Joseph B. Strauss

Joseph Baermann Strauss was Chief Engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge (GGB). He was born in Cincinnati in 1870 and graduated from UC in 1892 with a degree in Civil Engineering. Creating an archive about Strauss was mentioned as one of the ideas to pursue during this sabbatical, way back on Friday, October 8, 2004!

Why an archive about Strauss? It seems that he has received bad press lately, following the exposure of a conflict between him and his one-time company Vice President Charles A. Ellis. After Strauss dismissed Ellis, all traces of Ellis' contributions in calculating stresses for the GGB were eradicated. In their zeal to restore Ellis to his rightful place in history, his proponents went a bit overboard in denigrating Strauss, claiming for example that he did not even have an engineering degree. Some of these mis-facts were perpretrated and dramatized in a 2004 PBS American Experience program entitled "Golden Gate Bridge." UC engineering faculty member Mike Baseheart and I thought it would good to set the record straight, from the UC point of view. Hence the project.