This alley was formerly known as Adler Alley until 1988&nbsp;when it was named after Kerouac. Jack Kerouac Alley, as it is known today, is home to murals that celebrate the life and work of Kerouac and other Beat writers following a dedication&nbsp;ceremony in April 2007. the alley is situated between City Lights Bookstore and Vesuvio Cafe - both of which are historically significant in their own right and were frequented by Kerouac and his fellow Beat Generation writers during the 1950s. The alley is open for the public and is accessible for pedestrians only; no cars or bikes may enter the alley.&nbsp; Kerouac lived the majority of his life in New York, but his time in San Francisco shaped the influential writer. Many of Kerouac's books are set in San Francisco or include at least a mention of the city. For example, San Francisco is one of the settings for Kerouac's most famous novel&nbsp;On the Road&nbsp;which is based on his travels through the United States with his fellow Beat authors.&nbsp; In addition to paying homage to Kerouac, the alley also features murals that pay tribute to other authors, poets, political leaders, and social movements related to the history of San Francisco. There are several large murals along the walls of the alley that are&nbsp;shared by the City Lights Bookstore. The alley also includes quotes from various poets and writers such as John Steinbeck and Maya Angelou. The alley is perhaps most notable, however, for the subject of one mural which is a recreation of&nbsp;Mexico City artist Sergio Valdéz Rubalcaba’s painting "Life and Dreams of the Perla River Valley." The mural depicts Mexican&nbsp;revolutionary leaders Emiliano Zapata and Ricardo Flores Magon watching over their indigenous community.&nbsp;

The sign marking the location of Jack Kerouac Alley

A close up of the mural featured in the alley

One of the quotes featured on the alley walls

One of the many Chinese inscriptions featured along the pathway of the alley

Information about the Beat Generation from UVA Library 

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“Aftermath: The Philosophy of the Beat Generation” by Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac, author of "On the Road," was a leading member of the group of writers who are collectively known as the Beat Generation. Many of Kerouac's books were set in San Francisco, a city where Kerouac had many misadventures and affairs as chronicled by his own writing. Jack Kerouac Alley was dedicated in his honor in April 2007. The alley depicts a giant mural of Kerouac, images depicting his travels, and quotations from both his works as well as other Beat authors who were based in San Francisco. 

Jack Kerouac Alley

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This short walking tour includes iconic San Francisco literary landmarks such as City Lights Bookstore and Vesuvio Cafe, the watering hole and San Francisco home of Jack Kerouac, Dylan Thomas, Allen Ginsberg, and other writers. The tour also includes Jack Kerouac Alley, home to murals and other artwork depicting Beat Generation writers. The tour concludes at the Beat Museum which was established in 2006.

City Lights founder Lawrence&nbsp;Ferlinghetti was born in Yonkers, but eventually left&nbsp;to go to&nbsp;college&nbsp;at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II as a ship's commander, and then&nbsp;he did his graduate studies at &nbsp;Columbia University. In 1950, Ferlinghetti received his&nbsp;PhD from&nbsp;l'Université de Paris. In 1951, Ferlinghetti moved to San Francisco where, according to a brief biography1, "he&nbsp;taught French in an adult education program, painted, and wrote art criticism" before opening City Lights with Peter D. Martin in 1953 and eventually establishing the publishing company in 1955.The bookstore is historically known for attracting many well known writers and artists, and Ferlinghetti was notorious for publishing anti-authoritarian and cultural-critiquing works through his Pocket Poets Series. According to a brief biography, "his publication of Allen Ginsberg's&nbsp;Howl &amp; Other Poems&nbsp;in 1956 led to his arrest on obscenity charges, and the trial that followed drew national attention to the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat movement writers. (He was overwhelmingly supported by prestigious literary and academic figures, and was acquitted.) This landmark First Amendment case established a legal precedent for the publication of controversial work with redeeming social importance."Ferlinghetti has received many honor over the years, including the Los Angeles Times' Robert Kirsch Award, the BABRA Award for Lifetime Achievement, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Award for Contribution to American Arts and Letters, the American Civil Liberties Union's Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award. Ferlinghetti was named San Francisco's Poet Laureate in August 1998, and&nbsp;in 2003, he received the&nbsp;Robert Frost Memorial Medal, the Author's Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. Additionally,he was elected to the&nbsp;American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2005, the National Book Foundation awarded him the inaugural&nbsp;Literarian Award. In 2007, he was named Commandeur, French Order of Arts and Letters, and in 2012, he was awarded the &nbsp;Douglas MacAgy Distinguished Achievement Award from the San Francisco Art Institute.

