Interviewee: Miriam Bradley Grbac (MG) Interviewer: Carla Ehat (CE) and Anne Kent (AK) Date of Interview: March 10, 1978 Miriam describes refugees who arrived in Tiburon after fleeing the devastation in San Francisco. Audio Clip from the Interview (1 minute 10 seconds)

Transcript of Audio Clip

CE: You were seven years old when the great fire of 1906 occurred, and earthquake.

MG: Oh yes.

CE: Did a lot of refugees come by boat to Tiburon?

MG: The school which, of course, was next to our home, was made into an emergency hospital.

CE: It was?

MG: Yes. And my mother used to go over and help them nurse the people there. And as I say, we’d sit out and watch these embers. The embers would come across and drop around.

CE: Across that distance of water?

MG: Yes.

CE: I imagine the trains were backed up.

MG: And my father told about the refugees coming off the boats and, of course, they were all in a rush, and especially one Chinaman who was carrying an onion and a birdcage. And they were all heading for wherever they could go north to find places.

CE: Probably the Chinese were headed for China Camp.

MG: Well, this poor man evidently was so upset -- if that’s all he remembered to pick up, he didn’t know where he was going probably.


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