Please join us for our Annual Meeting for OHA members and board elections on January 18, 2024 from 6:30-7pm. Afterwards, we will have a lecture, open to the public, on the history of travel trailers presented by Arrol Gellner who wrote the book Ready to Roll: A Celebration of the Classic American Travel Trailer published by Penguin. The meeting and lecture will be in-person, held at the Oakland Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave.

Ready to Roll takes a journey through the history of the travel trailer, a symbol of America’s love of freedom and the open road. Featuring vintage travel trailers of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, we’ll discuss their stylistic implications, their sometimes luxurious and sometimes whimsical quirkiness, as well as their broad appeal, which now spans more than a century. Whether you’re a fan of retro Americana, an antique car collector, or a lover of American architecture, you’ll find something to like in this lecture.

We are encouraging people to register via Eventbrite, but walk ups are welcome.

Annual Meeting Oakland Heritage Alliance Financials for review

Bio: Arrol Gellner is an architect with over thirty years experience in residential, commercial, and industrial architecture. He is a Cum Laude graduate of the College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley. Gellner writes the nationally-syndicated architecture column Architext, and has authored many other articles on design and the history of American architecture. He has also written three books on period design.

Please join us at the historic Oakland Scottish Rite Center as we celebrate Oakland's preservation champions! Some of this year’s honorees will include:

• A tasteful remodel of a MacGregor Craftsman Cottage

• Recognition of the Rickey Henderson Field and its impact on Oakland's sports legacy

• Restoration of the Tapscott Building in Downtown Oakland

• Lifetime achievement award to an esteemed local author and tour leader

• Recognition of Jingletown arts, business, and community

• And much more!

Doors open at 3 PM for a special tour of the Oakland Scottish Rite Center at 3:15 PM. The award ceremony will begin at 4:00 PM.

Event Schedule

• 3:00 PM - Doors open

• 3:15 PM - Tour of the Oakland Scottish Rite Center, led by by Adam Kendall, executive director, Oakland Scottish Rite Historical Foundation.

• 4:00-5:00 PM - Award program

• 5:00-6:00 PM - Refreshments and social time

Event Location: Oakland Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. Free parking in the lot behind the Scottish Rite Center is on Madison Street - a one-way street southbound. Approach from 17th Street. For those requesting ADA access, please contact us at info@oaklandheritage.org or call our office at (510) 763-9218.

Purchase tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oakland-heritage-alliance-presents-the-2023-partners-in-preservation-awards-tickets-717223293177?aff=oddtdtcreator

OHA members, guests, and members of the public may either purchase tickets through Eventbrite, or RSVP by contacting us at info@oaklandheritage.org or by phone at (510) 763-9218. If you plan to RSVP, please do so by Wednesday, October 11th, to ensure we receive your information. Thanks!

Historian and author, Richard Schwartz, will be presenting new research, shared for the first time, in this illustrated talk on the life of immigrant actor M. B. Curtis. In the Bay Area of the late 19th century, M.B. Curtis mesmerized audiences and threw his overnight fortunes towards all kinds of East Bay Civic improvements and people in need, as well as building a lavish hotel in the East Bay where both actors and working people could congregate. (the Peralta Park Hotel was the tallest hotel in the Bay Area in 1891)

M.B. Curtis is the Bay Area's most famous and forgotten eccentric, being the only person in American history to personally pay to light the Statue of Liberty when Congress cut the funding of the Lady's lighting right after the statue's dedication, never intending to light her again. Mark Twain approached Curtis to produce and perform a theatrical version of Twain’s latest book. Curtis loved performing in Oakland where so many friends and neighbors would pack into local theaters to see him perform his famous immigrant character, Sam'l of Posen, which became so deeply infused into Oakland’s culture back in the 1880s and 1890s. He introduced his play in 1880 and was still performing it well into the 20th century as people would see it over and over. He even performed in Oakland right after the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. 

Bio: Richard Schwartz is a historian and the author of The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty; Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley; Earthquake Exodus, 1906; Berkeley 1900; and The Circle of Stones. An outdoor enthusiast and animal lover, he worked on a Pennsylvania Dutch farm before heading west to find higher mountains, fighting forest fires for the US Forest Service. Schwartz was a building contractor and musician for forty years. He lives in Berkeley, California where he currently records unknown Native American sites he has found with the California Historical Information Resource System. Richard gives history talks across the country, but concentrates on the Bay Area. 

"Richard's talk and presentation at Mechanics' Institute was full of historical insights, moving and hilarious stories, and connections to our world today. The audience was engaged with rapt attention, not wanting to miss a detail in the historical photos and documents shared or Richard's seemingly endless depth of knowledge. A wonderful program all around!"
-Alyssa Stone, Senior Director of Programs and Community Engagement, Mechanics' Institute

This walk introduces the characters who shaped the district’s early history. We’ll meet, among others, the Dimond, Hopkins, and Rhoda families. We’ll also learn about the German community with their Altenheim on the heights and beer gardens below. This 2 1/2-hour walk includes a stroll along Sausal Creek as well as stories about the district’s horse-drawn streetcars and the resort that the neighbors sent packing.