The world-renowned bookstore was founded in 1953 by Beats poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin. In 1955, City Lights was expanded to include a book press, too. The site was the country's first all-paperbound book store and was well known for stocking  anti-authoritarian titles. Since the press was established, City Lights has published over two hundred titles and continues to print several new titles annually. Additionally, the shop offers three stories of book shelves stocked with everything from unique and rare to new and popular titles.

City Lights Book Sellers & Publishers

Vesuvio Cafe was founded in 1948 by Henri Lenoir, an art enthusiast whose goal was to create an artful, bohemian atmosphere for likeminded souls to gather. The cafe opened in an Italian Renaissance styled building that was constructed during the first World War. The cafe's interior featured a plethora of art and colorful decor which appealed to numerous patrons, the most notable of which were Beat Generation writers such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsburg. Other notable patrons include Bob Dylan and Francis Ford Coppola.&nbsp; The bar/cafe is located along Columbus Avenue next to City Lights Bookstore, a neighborhood establishment opened by Lawrence Ferlinghetti who was also one of the Vesuvio Cafe's famous patrons. The bookstore and cafe are located at the famous Jack Kerouac Alley which honors the Beat writer with inscriptions and murals honoring the literary and cultural history of both San Francisco and its diverse community.&nbsp;&nbsp; In an effort to preserve and emphasize the importance of the Beat writers and the literary culture which led to the cafe's status as a cultural and historical landmark, cafe owners Janet and Christopher Fein have incorporated the bar's history into its decor. The interior of the Vesuvio Cafe is filled with paintings and historical photos in addition to a plethora of memorabilia commemorating its connection to the Beat Generation.

Vesuvio Cafe was established in 1948 and is located next to City Lights Bookstore. Together with City Lights Bookstore, one of the walls of the cafe forms Jack Kerouac Alley. Kerouac often frequented the cafe along with many of his fellow beat writers, leading to the cafe becoming a historical site as well as a popular tourist destination. Today, the cafe is still incredibly popular, and those who visit are greeted with a plethora of memorabilia from the Beat Generation. 

Vesuvio Cafe 

The Beat Museum is dedicated to spreading the spirit of The Beat Generation, which is defined as a spirit of&nbsp;tolerance, compassion, and having the courage to live your individual truth. The Beats, as in beaten down and beatific, were a collective of writers, artists and thinkers that congregated in 1950s San Francisco.The Beat Museum is home to an extensive collection of Beat memorabilia, including original manuscripts and first editions, letters, personal effects and cultural ephemera. Located in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, we occupy the same ground that was once the epicenter for Beat activity during the 1950s.The Beat Museum has been independently owned and operated since its inception in 2003. We are dedicated to carrying on the Beat’s legacy by exposing their work to new audiences, encouraging journeys—both interior and exterior—and being a resource on how one person’s perspective can have meaning to many.

The Beat Museum, located on 540 Broadway, is a small, one-room museum with artifacts from the Beat era. The Beat Museum's collection includes photos, letters, a signed copy of Ginsberg's Howl, and Neal Cassady's striped referee-style shirt. At this site you can learn more about the influential people of this generation, and have a glimpse at life during this exciting time in American history. 

Beat Museum

In 1953, Allen Ginsberg arrived in San Francisco with a letter of introduction from William Carlos Williams. San Francisco was fertile literary ground at the time, with a number of young writers emerging in what became known as the San Francisco Renaissance. Though scholars disagree about the degree to which there was a literary "movement" in San Francisco at the time, it is almost universally agreed upon that if the Renaissance had a founder, it was Kenneth Rexroth. Two years after his introduction to Ginsberg, Rexroth hosted the Six Gallery poetry reading. It was here that Ginsberg gave an early reading of a draft of "Howl," a poem he worked on while living in the Montgomery Street apartment. "Howl" was published in 1956 by City Lights Bookstore, and the notoriety garnered by its publication made Ginsberg, the Beats, and the San Francisco Renaissance national news. Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Shigeyosi Murao were arrested on obscenity charges, Ferlinghetti for the book's publication and Murao for its distribution. After a long trial, "Howl" was ruled not obscene, and the ruling led to the publication of other previously banned works of literature.

For a few years in the mid-1950s, Beat poet Allen Ginsberg lived and wrote in an apartment at 1010 Montgomery Street. It was in this apartment that Ginsberg wrote his controversial poem "Howl," which would eventually lead to obscenity charges for the author. 

Beat Generation Walking Tour - San Francisco

Jack Kerouac Alley

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information