OHC Friends Newsletter #3
April - May 2026
2nd Annual Diorama Contest Launches with events April 18, May 20, and every Thursday beginning April 23
Do you love searching through local newspapers? Do you love to craft?
You're in luck, because it's diorama season!
We're bringing back the All the News That's Fit to Build: Local News Dioramas exhibit this summer.
Find all the details on how to participate, including some exciting optional themes, lots of diorama-related events, and the online exhibit featuring all the entries from last year at https://oaklandlibrary.org/diorama/. You can turn in your dioramas between June 13 and July 5, so you have plenty of time to find the perfect article and craft your miniature world.
For help finding an article, check out some of the events below!
Saturday, April 18, 2pm - Search for treasure in old newspapers, (meet in Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library, 125 14th Street)
Every Thurs, 5:30pm-7:30pm - Article search office hours, (in Oakland History Center, 2nd floor, Oakland Main Library, 125 14th Street)
For miniature crafting fun:
Adult Arts & Crafts: Making Miniatures for Dioramas, Weds, May 20, 5:30-7:30pm (1st floor meeting room, Oakland Public Library, 125 14th Street, Oakland, CA 94612)
Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate
Dunsmuir House: Past, Present, and Future
Join us during Preservation Week for a discussion about Oakland's Dunsmuir House. The vast historic estate, owned by the city, has fallen into disrepair. Frances Dinkelspiel, Edmund Clausen, and Mandolin Kadera-Redmond will share information about the house's past, present, and future in a discussion led by Liam O'Donoghue.
Wednesday, April 29th; 6:00 - 7:30 pm
Oakland Public Library, 125 14th Street, Lower Level, Bradley C Walters Community Room
Panelists:
Frances Dinkelspiel is the great-granddaughter of Isaias Hellman, who purchased the Dunsmuir House in 1906. She will discuss the history of the Hellman family at the house from 1906 through the 1950s, show photos of the property in its heyday, and share information about what's going on with the house since the city took over. Frances is the co-founder of Cityside and Berkeleyside. She's also the author of NYT bestseller Tangled Vines: Greed, Murder, Obsession and an Arsonist in the Vineyards of California, and SF Chronicle bestseller Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California.
Edmund Clausen was a charter member Dunsmuir House and Gardens, Inc. / Dunsmuir Historic Estate, the nonprofit that managed the house from 1971 until the city reclaimed sole proprietorship in 2010. A dedicated community supporter, Edmund served several terms as president of the board, on which he served for 19 years ending in 1989. He'll share stories of his work with the house, past stewardship and restoration efforts, and notable events like the filming of Burnt Offerings.
Mandolin Kadera-Redmond Executive Director and CEO of the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation (OPRF) with a long history of advocating for community-led Oakland park stewardship. As a former Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC) Commissioner and OPRF Board Chair, Mandolin brings a depth of experience and knowledge, guiding OPRF as the organization grows and advocates for parks, recreation programs, environmental stewardship, and inclusive communities.
Moderator:
Liam O'Donoghue is the host and creator of the popular local history podcast East Bay Yesterday and the East Bay columnist for SF Gate. Liam's newsletter article "Why should you care about old houses?" is recommended reading for both those who aren't sure why they should care and those who already have their answer, and his recent podcast episode How to Save a House gives good insight into what it takes to preserve a historic property.
More about Preservation Week:
Preservation Week inspires action to preserve personal, family, and community collections in addition to library, museum, and archive collections. It also raises awareness of the role libraries and other cultural institutions play in providing ongoing preservation education and information. Learn more at preservationweek.org.
"From the Ground Up" Film Screening and Presentation Thursday April 30
Help us kick off Asian American and Pacific Islander Month (and Preservation Week!) for a special film screening and an introduction to the collections of the Oakland History Center.
"From the Ground Up" follows artist Leon Sun, Barnali Ghosh and Anirvan Chatterjee of the Berkeley South Asian Radical History Walking Tour, and Caroline Cabading of Manilatown Heritage Foundation as they explore the intersections of Asian American community art, history, and archival work in the San Francisco Bay Area. The film will be introduced by director Katie Quan and runs for 35 minutes.
