thank you.

Razvan