Oakland Heritage Alliance President's Award Gala
 

Invitation

Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, City Councilwoman Nancy Nadel, California Poet Quincy Troupe, Clifford Brown, Jr. of jazz station KCSM, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and the Oaktown Jazz Workshops will join the Oakland Heritage Alliance in a gala event to honor the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO) restoration project.

The AAMLO project will receive the Oakland Heritage Alliance President’s Award for Preservation Achievement, with awards to be presented to the City of Oakland, the Oakland Public Library System, Architect Michael Willis, Contractor Mark Lindquist, and the The Northern California Center for African American History and Life.

The restoration of the Charles S. Greene Library to house AAMLO coincides with the 100^th anniversary of the dedication of the building, a magnificent American Beaux Arts structure that was the first Carnegie Library to be built in Oakland.

To honor the library’s 100^th anniversary, the Oakland Heritage Alliance will dedicate an Oakland City Landmark plaque on the exterior of the building. The dedication ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m. outside of the main entrance to the library.

At 6:00 p.m. the celebration will continue inside on the stunningly renovated 2^nd floor, with wine, hors d’oeuvres, and jazz music by the Oaktown Jazz Workshops.

The awards ceremony will begin at 7:00 p.m., with Mayor Jerry Brown, emcee Clifford Brown, Jr. of jazz station KCSM, , Councilwoman Nancy Nadel, and AAMLO Chief Curator Rick Moss. Oakland Heritage Alliance Board President Mary MacDonald will present the following awards:

California Poet Quincy Troupe will deliver the keynote address and a reading from his works. Mr. Troupe, is an award-winning African American poet, author, and jazz aficionado.

At 8:00 p.m., the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir will perform a new program of traditional African American spirituals.

This event raises funds for the Oakland Heritage Alliance and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland.

Admission: OHA members, senior and students, $40 advance, $50 at the door. Non-members: $50 and $60 at the door.

Mail checks to:

OHA/AAMLO Celebration
P.O. Box 12425
Oakland, CA 94606

Exactly 100 years ago Oakland’s proud new Carnegie library opened its doors. It was the first “real” public library to be built in the growing new city, and was the culmination of years of effort by City Librarian Charles S. Greene. He had requested a new library bond issue from the Merchant’s Exchange and the Board of Trade, but after Andrew Carnegie was informed of Greene’s proposal, the Carnegie Foundation came forward with an offer of $50,000, provided the City would contribute a building site and promise $4,000 a year to maintain the new library.

The initial effort to secure a site was unsuccessful and the entire project jeopardized until the Ebell Society, an active women’s organization, stepped forward. After raising $20,000, the group purchased the site at the corner of 14^th and Grove streets, next to the First Unitarian Church. A competition was held to select the architect, won by the San Francisco firm of Bliss and Faville. The firm designed many Bay Area Beaux Arts civic and hotel buildings from 1898 to 1925, including the distinguished Hotel Oakland in 1912.

Although it took several years and additional contributions from Oakland’s general fund, the Oakland Public Library was finally dedicated on July 30, 1902. When Andrew Carnegie toured it in 1910, he declared it the “most artistic” of the Carnegie libraries he saw on his trip.

The elegant exterior of the library has dramatic arched 2^nd story windows and is finished with tan brick and terra cotta. It is decorated with the incised names of authors and disciplines and “Oakland Public Library.” The inscription “Free to All” is above the main entrance. Elaborate oak paneling, classical columns and ornamented plaster ceilings create an ornate interior. Three large murals donated by artist Marion Holden Pope enrich the impressive oak staircase.

The magnificent second floor, with its coffered, barrel-vaulted ceiling supported by massive columns, is one of the grandest interior spaces in Oakland. Along the cornice, gilt lettering lists the names of great poets, writers, artists and composers. Two large California landscape murals flank the windows at one end.

The library functioned as Oakland’s main library until a new, much larger library was built at Fourteenth and Oak streets in 1951. Renamed as the Charles S. Greene Library, it served as a branch library and then as city offices until it was abandoned after the 1989 earthquake. The building became an Oakland City Landmark in 1981 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The African American Museum and Library at Oakland was established in 1994 as a division of the Oakland Public Library. It is the result of a merger of the Oakland-based Northern California Center for African American History and Life (NCCAAHL) into the Oakland Public Library System. According to the agreement between the City of Oakland and the NCCAAHL, AAMLO was housed at the Golden Gate Library until a suitable space became available.

In September of 1994, the City of Oakland received a $1,023,834 Library Services and Construction Act matching grant through the California State Library for the renovation of the Charles S. Greene Library, still closed due to seismic damage. Supplemental funding of $7.2 million from Measure I and $3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) enabled completion of the project.

Following extensive restoration, the library reopened in 2002 as the new home of the African American Museum and Library at Oakland. Approximately 17,500 square feet of space contain research and reference areas, administrative offices, a bookstore, and the large, grand second story former reading room, which now serves as exhibit space for the African American Museum.

The project management was provided by the Public Works Agency, City of Oakland. Michael Willis & Associates, Architects, provided the design work and the contractor was Mark Lindquist. They, along with the Oakland Public Library System, will be presented awards by the Oakland Heritage Alliance.

Platinum Level Sponsors

Fidelity Title Company; Pacific Union Residential Real Estate; Phil Tagami, California Commercial Investments

Gold Level Sponsors

Chicago Title Company; Crosby, Heafey, Roach and May; Everett and Jones Barbeque; The KPA Group; Port of Oakland; Swinerton Builders; The Sherrill Collection

Silver Level Sponsors

AfriTainment.com;  George Dedekian, Architect; FinanceStaff; Marcus Books; The Marriott Hotel, Downtown Oakland;   Pankow Builders;  Piedmont Piano Company;  Yoshi’s

Food and Beverage

A Cote Restaurant; Brother's Brewing Co; Citron Restaurant; Everett and Jones Barbeque; The Museum Kitchen; Oaktown Cafe; Piedmont Grocery; Ratto’s; Rosemblum Cellars; Trader Joe’s

and support from the Oakland Jazz Foundation

Vintage Photographs