Tour Leader: Dennis Evanosky

Meet: Meet at the adobe Boy Scout Hut in Dimond Park. Enter the park at the end of Dimond Ave. where it borders the park. The Scout Hut is just beyond the redwood grove.

Bio: Dennis Evanosky is historian at the online Alameda Post and a free-lance writer with many published books: East Bay Then and Now; San Francisco in Photographs; San Francisco Then and Now; Oakland’s Laurel District; Mountain View Cemetery and Alameda’s Architectural Treasure Chest, to name a few. He is the editor of the Alameda County Historical Society’s newsletter. He has received several Partners in Preservation Awards, including one for restoring the Civil War section of Mountain View Cemetery; and one for assisting Bill Caldwell with Oakland: A Photographic Journey. 

Dennis has been a docent at Mountain View Cemetery for many years. He was a docent at the Pardee Home Museum, and has led walking tours for OHA that include the Laurel District, the Dimond District, Leona Heights, the Oakland Estuary, Oakland’s Redwoods and Mountain View Cemetery and a tour about the Cemetery’s connection to the Civil War. He also hosts walking tours for the City of Alameda featuring that city’s history.

Dennis was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania and was raised in Maryland. He holds a masters degree in German from the University of Maryland. He taught German for the University of Maryland in Europe for nine years. 

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• If you need assistance navigating Eventbrite, please reach out to us at info@oaklandheritage.org or call our office at (510) 763-9218 and we’d be happy to help.

• Please check out the profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Oakland’s American origins date from the 1840s when redwoods logged in the Oakland hills were shipped from the foot of 13th Avenue. This tour begins at the 1856 shoreline and explores commercial and government buildings, homes and churches in this historic part of Oakland. A long, level walk. Wheelchair accessible.

Tour Leader: Kathleen DiGiovanni

Meet: Vantage Point Park, foot of 13th Avenue at E. 12th Street

Bio: Kathleen Leles DiGiovanni is a long-time Oakland Heritage Alliance walking tour leader and a regular contributor to the OHA News. A former librarian at the Oakland Public Library, Kathleen logged thousands of hours working in the Oakland History Center, promoting and guiding exploration of Oakland's history through the library's rich resources. As much as she loved her work, she is now working at being happily retired. In addition to this year's Lakeside Park and Brooklyn tours, Kathleen has also led walking tours for OHA in Fernwood, Glenview, and Montclair Village and Oakland Women’s History tours. 

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• If you need assistance navigating Eventbrite, please reach out to us at info@oaklandheritage.org or call our office at (510) 763-9218 and we’d be happy to help.

• Please check out the profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Tour Lakeside Park with us and learn about the history of this unique local treasure and today’s uses that keep the park vibrant – from Children’s Fairyland to the Wildlife Sanctuary, from the bandstand to the McElroy Fountain. We’ll tour the Lakeside Garden Center, home to garden wonders from century-old bonsai to butterflies. We’ll also visit the nearby Lawn Bowling Club, founded here in 1903. A level walk. Wheelchair accessible.

Tour Leader: Kathleen DiGiovanni

Meet: In front of Lakeside Park Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Avenue

Bio: Kathleen Leles DiGiovanni is a long-time Oakland Heritage Alliance walking tour leader and a regular contributor to the OHA News. A former librarian at the Oakland Public Library, Kathleen logged thousands of hours working in the Oakland History Center, promoting and guiding exploration of Oakland's history through the library's rich resources. As much as she loved her work, she is now working at being happily retired. In addition to this year's Lakeside Park and Brooklyn tours, Kathleen has also led walking tours for OHA in Fernwood, Glenview, and Montclair Village and Oakland Women’s History tours. 

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• If you need assistance navigating Eventbrite, please reach out to us at info@oaklandheritage.org or call our office at (510) 763-9218 and we’d be happy to help.

• Please check out the profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Hike a 1.5-mile loop through the redwood forest of Roberts Regional Recreation Area. Learn how sea captains in the early 1800s used the tallest trees to navigate away from treacherous Blossom Rock and about the sleuthing that resulted in a state landmark designation. Become acquainted with the history and evolution of the current redwood forest. A modestly hilly walk.

