Miss Lillie Lauren

Desegregating Public Transportation a hundred years before Rosa Parks 

Hello My brave volunteers,

I have spent many days following your exploits, sharing in your adventures as you battle fires and save lives in our great city.

It has been brought to my attention that while I know much about each and everyone of you, many of you know very little about me. So I have decided to sit down and record my own adventures for your enjoyment.

First allow me to formally introduce myself as some of you may not have actually met me yet.

I am Lilly Hitchcock Coit, daughter of Doctor Charles Hitchcock of San Francisco by way of New York.

I spent the first eight years of my life in New York, where things seemed so much simpler. Following the war with Mexico my father brought my mother and I out to San Francisco.

And as many of you Know San Francisco is where I fell in love. From the moment I set foot on the shores of our lovely city I loved everything about her.

I was 15 when I saw the first of you saving lives and putting out fires. I saw the team struggling to get up Telegraph Hill and worried they wouldn’t make it I knew it was my duty to help. I knew it was also the duty of everyone watching to help as well, so I of course convinced them.

From that moment on I wanted nothing more than to race to the scene of every fire.  I was always so taken by the red shirt and fancy helmet. I loved the helmet so much that I was given one, when I was made an honorary member of the Knickerbocker company. That will always be the proudest day of my life.

Victorian society did not seem to like my adventures with my volunteers, but I could not see the trouble.

I have not spent all of my time chasing down fires and supporting my volunteers, however. I have had many other adventures as well.

I have traveled all over Europe, and as far as Queen Victoria’s India, to be a beloved guest of the Maharajah. I learned to dance at the famous school of ballet in Paris.

I have even had many adventures in our own San Francisco, like learning to hunt, or drive a carriage. I have gambled with my husbands friends, and dared to drink and smoke with them as companionship would allow.

Oh I have had so many adventures and so many of them I wish to tell you about. So these letters will serve as a glimpse into my life so that you may feel as bonded to me as I do to you.

Many of my stories also include some of the wonderful people I have met in my travels, some of whom you may not have heard of. I intend to share their exploits with you as well.