OHC Friends Newsletter #1
September 23, 2025
Upcoming Events & Stories
Celebration of Oakland news-themed Dioramas
Come meet the makers of some of the amazing dioramas that are included in the Oakland History Center's current exhibit.
Prizes for top dioramas will be awarded by celebrity judges Dorothy Lazard (author of What You Don't Know Will Make a Whole New World and retired OHC librarian) and Alexis Madrigal (co-host of KQED's Forum and author of Pacific Circuit). Liam O'Donoghue of East Bay Yesterday will host Oakland-themed trivia. All of the dioramas are based on newspaper articles about local events. Subjects range from serious to silly to personal. Marvel at the whimsical details, texture, and craftsmanship of the dioramas submitted as part of the exhibit. Attendees of the October 4th event are invited to participate in a scavenger hunt by finding these details tucked into a portion of the dozens of dioramas.
Saturday, Oct 4; 2:00 - 3:30pm
Oakland Main Library, 125 14th Street, Bradley C. Walters Community Meeting Room, lower level
Join us for a screening of the short documentary The School: The Legacy of Hintil Ku’u Ča. In this short documentary, "The School" tells the story of Hintil Ku'u Cǎ (House of Children), a Native American preschool/after-school program in Oakland, CA that was founded by a group of parents on Alcatraz Island during the 1970's occupation. The origin, forming, and execution of Hintil is told by the school's earliest participants, including students, parents, and former teachers and how they overcame racism, adversity, and the threat of closure over the past 40 years. The film will be followed by a discussion with the film's executive producer Leah Aguilera.
Saturday October 11; 3:00 - 4:30pm
Oakland Main Library 125 14th Street, Bradley C. Walters Community Meeting Room, lower level
Panelists will discuss how the politics of the Civil Rights and the Chicano Movements helped to fuel the creation of a community that brought forth numerous public service agencies such as Centro Legal de La Raza, and the Spanish Speaking Citizen’s Foundation.
They will also discuss their own contributions and process within this movement that was playing out in the streets of the Fruitvale neighborhood, including the political protests and the camaraderie that developed among the activists. This program is being co-sponsored with The Oakland History Center.
Sat Oct 25; 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Cesar Chavez Branch Library, 3301 East 12th Street, Suite 271, Oakland
Author Talk with geographer & DJ Alex Werth on his new book, On Loop: Black sonic politics in Oakland
Join author Alex Werth for a reading and discussion of his new book, On Loop: Black Sonic Politics in Oakland. On Loop explores the role of Black dance music and sonic politics in recurring struggles over race and space in Oakland, California. Insisting on the centrality of sound in everyday social movements—from the mobilization of funk music and boogaloo dance during Black Power to the policing of the Hyphy movement in the 2000s—Alex Werth argues that Black dance music is not merely a soundtrack to or record of urban resistance. Rather, its very sound waves have animated looping clashes over development, dispossession, and Black freedom. Through studies of downtown nightclubs, Lake Merritt, and the Eastmont Mall—geographies rarely considered, yet critical to Oakland’s culture and politics—Werth reveals how the liberatory sonic politics of funk, hip-hop, and hyphy rap have been met with a repetitive "war on nuisance."
As both a means of empowerment and a magnet for policing, Black dance music has transformed not only Oakland's nightlife, but also its streets, parks, and neighborhoods. On Loop is a rousing encounter with the sound that moves urban life. Chicago has house. Detroit has techno. But Oakland slaps.
Thursday, Oct 30; 6:00 - 7:30 pm
Oakland Main Library, 125 14th Street, Bradley C. Walters Community Room, Lower level
Alex Werth is a geographer, movement researcher, and DJ. His first book, On Loop: Black Sonic Politics in Oakland (UC Press), explores the centrality of Black dance music and soundscapes in the everyday social movements that have made and remade this iconic and contested city. Werth researched On Loop while living, working, and making art in the East Bay from 2009 to 2022. He served as a member of the curatorial team at Oakland’s Matatu Festival of Stories, a fellow at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the co-curator and resident DJ of Oakland’s Good Culture. In 2018, he worked on Belonging in Oakland, the City of Oakland’s plan for cultural equity. He now lives in his hometown in Western Massachusetts, but continues to work in the Bay Area as a policy and research specialist for housing justice.