Tour Leader: John Nicoles

Meet: 10570 Skyline Blvd, Oakland. Meet in Roberts Recreation Area, at the Madrone Picnic Site. Parking $5/vehicle in lot

Bio: John has a degree in Forestry from the University of California School of Forestry (1966). (This school merged with the College of Agriculture to form the College of Natural Resources in 1974.) Following a four-year military stint, he joined the Park District in 1971 as a surveyor. The eucalyptus freeze of 1972 elevated him to a natural resources manager, under various titles, until retirement in1992. Since retirement he has served as an officer in both California Alumni Foresters and the Society of American Foresters. He has also volunteered in several forestry-oriented education programs, demonstrated a steam powered logging machine, toured Europe and written numerous letters to the San Francisco Chronicle.

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• If you need assistance navigating Eventbrite, please reach out to us at info@oaklandheritage.org or call our office at (510) 763-9218 and we’d be happy to help.

• Please check out the profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Walk along Glen Echo Creek, one of Oakland's living creeks, where a charming residential neighborhood was developed between 1895 and the 1920s and has structures by Frederick Riemers, Julia Morgan, A. W. Smith, and C. M. MacGregor with surviving elements from the "City Beautiful" movement. Although scarred by freeway incursion, it remains a unique, tranquil setting in our city and boasts fine examples of California bungalows, Mission and Mediterranean style homes. A mostly level walk, optional pedestrian staircase at the end of tour. Wheelchair accessible before the optional pedestrian staircase.

Tour Leader: Valerie Winemiller

Meet: The pergola, Croxton Avenue and Richmond Boulevard

Bio: OHA summer tours combine two of Valerie Winemiller's favorite activities: walking and looking at old buildings. She has led the Richmond Boulevard and the Broadway Auto Row tours each several times. As an activist in the Piedmont Avenue neighborhood since 1974, Valerie has written and illustrated a number of local history articles for that neighborhood's newsletter, and some which have appeared in the OHA News as well, including a history of the innovative--but barely mourned--MacArthur Broadway Shopping Center. As an OHA member, she has advocated for preservation issues at various public hearings before city boards and the city council. She is a retired illustrator.

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• If you need assistance navigating Eventbrite, please reach out to us at info@oaklandheritage.org or call our office at (510) 763-9218 and we’d be happy to help.

• Please check out the profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Visit this distinctive neighborhood of predominantly Mediterranean-style houses, built between the wars, and situated on the hill between Lake Merritt and Park Boulevard. Set off as one of the first neighborhoods with underground utilities, its homes and gardens were designed by some of the Bay Area’s most distinguished: Dickey, the Newsom brothers, A. W. Smith, Schirmer. A hilly walk.

Tour Leader: Page Yarwood

Meet: On the triangle, at Kenwyn Road and McKinley Avenue

Bio: Page Yarwood has been a Haddon Hill resident since 1982. He is a third generation Northern California with a sense for local history, art and architecture. He earned his Bachelors and Doctor of Optometry degrees for UC Berkeley in the mid 70's and a masters degree from St. Mary's College. He has been active professionally serving on the State Board of Optometry and President of the California Optometric Association. He also was chosen as "Optometrist of the Year" by the California Optometric Association. He is a 19 year Art Docent for the Oakland Museum of California and served as Docent Council President form 2018 to 2019. He is considered the Haddon Hill Historian by his neighbors.

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• If you need assistance navigating Eventbrite, please reach out to us at info@oaklandheritage.org or call our office at (510) 763-9218 and we’d be happy to help.

• Please check out the profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

This beautiful 29th Avenue house will take you back in time from 1884 to 2021 when the Cohen family lived here. Our tour guide, Nancy Donald, is a family member and will share many stories and details about the extensive collection. Your time spent here will be unique and rewarding. Bring your lunch and enjoy it in the garden. Drinks and cookies will be provided. Pre-registration required; tour is limited to 12 attendees.

Tour Leader: Nancy Donald

Meet: Provided upon registration.

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• If you need assistance navigating Eventbrite, please reach out to us at info@oaklandheritage.org or call our office at (510) 763-9218 and we’d be happy to help.

• Please check out the profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Join us for a walk that will explore the competition between the Key System interurbans and streetcars and Southern Pacific “Red Trains” along the Oakland-Berkeley Border in the first half of the 20th century. The tour will focus on the eight electric lines packed between the one mile separating Telegraph Ave. and Sacramento Street. The location of the towers at rail crossings, wide avenues, and private right-of-ways used to disperse the lines in Oakland will be retraced to understand their impact on the present day street grid. Emphasis will also be placed on the origins of the jagged border between the cities, preservation of late 19th century Victorian structures, the Lowell St. industrial corridor, and the solution reached to increase the flow of auto traffic once the electric era ended in the 1950s. A level 4.25 mile walk. Wheelchair accessible.

Pre-registration required; limited to 40 attendees. Registration closes on Friday, Aug. 3, at 5 pm or when attendance limit is reached. A map will be sent to registrants prior to tour.

Tour Leader: Ron Hook and Stuart Swiedler

Meet: Provided upon registration.