Following the film and discussion, we will have a presentation from the Oakland History Center on what happens behind the scenes in their archives! They’ll share more about resources on Oakland and how you can get involved learning about your community!
Thursday, April 30; 6:00 - 7:30 pm
Oakland Public Library, 125 14th Street, Oakland, CA 94612, Lower Level, Bradley C Walters Community Room
More about the filmmakers:
Director, Katie Quan
Born and raised on Ramaytush Ohlone Land (now known as San Francisco), Katie Quan (she/her) is a third-generation Chinese American artist and educator. Her work has been supported by the California Arts Council through an Individual Artist award, the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, and the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center. "From the Ground Up" is her second short film. Through this film, she encourages people to go out, learn more about their own family or community stories, and support their local historical archives in any way they can. Learn more about her art at:www.katiequanart.com.
Editor, Shantre Pinkney Bio
Shantré Pinkney is a filmmaker, writer and photographer. She first began as a documentary photographer covering social issues in San Francisco before joining American Zoetrope as a script reader. Shantre's film work has screened at the Roxie, SomArts, Pan African Film Festival, African American Arts and Culture Complex, San Francisco Urban Film Festival and also won awards at Urban Media Makers and Montreal’s Art Color Digital Cinema International. As a lover of non-traditional and inquisitive storytelling, she seeks to raise dialogue between art and the audience by creating social impact films and photography. She runs a blog entitled Eat This Film which features stories of people of color as central characters. Learn more at: www.shantre.com
Oakland Ilokano: Film Screening and Cultural Preservation Workshop -- Saturday May 9
The Hosted by Oakland History Center will host a screening of the film Oakland Ilokana whichfollows a 90-year-old Filipina American grandmother — one of the first Filipino children born in 1930s Oakland — as she reflects on a lifetime shaped by migration, community, and resilience. Her stories become a bridge across time and place, carrying the weight of a family’s legacy and revealing the untold histories of a community finding its place in America.
Seen through the lens of her granddaughter — a filmmaker tracing the threads of their shared past — four generations of Bay Area Filipinas come into focus. The film explores displacement, cultural inheritance, and the enduring power of memory to connect us across generations, across place, and across life itself.
Director Elenita Makani O'Malley will present the film, as well as her historical and family research.
Saturday, May 9th; 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Oakland Public Library, 125 14th Street, Lower Level, Bradley C Walters Community Room
Flier in support of building a new Main library, 1945
Exhibit on the Main Oakland Library's 75 years!
January 7, 2026 was the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Main Library building at 125 14th Street. The Oakland History Center is celebrating with an exhibit of photographs and more.
Learn about the old Main Libraries, and how we got a new one in 1951 through this exhibit featuring photographs, ephemera, pamphlets, bookmarks, work station layouts, and remodels.
See how the building and library services have changed through the years. Challenge your Oakland trivia skills by guessing if other well-known Oakland places and services are older or newer than the Main Library. Explore Oakland in the 1950s, when the building was still new.
On view until July 7, 2026
The exhibit starts in the 2nd floor hallway of the Oakland Library, 125 14th Street and continue in the Oakland History Center.
Oakland History Center Friends is now a non-profit organization
The Oakland History Center (OHC) Friends began as an informal group with the purpose of helping the Center preserve knowledge of Oakland’s history. Initially concerned with keeping the Center (then Oakland
History Room) open, we have continued as a support group for Center projects and activities.
For many years Friends of the Oakland Public Library (FOPL) received donations for the OHC Friends and then disbursed them to us. This arrangement allowed the contributions to be tax-deductible.
Eventually we decided to become a separate non-profit, which would allow tax-deductible donations to be made directly to us. In July 2025, we incorporated as a California Non-Profit Public Benefit Corporation, and in August 2025, the IRS granted us 501c3 status, which allows donors to “deduct contributions that they make to you.”
This new status should make giving to the Oakland History Center Friends easier, and it relieves FOPL of an administrative burden they generously assumed for many years. It also should increase our ability to apply for grants.
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 May 13. Please join us.
To join the Oakland History Center Friends, reach out to us by email.
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.
Questions? Comments?
Contact oaklandhistorycenterfriends@gmail.com