Marcus Plato Hanlon
Marcus Plato Hanlon, who is the protagonist of Sidewalk Spots, was born and raised in The Tenderloin district of San Francisco. The Tenderloin covers about 31 blocks. While it’s an area of the city that usually conjures up mixed reactions, it has a unique and an interesting history. Residents of San Francisco who might avoid the area and visitors to the city who are curious about it are encouraged to visit The Tenderloin Museum at 398 Eddy Street to learn more. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Because of Covid 19 restrictions, please call (415) 351-1912 to ensure that the museum is open. The Tenderloin Museum’s website reveals that the district’s “raucous history has been routinely overlooked in historical accounts of San Francisco.” The museum offers visitors an opportunity to get to know the real story by taking a walking tour, visiting interactive museum exhibits and exploring the retail store where you will learn more about:
- The Blackhawk Jazz club where Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Dave Brubeck and Thelonious Monk played and recorded.
- San Francisco’s golden age of vice with gambling dens, speakeasies, bordellos and a historic sex worker protest of 1917.
- The Wally Heider Studios where the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Crosby, Stills & Nash crafted their music.
- Stories from immigrants from around the world who called The Tenderloin home while they struggled to make a new life in the United States.
- The Tenderloin’s role as a center of LGBTQ activism which inludes the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, the first recorded militant uprising against police harassment in U.S. history.
Most importantly, visitors will learn that The Tenderloin is now a rich and diverse community that offers live music and theatre performances, film screenings, lectures, local art exhibitions, poetry events and more. For more information tenderloinmuseum.org