Bios:

Ron Hook grew up on Rosemount at Verrada and now lives in Hayward. He was born a rail fan and became a bus fan 40 years ago. Per Ron, AC Transit and Key System history go hand in hand. Most of his spare time is spent cataloging and identifying photos for the Western Railway Museum in the east bay. He is a retired printer, and currently president of the AC Transit Retirees Club.

Stuart J. Swiedler, is a physician-scientist who has lived in Oakland since 1989. He is author of the web site, The East Bay Hills Project (eastbayhillsproject.org) that combines images of the railroad with aerial views to tell the story of the development of Montclair. The East Bay Hills Project was started to leave a photographic record and satisfy the curiosity of those seeking the basis for the changes to the area. His appreciation for the impact the railroad made to the area was derived from numerous bike rides and runs through the hills between Oakland and Mount Diablo with his wife Judy.  

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• If you need assistance navigating Eventbrite, please reach out to us at info@oaklandheritage.org or call our office at (510) 763-9218 and we’d be happy to help.

• Please check out the profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Joe Eichler’s 54 mid-century modern homes in Sequoyah Hills are a well-preserved slice of history and Oakland’s only Eichler tract. Tour the mildly hilly neighborhood while learning the untold tales of Eichler with Dave Weinstein, who has been writing about Eichlers for the Eichler Network’s CA MODERN magazine for 20 years. Pre-registration required; limited to 40 attendees.

Tour Leader: Dave Weinstein

Meet: Provided upon registration.

Bio: Dave Weinstein has been writing about Eichlers for the Eichler Network’s CA MODERN magazine for 20 years. He has also written for the San Francisco Chronicle, and has been active with the El Cerrito Historical Society and has published two books, Signature Architects of the San Francisco Bay Area and It Came From Berkeley: How Berkeley Changed the World. 

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• If you need assistance navigating Eventbrite, please reach out to us at info@oaklandheritage.org or call our office at (510) 763-9218 and we’d be happy to help.

• Please check out the profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Oakland has one of America’s most legendary sports legacies, and the center of that legacy surrounds Bushrod Park in North Oakland. Beginning at the historic former University High School, we will walk this interesting neighborhood and discuss the great athletes and institutions that helped produce the city’s reputation for changing the face of sports in America. A level walk. Wheelchair accessible.

We will be complying with CHORI policies, which is required to be able to use their facility. Pre-registration is encouraged. Maximum 40 total attendees. Masks are optional and contact tracing information will be needed for every person (we will provide more information on the contact tracing upon registration). Registration is open till attendance limit is reached.

Tour Leader: Paul Brekke-Miesner

Meet: Provided upon registration.

Bio: Paul Brekke-Miesner has curated exhibits on Oakland and Eastbay sports history for several venues, including the Oakland Museum of California and the Major League All-Star Game in Oakland in 1987. More recently, he was a panelist at the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture in 2009, presenting on the Oakland Athletic League and one of its legendary coaches, George Powles. In 2008, he and other parents at Oakland Tech High School built a beautiful baseball field for the school, now named for Tech alum and Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson. A former sports stringer for the Oakland Tribune and Berkeley Gazette, he authored the book HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: Oakland –The City That Changed the Face of Sports. 

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• Please check out the profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• If you need assistance navigating Eventbrite, please reach out to us at info@oaklandheritage.org or call our office at (510) 763-9218 and we’d be happy to help.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

We will focus on 21 tile and terra cotta-clad buildings dating from Beaux Arts to Art Deco spanning a period from 1908 to 1931. The ensuing years were not always kind to Oakland’s ceramic installations. As architectural tastes changed several of them were demolished, damaged, or hidden behind false fronts. This tour will highlight the character of the surviving original work. It will also celebrate and explain the restoration efforts of recent years. Despite many complexities and contradictions, the condition of Oakland’s terra cotta buildings is healthier today than it has been for decades. A level walk. Wheelchair accessible.

For background information please refer to the articles about terra cotta in the Spring 2022 and Summer 2022 editions of the OHA News – readable online at https://www.oaklandheritage.org/newsletter

Tour Leader: Riley Doty

Meet: Southeast corner 17th and Webster Streets, (at the Howden Building, 337 17th Street)

Bio: Former OHA Board member Riley Doty is a tile setter who has been working in the Bay Area since1978. He is a member of Artistic License, a guild of period revival artisans. http://www.artisticlicense.org/index.html He has done considerable research about the history of tiles and serves on the board of directors of Tile Heritage Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to education and preservation of ceramic surfaces. http://www.tileheritage.org/

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• Please visit our website www.oaklandheritage.org for profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Sheffield Village was touted in contemporary descriptions as a place “where color schemes and nature blend in perfect harmony.” Designated an Oakland City Historic District, Sheffield Village, one of the first homeowner's associations on the west coast, is a 100-acre enclave of single family houses begun in 1939. The tour will explore the community plan, house styles (maybe a chance to see some interior floor plans), preservation uses, and whether it lives up to the pre-WW II hype. Mostly flat terrain. Wheelchair accessible.

