With an annual student population of more than 100,000, City College of San Francisco has educated one in seven city residents and has alumni in every state. A Depression-era dream of Archibald Cloud, the college opened in 1935 with 1,483 students and no central campus. Today the college not only has a main campus at Ocean and Phelan Avenues, but also has 10 others spread throughout San Francisco. Science Hall, designed by Timothy Pflueger, proudly stands on the hill, a visible landmark beckoning students to walk through its portals. Pflueger's dream also included the incorporation of art into his buildings. His organization of the Art in Action program at the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island resulted in the acquisition of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity, as well as mosaics and sculptures by other artists that adorn Science Hall.

Beginning with Austin White's research, historian Valerie Sherer Mathes, author of Images of America: Sonoma Valley, and librarian Julia Bergman have compiled this volume. Using vintage photographs from the college archives and the San Francisco Public Library, alongside current photographs, the authors invite readers to celebrate the college's 75th anniversary on a pictorial journey of this city treasure from 1935 to the present.