San Francisco North Beach & the San Francisco Renaissance (1945–1965)

1. First Festival of Modern Poetry in San Francisco

   Apr 1, 1947Labels: Madeline Gleason, Lucien Labaudt

   • SFRenaissance
   • Gleason

2. Vesuvio Cafe opens near future City Lights

   Jan 1, 1948Labels: Vesuvio Cafe, Columbus Avenue

   • Vesuvio
   • NatTrust

3. City Lights Bookstore is founded in North Beach

   Jan 1, 1953Labels: City Lights, Lawrence Ferlinghetti

   • CityLights

4. Six Gallery forms as an artist-run co-op

   Jan 1, 1954Labels: Six Gallery, Fillmore Street

   • SixGallery

5. City Lights launches the Pocket Poets Series

   Aug 1, 1955Labels: Pocket Poets, City Lights

   • PocketPoets
   • CityLights

6. Six Gallery reading introduces Ginsberg’s “Howl”

   Oct 7, 1955Labels: Six Gallery, Allen Ginsberg

   • SixGallery
   • Howl

7. Caffe Trieste opens as a neighborhood coffeehouse hub

   Apr 1, 1956Labels: Caffe Trieste, North Beach

   • SFChronicle

8. City Lights publishes *Howl and Other Poems*

   Nov 1, 1956Labels: Howl and, City Lights

   • HowlBook
   • Howl

9. Police arrest City Lights manager over “Howl” sales

   Jun 3, 1957Labels: Shigeyoshi Murao, San Francisco

   • Howl
   • PoetryFdn

10. “Poetry as Magic” workshop documents local teaching networks

    Jun 10, 1957Labels: Jack Spicer, Poetry Center

    • SFSUArchive
    • SFRenaissance

11. Court rules “Howl” not obscene

    Oct 3, 1957Labels: Judge Clayton, Howl trial

    • HowlBook
    • Howl

12. Kerouac’s *The Dharma Bums* spreads Bay Area “Beat” imagery

    Oct 2, 1958Labels: Jack Kerouac, The Dharma

    • DharmaBums

13. Robert Duncan’s *The Opening of the Field* is published

    Oct 1, 1960Labels: Robert Duncan, The Opening

    • Jacket2
    • CAAReviews

14. By mid-1960s, North Beach scene transitions toward new countercultures

    Jan 1, 1965Labels: North Beach, Counterculture shift

    • SFRenaissance
    • CityLights