Tour Leader: Greg Novak

Meet: Near the traffic island at the southeast corner of Revere Ave. and Marlow Dr.

Bio: Greg grew up in Walnut Creek, and after graduating from college has lived most of his adult life in the east bay. He’s been longtime East Bay resident; he has been very involved as a volunteer for various organizations such as being the Board President of the Sheffield Village Homeowner’s Association, and as a member of the Community Policing Advisory Board for the City of Oakland. He volunteers his time at many local community organizations such as Oakland Heritage Alliance, Habitat for Humanity and Children’s Fairyland to list a few. Greg volunteers time every summer as a camp counselor for Camp del Corazon, a non-profit camp for children with heart disease. He has a passion for historic renovation, is a musician and theater buff. When not holding open houses, you will likely find him running one of the numerous trails in the East Bay hills.

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• Please visit our website www.oaklandheritage.org for profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

This historic district preserves Oakland’s 19th century character. Learn about the creation of Preservation Park—with houses preserved in place, some moved here. Visit the Pardee carriage house, the historic 1st Unitarian Church and the handsome Carnegie Library that became the African American Museum and Library at Oakland known as AAMLO. A level walk. Wheelchair accessible.

Tour Leader: Don Tyler

Meet: First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St., Oakland 94612

Bio: Longtime public high school teacher Don Tyler served as an early OHA Board Member, Walking Tour Leader and preservation activist. After retiring from teaching, Don welcomed travelers by sharing his home as the Redwood House Bread and Breakfast.

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• Please visit our website www.oaklandheritage.org for profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Visit the site of Arbor Villa, Francis Marion “Borax” Smith’s palatial estate. Smith founded an international industry (“20-Mule Team Borax”), established the Key Route System, and became one of Oakland’s most famous, colorful entrepreneurs. The tour visits the site of Oak Hall, the 9th Avenue palm trees, the Mary R. Smith cottages, and other historic houses, including ones designed by Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan. A 2-mile, hilly walk.

Phil Bellman shared “The Life and Legacy of F. M. Borax Smith” richly illustrated in a Zoom presentation on May 21, 2021 that shares illuminating background material: https://www.oaklandheritage.org/events/4frjcimft7qsk1qtz15trh7ujjawoe

Tour Leader: Phil Bellman

Meet: Redwood tree, corner of 1105 McKinley Ave. at Home Place East (1 block off Park Boulevard)

Bio: Phil Bellman is a longtime East Oakland resident with interests in history, architecture and historic preservation. He served as an early member of the OHA Board of Directors and edited the OHA News for several years. He has led tours relating to Borax Smith both in Oakland and the Nevada desert for many years. Now retired, Phil worked with Kaiser Permanente in the field of medical education. 

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• Please visit our website www.oaklandheritage.org for profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Poet/author Joaquin Miller spent his last decades on his 75-acre estate, The Hights, planting about 75,000 trees, farming, entertaining, writing. Learn about his life with his wife Abigail, and daughter Juanita. Visit the Abbey, the Follies, and monuments that survive, more than 100 years later. The WPA Cascades and Woodminster Theatre were Juanita’s idea, a tribute to the poets and writers of California. Hear about current restoration projects and issues at the park. A hilly walk.

Tour Leader: Dale Risden

Meet: The Abbey, aka Joaquin Miller House, is a small white house in the park adjacent to the Road, but has no street number. Approximately located at 3020 Joaquin Miller Road. Look for the OHA’s banner!

Bio: Dale Risden is Chair of “Friends of Joaquin Miller Park” and has led the effort to restore JM Abbey. His current effort is restoring the Cascade Reflecting Pool and Fountain and organizing community projects to reduce fire issues within the Park. Dale has been recognized with several Partners in Preservation Awards for his work.

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• Please visit our website www.oaklandheritage.org for profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Walk into the past in California’s most historic cemetery to meet some of our state’s early movers and shakers along with the monuments that preserve their memory. Charles Crocker, Domingo Ghirardelli and Samuel Merritt are among those you will encounter. A hilly walk. Pre-registration required. There will be no onsite registration.

Tour Leader: Dennis Evanosky

Meet: Provided upon registration.

Bio: Dennis Evanosky is historian at the online Alameda Post and a free-lance writer with many published books: East Bay Then and Now; San Francisco in Photographs; San Francisco Then and Now; Oakland’s Laurel District; Mountain View Cemetery and Alameda’s Architectural Treasure Chest, to name a few. He is the editor of the Alameda County Historical Society’s newsletter. He has received several Partners in Preservation Awards, including one for restoring the Civil War section of Mountain View Cemetery; and one for assisting Bill Caldwell with Oakland: A Photographic Journey. 

