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Commission endorses Women’s Building National Register nomination
Summary
The commission voted 5–0 to forward a National Register nomination for the Women’s Building in the Mission, citing its role in second‑wave feminism and the MaestraPlaza mural as a contributing resource.
The Historic Preservation Commission unanimously adopted a resolution supporting a National Register nomination for the Women’s Building (3543 Eighteenth Street), finding the property nationally significant for its association with second‑wave feminism and community organizing.
Planning Department staff said the period of significance runs from 1978 to 1994, capturing the building’s consolidation as a women‑run community center. Donna Graves, the nomination author, described the nomination’s origin as part of a National Park Service funded extension of a National LGBTQ heritage study and said the building surfaced repeatedly as an important organizing venue. She said the nomination recognizes the building both for its role in social movements and as one of the first women‑owned and operated community centers in the United States.
Roma Guy, a Women’s Building founder who spoke to the commission, urged support for the nomination and described the building’s continuing role serving multiple constituencies and vulnerable populations. The commission voted 5–0 to forward a resolution supporting the nomination and comment package to the State Office of Historic Preservation.
Desiree Smith, department staff, said the nomination would be transmitted with any commission comments to the State as the next step in the process.