What we're working on at Oakland History Center
Oakland History Center (OHC) Librarian Emily Foster has been working with OHC Friend and volunteer Jean Langmuir on inventorying and cataloging maps in the Oakland History Center for several years. We've created catalog records with descriptions of hundreds of maps that were previously not findable by patrons. We've also physically reorganized the collections to make individual maps easier for staff to find. Although the project is ongoing, we're getting close to completing catalog records for every Oakland map on the second floor. Want an idea of what we have? Check out some maps recently added to our catalog here.
Another OHC Friend and volunteer, Mike Griffith, has been working on moving our large collection of rolled tract maps into new archival boxes. These maps aren't quite ready to be searched yet, but we're making good progress and hope to have them available in the not too distant future.
La Voz Del Pueblo ([Berkeley, Ca.]), 1970-?
Discover Hidden Treasures from the Oakland History Center and Magazines and Newspapers’ Collections
By Dr. Liladhar R. Pendse, Oakland History Center
Read full Blog post
Excerpt:
The work of public librarians at the OHC and in the Magazines and Newspapers departments provide a fundamental glimpse into the dynamic Chicanx national movement from the 1960s to the 1990s, which strived to achieve social justice and equity. Some of these newspapers include Mundo Hispano or El Mundo (Berkeley and San Francisco), Chicano Student (Los Angeles), La Chispa of El Partido Revolucionario Chicano from Oakland, La Verdad of Unión del Barrio (San Diego), and even AdelanteRaza!, from faraway Wisconsin.
One publication that stands out is La Voz del Pueblo, a bilingual newspaper launched in 1970 in Berkeley by the Frente de Liberación del Pueblo, a grassroots group rooted in Chicanx activism. La Voz del Pueblo frequently reflected the spirit of Chicanx activism, including coverage of César Chávez’s leadership and his arrest for promoting the lettuce boycott—an emblematic moment in the struggle for farmworker rights and social justice. With articles in both English and Spanish, the paper captured the pulse of a generation—covering labor rights, education, anti-war protests, and cultural pride.
Do you follow the Oakland History Center on Instagram?
We post small updates and interesting things from our collection on our Instagram account. Please follow us at @Oakland History Center
California Revealed Needs Our Help!
The Oakland History Center has partnered with California Revealed for digitization assistance since its inception in 2010.
Visitors to OHC's page on California Revealed can find oral histories, home movies, recordings of historic speeches, and some of the only existing videos of Festival at the Lake. All of this has been done at almost no cost to the Oakland History Center or Oakland Public Library. They also provide similar services to hundreds of libraries, archives, museums, and other organizations throughout California.
Image from Cleveland Cascade Restoration Project Collection
This year the Oakland History Center has nominated another amazing selection of materials for digitization, including home movies of Oakland in the 1930s recorded by Joseph C. Laney (who Laney College is named for); the print run of Plexus, a second wave feminist newspaper published in Oakland in the 1970s and 80s; oral histories of African American Mills College students, including the first African American graduate (class of 1947) ; and oral histories of people who worked around Lake Merritt, including at Fairyland, Festival at the Lake, Rotary Nature Center, etc.
However, future funding for California Revealed is uncertain.
We wanted to share the updates on their current fundraising efforts with you, since their program is a vital repository and resource for preserving the history of Oakland and the history. Please read more about their current situation and consider a donation if you're able. bit.ly/savecaliforniarevealed
Item from the Oakland Recreation Department Collection
Save the date! Oakland Library's 75th Birthday Celebration
Oakland Main Library, 1951
The Main Library is turning 75, and we're celebrating our diamond anniversary on Saturday January 24. We're planning an all-day party, including a photo display of the Library through the years, and an interactive oral history program where you can share your favorite Library memories.
Friends of the Oakland History Center
The Oakland History Center Friends meet at 6 pm on the second Wednesday of odd-numbered months in the Oakland History Center (Oakland Main Library, 125 14th Street, 2nd floor). Donations to the Oakland History Center Friends help fund a variety of projects in the Oakland History Center. Our next meeting will be January 11. Please join us.
To join the Oakland History Center Friends, reach out to us by email.
Donations are gratefully accepted. Checks payable to "Oakland History Center Friends" can be mailed to our attention at the Oakland History Center, 125 14th Street, Oakland, CA 94612.