Dennis has been a docent at Mountain View Cemetery for many years. He was a docent at the Pardee Home Museum, and has led walking tours for OHA that include the Laurel District, the Dimond District, Leona Heights, the Oakland Estuary, Oakland’s Redwoods and Mountain View Cemetery and a tour about the Cemetery’s connection to the Civil War. He also hosts walking tours for the City of Alameda featuring that city’s history.

Dennis was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania and was raised in Maryland. He holds a masters degree in German from the University of Maryland. He taught German for the University of Maryland in Europe for nine years. 

NOTES:
• PLEASE MEET 15 MINUTES BEFORE listed time to allow for registration. 

• Comfortable walking shoes, sun hats and sunscreen are recommended. Bring water. 

• Vouchers, limited-income accommodation, and any other special circumstances will be handled onsite at the starting point on the day of the walking tour. Check your email the morning of the walking tour for any last-minute changes, clarifications, or cancellation. 

• Due to the ongoing presence of Covid, we will continue to make masks available. If you feel ill the day of a tour, please stay home. If after a tour, you become ill and test positive, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. 

• Please visit our website www.oaklandheritage.org for profiles of tour leaders. We are grateful for their skill and generosity.

• These tours support Oakland Heritage Alliance, a non-profit that tells Oakland’s story through walking tours, lectures, newsletters and advocacy. We welcome volunteers and new members!

• THESE TOURS ARE BASED IN PART on the research of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a project of the City of Oakland Strategic Planning Division, and the resources of the Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library. 

Dorothy Lazard, former head librarian of the Oakland History Center, has just published her coming-of-age memoir, What You Don't Know Will Make a Whole New World about growing up in the Bay Area. In this presentation she will share some of the challenges of writing memoir, tips on how to frame family stories, and advice on how to place oneself in the city narrative. 

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/placing-yourself-in-history-the-challenge-of-writing-a-memoir-tickets-632942216207

Bio: Dorothy moved with her family to Oakland in 1970. An avid reader and writer since childhood, she graduated from San Francisco State University with a bachelor's degree in English/Creative Writing. A volunteer stint at Oakland's Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, Inc., inspired her to apply to library school at UC Berkeley where she would work for several years, managing two campus libraries. The desire to write never left her. In 1999 she earned a Master's of Fine Art in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College (Baltimore, Maryland). Besides her long and busy career as a librarian, she has been a published writer for the past 30 years, with works appearing in Essence Magazine; Oakland Noir; The Public Library: a photographic journey; OHA News; and a number of literary anthologies.

For her distinguished career as the head librarian of the Oakland History Center she has been awarded OHA's Partners in Preservation Lifetime Achievement Award (2022) and the Oscar Lewis Award for Achievement in Western History (2023).

Oakland Heritage Alliance is offering a tour of the Posey Tube Oakland Portal on June 6, 2023 at noon, with CalTrans. The tour is limited to 10 people and will be on a first-come first-served basis, because space in the Portal is very limited, and because we must adhere to CalTrans regulations. The tour is not ADA compliant.

It is likely that more tours will be offered this year and possibly next year. The California Preservation Foundation held a webinar which covers much of the same material

• Webinar and tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiY0HnDnOdI (106 minutes)

• Tour only: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRMllGYtdBY (26 minutes)

To sign up for the tour, please e-mail info@oaklandheritage.org.

This tour is offered as part of a mitigation program due to planned changes to the area around the Portal, which is a historic resource covered by the California Environmental Quality Act.

This event is sold out! To be put on a waitlist, click the link below (you will click on the Get Tickets button to join the waitlist).

The history of Oakland can be told in different ways: a march of great men and women, a series of bloody clashes, a flood of progress. This presentation will tell Oakland’s history as a dialog between Earth and civilization, in which the land gave us wealth on terms that we’re paying off today. There will follow a review of the past 150 years with a glance seven generations ahead to the year 2173.

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oha-lecture-series-oakland-geology-and-oakland-history-tickets-558338173507

Bio: Andrew Alden is a geologist and geoscience writer who has worked for the US Geological Survey and reported for KQED and Bay Nature. Long fascinated with rocks and landscapes, Alden is one of the foremost experts on Oakland’s natural history and found inspiration for his debut book, Deep Oakland, in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which, as he writes, “ripped the city open and revealed to us its heart and character.” Through his writing Alden raises awareness for what he calls the deep present: the appreciation of the ancient underpinnings that shape the modern-day surroundings of daily life. His website is oaklandgeology.com.

Gertrude Stein is known as the inventor of modernism, yet she receives little attention in the City where she grew up. She is mostly remembered for the remark "There is no there there”. Together we will explore a complex story behind the line, taking a close look at her cultural milieu and personal history. There is a lot more to there than you may have thought. This lecture will be presented by OHA Board member, Kathryn (Kitty) Hughes.

Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUodOyvrTgiEtGcbrvfGJk390sqBiNtEirP

Bio: Kitty has lived in Oakland for most of her life, and three generations of her family make this city their home. She has served as an OHA board member since 2006. Kitty received her master’s degree in English from UC Berkeley, with a focus on women’s novels of the Victorian era. Turning her attention to local Victorian culture, she researched ethnic cultures in late nineteenth century Oakland with grants from the California Council for the Humanities and the Barbro Osher Foundation. By an odd twist of fate, she became the City of Oakland's first Bicycle Program Manager, retiring in 2006. In retirement, she has turned her attention  back to her academic interests, researching Gertrude Stein's  life growing up in Oakland in the 1880s and 90s. An essay “Here and There: A Tale of Two Cities” was published in the 2013 anthology Wandering in Paris; the essay explored the ways in which Stein is remembered in her adopted city of Paris but forgotten in the city of her youth. She published a follow up article: "Excavating There: Gertrude Stein's Forgotten Oakland" in Women's Studies in 2020. She also published an article on Aurelia Reinhardt, another barely remembered Oakland woman of note, in 2022.   

Please join us for our Annual Meeting for OHA members and board elections on January 26, 2023 from 6:30-7pm. Afterwards, we will have a lecture, open to the public, on the history of the Caldecott Tunnel presented by Mary McCosker, president of the Lafayette Historical Society, and author of Building the Caldecott Tunnel (Images of America) published by Arcadia Publishing.

Annual Meeting Oakland Heritage Alliance Financials for review

About the lecture

Today the Caldecott Tunnel connects Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. The original two bores of this tunnel opened in 1937, the same year as the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and changed Contra Costa County from an area of small rural communities into one of growing suburbs.  But this was not the first tunnel to connect these counties. The Kennedy Tunnel, opened in 1903, was accessed by steep and winding roads and was located several hundred feet above today's tunnel. A third bore was opened in 1964 and a long-awaited fourth bore in late 2013. The tunnels have not been without disaster and tragedy over their hundred-plus years of existence, yet they remain an integral part of the commercial, social, and historic fabric of the region.

On Dec. 8, Patty Donald, the President of the Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland (V.P.C.O.) at the Cohen Bray House will be giving us a zoom presentation  "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow"; the story of the Cohen Bray House. She will take us on a journey from the Gold Rush times in Bay area to the future of one of the unique historical houses in the Bay Area.  Patty is the great, grand daughter of the original owners of the house. She retired in 2017 from the City of Berkeley where she developed and built the Shorebird Nature center and strawbale classroom. For 38 years she ran the environmental education programs, the teacher and docent training program, shoreline cleanups, kite festival, bay festival and Adventure Playground at the Berkeley Marina. She is now a grandmother, on the board of the Rotary Nature Center Friends and Things that Creep. 

Patty will show us the beautiful interiors of the public rooms and how the house has changed and not changed over time. The house is unique, it is not a museum it is too fragile and the original rugs cannot take the traffic of a public museum. So their non- profit 501c 3- Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland offers once a month tours to show the collections to the public, school group presentations, community events, and network with historic house museums. As to be expected with most historical houses, the Cohen Bray house needs a lot of TLC. Through memberships, grants, donations and volunteer effort the House is being preserved for future generations to look at the past and imagine their future.

About the house:

Founded in 1990, the V.P.C.O. works to preserve the Cohen Bray House and to provide a unique opportunity to see and feel how about home life might have been beginning in the Victorian Era in Oakland.  A wedding present to Alfred Cohen and Emma Bray in 1884, the house typifies the Stick-Eastlake style popular in the 1870s and 80s.  It is remarkable for its intact interiors which remain appointed with original furniture in the Aesthetic style. One of the few surviving examples of Victorian Aesthetic interiors in the United States and England, it offers visitors a rare opportunity to see wallpaper, woodwork, carpeting and wedding gifts as they were in 1884. In addition to its status as an intact house, it is still maintained by descendants of Emma and Alfred.

Located at 1440 29th Ave., the Cohen Bray House was designated an Oakland Landmark in 1975 and is in the National Register of Historic Places. OHA owns the easement for this house to help in its preservation. They are making headway and need your help even more now. Their goal is to preserve the house as a study center, replace the brink foundation, paint the exterior, maintain the gardens and use the back building for workshops to promote historic crafts (ie. wooden window restoration versus replacement) for the neighborhood and community.

If you would like to know more about the Cohen Bray house, here is the link.

The house will offer public tours for the holidays is Dec. 17 and 18 at 2:00p.m. or come to the Tour and a tea on January 7th.  More details, history and photos are on the website http://cohenbrayhouse.org  See you there!

