This is the third request of three:  the woman at the crane site.

Some years back, a terrible accident occurred in San Francisco:  a
crane used at the top of a high-rise building that was under
construction collapsed when jumping to the next level.  The cab and
the crane fell many stories to the street.  Everyone in the cab was
killed, and the falling metal also killed the driver of a van carrying
children who attended a special-ed school.  This could have happened
as long ago as the seventies or early eighties.  My search methods
have not even been able to turn up a story.

Immediately after reports of the accident hit the airwaves, but before
it was known who had been in the cab that day and who the casualties
were, a young woman rushed to the scene carrying her seven-month-old
baby.  A news photographer took her picture at the scene.  She is
standing amidst the rubble, facing to the right as seen by the viewer
of the photograph.  She has long dark hair.  Her left arm is around
her baby, and her right hand is on her right cheek.  She has unusually
long arms.  In her face is all the horror and dread of not knowing
whether her young husband is alive or dead.

I saw it in either the San Jose Mercury News or the San Francisco
Chronicle, more likely the Chronicle.

A link to the photo will answer the question.  Alternately, an upload
to a site from which I could retrieve it would work.

Dates and photo credits would be nice but are not necessary for a complete answer.

Thank you,
Apteryx

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Request for Question Clarification by juggler-ga on 18 Jan 2004 22:05 PST

Hi Apteryx,

I've located the date of the crane collapse.  I suspect that the
easiest way to find the photo would probably be to go to a library and
pull the microfilm for the Chronicle issue on the day after the
incident.  If that's something you'd be interested in doing, I could
supply you with the date.

-juggler

---

Clarification of Question by apteryx-ga on 18 Jan 2004 23:42 PST

Hi, juggler--

I would be interested in knowing the date of the crane collapse, but
that is not what I'm offering to pay for.  The answer to this question
is a picture.  I would have thought there'd be a way to get at old
newsphotos online.  If it's a matter of legwork, then I can't get it
from GA.

Thanks,
Apteryx

---

Clarification of Question by apteryx-ga on 31 Jan 2004 18:20 PST

Juggler,

After quite a wait, I see that I'm not having any luck with my three
questions seeking photos.  I wonder whether it is the case that
newsphotos are not stored in Internet-accessible ways or just that it
is too hard to find a photo from a description.  In any case, I'll
recast this one as a request for information leading to --, and I'll
take the information you have as the answer.

Thank you,
Apteryx

Hello Apteryx,

The crane collapsed on November 28, 1989.

"Following the crane accident in San Francisco, California on November 28, 1989..."
source: American Society of Civil Engineers
http://www.asce.org/pressroom/news/policy_details.cfm?hdlid=114


You can read articles about the collapse via Lexis-Nexis.  Note,
however, that Lexis-Nexis does NOT supply photos for its articles. 
The articles are text-only.

Lexis-Nexis is fee-based, but you may view article headlines at no charge.

(1) Go to this Lexis-Nexis page:  
https://web.lexis.com/LNE/ServiceSelection_en.asp

(2) Select the $2.50 per document rate. 
Click on "continue" to bring up the search page.  

(3) In the "search terms" box, enter: san francisco crane

(4) Press the "search" button.

There will be 43 hits.

Results 33 through 37 are articles published on November 29, 1989 (the
day after the collapse).

33. Chicago Tribune, November 29, 1989, Wednesday... Construction
crane falls; 5 die High-rise boom hits buildings, vehicles in San
Francisco, By Susan Krohn, Special to The Tribune, SAN FRANCISCO
 
34. The New York Times, November 29, 1989, Wednesday... 5 Killed in
San Francisco Crane Collapse
 
35. The Record, November 29, 1989; WEDNESDAY, NEWS... SAN FRANCISCO
CRANE TOPPLES;  5 DEAD, 21 HURT, The Associated Press, SAN FRANCISCO
 
36. The Record, November 29, 1989; WEDNESDAY, NEWS... SAN FRANCISCO
CRANE TOPPLES;  5 DEAD, 21 HURT, The Associated Press, SAN FRANCISCO
 
37. The Toronto Star, November 29, 1989, Wednesday, ONT, NEWS... 5 die
as San Francisco crane topples 16 stories Twisted steel crashes down
on busy street, (AP-REUTER), SAN FRANCISCO

--------

Your description was fine.  If photos from the Chronicle, Mercury News
and Examiner for 1989 were available online, it'd probably be quite
easy to pick out the one that you wanted.  The problem, as you
suspected, is that most old news photographs are simply not stored in
internet-accessible ways.


Just for future reference, it actually is possible to view old photos
from the New York Times online, as the NYT archive (which happens to
be down at the moment) features scanned images of the paper.
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nytimes/advancedsearch.html

If I were you, I'd pay a visit to a local academic library that is
open to the public (e.g., San Francisco State) and pull the microfilm
that contains the November 29, 1989 issue of the Chronicle.  Browse
through the paper until you find your photo and then print the page. 
The whole process wouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes.

----------

search strategy:
"crane accident in San Francisco"
lexis-nexis: san francisco crane


I hope this helps. Good luck!

Thanks, juggler.  Your answer to the redefined question is thorough and complete.

Apteryx

Hi, Apteryx

Just to say 'Hi, It's good to see you again'.

Do please hang around a while longer on this occasion.

Bryan

Hi, Bryan--

Thank you.  Lovely to hear from you.  I hope I haven't been rushing
off too fast?  This page has a serious theme, not too sociable, but
another setting would do nicely for a light-hearted exchange.  I think
we must need someone to post another one of those open-ended questions
that entice people into a long, friendly dialogue just for fun.  Now,
who do you suppose could come up with one of those?

Regards to Daisy and my best to qliz2--
Apteryx