RSB Books

RSB Books

Richard Schwartz

Writer, Historian
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RSB Books

The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty

Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley

Earthquake Exodus, 1906

Berkeley 1900

Circle of Stones

 Richard Schwartz Biography

Richard Schwartz grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1968 at Central High School he won varsity football's "Team Award" and was the undefeated Pennsylvania State Fencing Champion in the weapon Epee in the 1969 competition. Schwartz graduated from Temple University in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in English literature. For two years while at Temple he worked on a Pennsylvania Dutch farm eleven hours a day, three days a week.

He came to Berkeley in 1973 and formed the New World Trio, an acoustical jazz trio with Eric Vaughan (Godson of Sarah Vaughan) on piano, Samadhi Aheshma (played with Miles Davis at sixteen years old) on bass, and himself on drums. He also played in Abukir, a Berkeley Latin jazz sextet, and taught drums in a Berkeley after-school program.


In 1976 Schwartz joined the U.S. Forest Service to fight fires in the Sierra. It was during this time that he came across an ancient sixty-five-foot stone circle near Truckee. His curiosity about this configuration led to his first book, "The Circle of Stones," a nonfiction archeological mystery.


In 1982 Schwartz earned his General Building Contractors license from the State of California, where he was also certified to condemn and examine buildings for the State after an earthquake. He continued through January 2021 to be active in the construction trades and specialized in design, lighting design exterior, lighting design interior, earthquake retrofitting, drainage/water issues, and leak diagnosis work.

In the early 1990s he joined a Brazilian samba school and played in the San Francisco and Oakland Carnivals. In 1992 he traveled to Brazil and studied Afro-Brazilian drumming with Carlinios Brown. He co-led Orixa Ba Ba of San Francisco on billings that included Ray Charles and Tower of Power.

In 1996 Schwartz was at the Berkeley Historical Society when a stack of Berkeley newspapers circa 1900 was about to be discarded by the Society. He rescued the newspapers by taking them home. These rescued "Berkeley Gazettes" became the basis for the book "Berkeley 1900." Richard Schwartz put four years into the research, writing, and production of "Berkeley 1900" and published it himself. "Berkeley 1900" was on the "East Bay Best Sellers List" in the "East Bay Express" for ten months. The book was chosen by the "San Francisco Chronicle" as one of ten "Holiday Gift Books of the Year" in 2000.

Schwartz released "Earthquake Exodus, 1906" in November, 2005. It ifocused on the refugees and relief effort instead of the disaster. Mayor Tom Bates of Berkeley utilized the research in the book to comment in the "San Francisco Chronicle" on the response to Katrina. Schwartz presented a Certificate of Honor from then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to the citizens of Berkeley for their role in saving the lives of tens of thousands of refugees from the San Francisco 1906 Earthquake. The book was featured on many local TV and radio stations and received recognition in Europe.

In July of 2007, Schwartz released the book, "Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley" which documents the lives of seventeen men and women who were famous in their day (1850-1925), but have been all but forgotten in our modern world. It was these colorful pioneers that gave Berkeley its original character. Their stories will be well utilized by our current citizens. The reviews and citizen feedback and appreciation of this latest work have been gratifying to Schwartz. "Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley" was picked as a 2007-2008 "Holiday Gift Book of the Year" by the "San Francisco Chronicle," and "Alameda Magazine" and the staffs at Pegasus Books and Cody's Books also singled out the book as one of their favorites for the holidays.

In September of 2009, the 10th Anniversary Edition of "Berkeley 1900, Daily Life at the Turn of the Century" was released. It contains 150 new photos, many of which were never seen publicly before. They represented ten additional years of pioneer descendants contacting Schwartz with their family albums and years of searching for new photos by Schwartz. The reception this beloved book received, which had been sold out and out of print since 2003, has been most vigorous by the press and public.

In 2017, Richard released "The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty, The Extraordinary Rise and Fall of Actor M. B. Curtis." The book has been accepted in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margret Herrick Collection. It is on sale at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island National Parks. Richard has given scores of interviews and talks on this forgotten American cultural hero. The book won the Bronze Medal for Biography from the 2018 Independent Publishers Book Awards.

As of 2022, Schwartz has spoken at hundreds of events and continues to promote history. He also has recorded over 1,000 previously unknown local Indian sites, of which he sends reports to the State archive at Sonoma State University. (C.H.R.I.S.) In 2014 he was hired by the archeological consulting firm that was studying the West Berkeley Shellmound to share his knowledge of many unstudied archeological sites in the area. In 2021, Richard was hired by the archeological firm working for the City of Richmond and Cal Trans to consult and present the results of his pedestrian survey of Native American sites in the area of the I-80 Central Avenue Interchange Improvement Project, Phase 2. In May of 2022, Richard was named an Affiliated Research Scholar of the U.C. Berkeley Joseph A. Myers Center  for Research on Native American Issues. He will be co-teaching a research project there using sites Richard found to teach the students how to fill out the state forms of C. H. R. I. S. If you ever found or know of Native American sites or artifact finds, please email him so they can be added to the archeological record. His email button is at the top of the page.

Current Recognition

• 2026 Presidential Recognition Award recipient, Society for American Archaeology

• Author of five books on Bay Area, California, and American history

• Researcher documenting more than 1,000 Native American archaeological sites in the Bay Area

• Frequent speaker on Bay Area history, archaeology, earthquakes, Indigenous landscapes, and historical storytelling

• Featured by ABC7, KQED, KPIX CBS Bay Area, SFGATE, Bay Area News Group, Berkeleyside, and regional and national historical societies and organizations


Selected Media, Speaking, and Institutional Affiliations

Universities, Research, and Academic Organizations

Historical Societies, Museums, and Preservation Organizations

Media, Broadcast, and Journalism

Libraries, Literary Organizations, and Book Events

Cultural, Community, and Public Organizations

Book Awards and Recognition



Schwartz is working on a number of new history projects.

 

RSB Books

The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty

Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley

Earthquake Exodus, 1906

Berkeley 1900

Circle of Stones