Recording:

During an era of rapid population growth and the advent of indoor plumbing, East Bay residents devised low-tech yet ingenious structures to bring water into their homes. Today, a handful of redwood “tank houses” are all that remain of the thousands of windmill-topped “tank houses” which stood one hundred and twenty years ago. Join Aaron Goldstein on a virtual tour to unearth a lost urban water-scape and unpack a largely-forgotten piece of local vernacular architecture. We’ll look at numerous examples, from the everyday to the exuberant, and learn the stories of the people who lived beside – and occasionally inside – them.

Bio: Aaron Goldstein, RA is a licensed architect in California and an architectural historian. He is from San Francisco and currently lives in Berkeley. His current passion is tank house exploration. For nearly two years, he has been tirelessly mapping and documenting dozens of East Bay tank houses, interviewing owners and tenants, and learning their stories. He is writing a book on the subject and in the meantime leads regular walking tours in Oakland and Berkeley. Check out his profile by Berkeleyside and his tank house schwag.

Photo Credit: Kelly Sullivan

Returning Sunday, October 23, at the historic Pardee Home Museum - the 2022 Partners In Preservation awards presented by the Board of Directors, Oakland Heritage Alliance.

Image Credit: Emily Wilson

Following a two-year pandemic break, PIP awards are better than ever

• Restoration of the midcentury climbing structure by Lake Merritt

• Restoration of the beloved water feature in Joaquin Miller Park

• Recognition of a venerable East Oakland church celebrating its centennial

• Lifetime achievement awards for a local history journalist and distinguished librarians

• Restoration of a unique stained glass dome

• Tasteful remodeling projects in the upper Rockridge and Piedmont Avenue neighborhoods

• And more!

OHA Partners In Preservation Awards program

• Sunday, October 23

• Doors open at 4 p.m. Program 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

• Pardee Home Museum, 672 Eleventh Street, Oakland 94607

• Enter event on Castro Street (left side of house)

Registration

• OHA members, guests, and members of the public may either purchase tickets through Eventbrite, or RSVP by phone to the office at (510) 763-9218 by Thursday, October 20. This is to ensure that we have enough food and chairs.

Questions?

• Email us info@oaklandheritage.org or call (510) 763-9218

Event Recording

Clarence Thomas will explain the origins of May Day and how one of the most renowned radical labor organizations in the country initiated the movement to reclaim May Day, recognized around the world as International Workers’ Day, as the commemoration of the real Labor Day in the US. He will cover how in 2005, a resolution calling upon the ILWU Longshore Division, all trade unions, and working people, both organized and unorganized, to reclaim May Day as a central and pivotal part of our history and to recapture the spirit of the struggle that it represents; of which the government and corporations have sought to conceal and deny the memory of May Day and suppress the class struggle that it embodies.

Further, Thomas will outline how for nearly two decades ILWU Local 10 has withheld its labor for 8 hours on May 1st , has held rallies, and put forward working class demands that reflect the concerns of working people.

Bio:

Clarence Thomas is a third-generation retired member of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10 in San Francisco and a radical African American trade unionist. A past secretary-treasurer and executive board member of his Local, he has led or been a part of many rank-and-file struggles and solidarity actions at the point of production. A labor and community activist, Thomas has championed the struggles of African Americans, the oppressed, and the working class at home and abroad. Clarence's activism started in the late 1960s as a member of the Black Student Union at San Francisco State College and as a member of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California.   During his college days at San Francisco State, he was a part of the leadership of the longest student strike in American History which resulted in the establishment of the first Black Studies Department and School of Ethnic Studies in the country, and both still exist today.  

Clarence organized and lead such courageous rank-and-file actions such as the Million Worker March Movement in 2004, calling for workers to break away from the Democratic and Republican parties and organize independently mobilizing and organizing in their own name;  in 2008 shutting down all 29 West Coast ports on May Day to oppose wars in Iraq and Afghanistan;  in 2010 shutting down 5 Bay Area ports action for Justice for Oscar Grant and Jail for Killer Cops; in 2011 on the 43 rd  anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. shutting down Bay Area ports for 24 hours as a Day of Solidarity with Wisconsin Workers; also in 2011 shutting down docks on December 12 th   in solidarity with West Coast Occupy Wall Street; in 2014, port shut-down solidarity action for Palestine; in 2015, May Day port shut down action for Resisting Police Terror; and on May Day 2016, rally and port shut down in Support of Black Lives Matter; and Juneteenth 2020, West Coast ports shut down to commemorate emancipation from slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865. Clarence Thomas is the publisher and author of the anthology Mobilizing in Our Own Name: Million Worker March, www.millionworkermarch.com. Although he is retired from the waterfront, he is not retired from the struggle.

Wynne Brown will present a visual journey through the remarkable life and work of Sara Plummer Lemmon — including watercolors discovered in the UC and Jepson Herbaria Archives just last month.