ABOUT
OUR
HISTORY
1847
Stern Grove site homesteaded by Alfred Greene and his wife. Alfred Greene’s nephew, George, plants the first eucalyptus trees on the property.
April 21, 1869
Rosalie Meyer is born.
1892
Alfred Greene builds the “Trocadero Inn,” a suburban resort.
October 3, 1892
Sigmund Stern and Rosalie Meyer marry in San Francisco, at her parents’ home on the corner of Pine and Gough.
1919
Rosalie Meyer Stern joins the San Francisco Playground Commission and, with Sigmund, begins a search for a suitable property to donate to the City for recreational purposes.
April 24, 1928
Sigmund Stern passes away.
April 14, 1931
Rosalie Meyer Stern buys the Greene family’s 12 acres of land for $50,000. She names the site Sigmund Stern Grove in honor of her husband.
September 16, 1931
Mrs. Stern offers the Grove to San Francisco Mayor Angelo Rossi to be used expressly for recreational activities. Renovation work begins shortly after with the architects Gardiner Daily, Bernard Maybeck, and William Gladstone Merchant.
June 4, 1932
Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove is officially dedicated by Mayor Rossi.
1931
Rosalie M. Stern purchased Stern Grove and gave it as a gift to the City of San Francisco in 1931, in memory of her husband Sigmund, a prominent civic leader. Mrs. Stern determined that the site would be preserved as a park in which the public could enjoy admission-free music, dance, and theater performances.
June 19, 1932
SF Symphony performed the first concert at Stern Grove.
1938
Rosalie Stern founded the non-profit: Stern Grove Festival Association, to present “a summer series that is distinctly a forward mark in newness, designed to educate and entertain the public.”
July 10, 1938
First summer concert of the first Stern Grove Festival, performed by the Bay Region Symphony of the Federal Music Project. The first season ran every Sunday until September 25 (12 programs) and the San Francisco Symphony performed twice.
February 1956
Rosalie Meyer Stern passes away. Her daughter, Elise Stern Hass is named Festival Chair.
1963
The Festival celebrates its 25th Anniversary Season with a performance by the San Francisco Symphony. Ansel Adams, in the audience that day, takes a series of photographs of the Grove.
1968
Rhoda Goldman, Elise S. Haas’s daughter, becomes Festival Chair.
1969
Preservation Hall Jazz Band performs for the first time at Stern Grove Festival. They performed nearly every year until 1999.
1987
Stern Grove Festival Celebrates its 50th Anniversary.
1996
Rhoda Goldman passes away. Her son, Dr. Douglas E. Goldman assumes the Chair of the Festival.
June 19, 2005
Stern Grove Festival kicks off its 68th Season with the opening of the newly renovated Sigmund Stern Grove with a concert featuring Lucinda Williams and John Doe. Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Supervisor Bevan Dufty declares “Stern Grove Festival Day” in San Francisco.
February 26, 2020
Douglas E. Goldman retires as Chair. His son Matthew W. Goldman is named the new Board Chair.