As Rodger Birt flipped through a bin of old photographs in Busvan for Bargains, a now defunct San Francisco used furniture store, one in particular caught his eye. He recognized the photo as a bromoil print, a circa 1920 developing technique. Without knowing whom the photographer was, Birt bought the photo for $15.

That was in 1976. Birt was a young lecturer at SF State.

In 1994, as he paged through a Getty Museum book of photography, Birt spotted the same photo. The tagline read, “Leopold Hugo,” a famous early American photographer. Birt called the receptionist at the Getty Museum and told her what he had.

“The first thing out of her mouth was, ‘You want to sell it?’” said Birt with a laugh as he sat in front of the light table in the Humanities Resource Room. Though the photo is worth nearly $2000, Birt’s waiting to sell until the value climbs higher.

Birt, now 67, has been teaching American Studies at SF State for over 30 years. Whenever Leopold Hugo pops up in his California Culture lessons, he always recounts his story of how he found the famous photo.

“He’s full of stories on any topic,” said Jennifer Tinonga, the student assistant in the Humanities Resource Room where Birt often comes to sift throughout the inventory. “It’s going to be so quiet when he’s gone.”

After this semester, Birt is retiring. For his students and colleagues, his shoes will be hard to fill.

“He will be missed,” says Saul Steier, Chairman of the Humanities Department. “His students love him, it’s his enthusiasm.”

Birt has been active in a range of humanities fields, such as architecture, literature and history for decades. His curriculum vitae lists his participation in dozens of publications, panels and papers, the majority of them regarding photography.

From 2001 to 2002, Birt served as the President of the California Humanities Association. The Smithsonian African American Museum chose him for the advisory board and he has been interviewed on television concerning Californian architecture. His experience shows in his lectures.

“When he gets revved up,” said Harriet Rafter, the English Department administrative assistant, “he delivers a discourse so polished and so exact that it’s a delight to watch, such grace with language.”

Rafter has sat in on three of Birt’s classes just for fun, but ended up grading Birt’s assigned essays.

It was only by chance that Birt ended up in San Francisco. After achieving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana University, Birt, like many men his age, received a notice that would change his life.

“I thought the war was immoral,” said Birt, “which caused me to have to be out of the country or I would’ve gone to war.”

In 1967, Birt took a boat to Beirut, Lebanon and from there traveled to England, therby avoiding the draft. Before his European departure in 1971, Birt’s own photography would be shown at the Photographer’s Gallery in London and the American University of Beirut. While he was away, America changed.

“In that period San Francisco became the center of youth culture,” said Birt. “In London it was very much on people’s minds, talking about San Francisco and listening to the music.”

After visiting his parents, Birt headed to California and eventually rolled into San Francisco. Until he was asked to lecture for classes at SF State in 1974, he worked as a freelance photographer. After a three-year break to achieve his Ph.D, Birt returned to the Bay Area in 1980 and has been teaching at SF State ever since.

When asked what he’ll do in his retirement, he answered with a single word: “Photography.”