Things are slowly re-opening around Oakland, and we’re working towards regular walking tours in the coming months. But we’ve been keeping busy. Working with the Friends of Hoover-Durant Public Library and the East Bay Yesterday podcast, we’ve created a new tour in West Oakland, with interviews with people in the neighborhood, historical photos, and more. You can get a taste of it in this short video:

As noted on the postcard, there’s a launch event for the tour coming up on June 19th. You can wait and take the tour on the day of the event, or take it on your own with the walking tour app, in person or virtually. Learn more about the event on the Black Liberation Walking Tour website, and hope to see you at the event!

Here it is, a year since the last in-person OUP walk. A lot has changed in the last year, but it’s still not possible to do in-person walks like we normally do.

In recognition of that, and in honor of Black History Month and Black Lives Matter, I’ve created a digital version of the Black History walk that we’ve led in previous years. You can either do it as a self-guided tour with your phone, or do it virtually from your computer.

As with the other digital walking tours we’ve published, the tour page gives some basics about the walk: the topic, where to start, how long the walk is, etc. When you’re ready to take the walk, either self-guided in the real world, or virtually from your computer, click on Start the tour and go from there.

The goals of Oakland Urban Paths are to teach people about Oakland, and to encourage them to explore Oakland (and elsewhere) on foot. So how do we do that under the current shelter in place order?

Even before COVID-19 was a thing, I’d been working on a side project. The schedules of walking tours and those who want to go on them sometimes conflict; people often ask (both about OUP walks and City of Oakland walks): “When will this walk be offered again? I can’t make the scheduled walk.” Too often the answer is: “next year” or “I don’t know.”

Another problem I’ve seen over the years is that some walking tours have largely disappeared from view. Two in particular are Once Upon a Time, Happily Ever After, and Walking the Invisible City. No fault of the creators, because it costs money for a website and time promoting it.

Then came COVID-19. Then came the Bay Area-wide shelter in place order. Then the state-wide shelter in place order. If you’re not in quarantine, you can (and should) still go out to get exercise, buy food, etc., but while minimizing opportunities for contamination. Some people are able to work from home, but many aren’t. And many people are scrambling to continue educating and entertaining their children.

So it seemed like this might be a good time to release the walking tour app as I have it so far. There are only 3 tours: Old Oakland (based on what I lead for the City of Oakland, though this is a bit longer), 10,000 Steps (based on Walking the Invisible City by Sue Mark and Bruce Douglas), and Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After (based on Scott Oliver’s audio tour).

But I post what there is so far here as a way for you to keep exploring and learning about Oakland, even if you can’t have a live guide. Point your phone to https://walk.ouroakland.net, pick a tour, and go. Click Start the tour to begin, Directions to get directions to the stop, and Next to go to the next stop on the tour. Note that 10,000 Steps is in two parts and has audio at some stops, and Once Upon A Time… is in three parts, and is 99% audio. (The more audio, the more data it will use up on your phone.)

Please email gene @ oaklandurbanpaths.org to let me know if you take one of the tours, and let me know if you notice any problems with the tours or have any suggestions. See you (from at least 6′ away) on the paths!

Nice weather for our walk for Black History Month. A little chilly at first, but nice once we got going. We talked about a lot of people, organizations, and events, so here’s a brief recap.

The walk was a fundraiser for Friends of the Hoover Durant Public Library, which is working to get one again in the Hoover Durant neighborhood near San Pablo. Read about the old North Oakland branch library.

Other tours featuring black history in Oakland include This is Oakland Bike Tours, led by Rehema Allen, whose family stretches back to early California and Oakland history; and Black Panther Power Walking Tours, led by Saturu Ned, a BPP member.

Oakland Auditorium

• Calvin Simmons – namesake of the theatre, first African American director of a major symphony
• Martin Luther King, Jr. – spoke at auditorium December 28th, 1962, the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863. The Apollos of Oakland Tech worked to get MLK Day made a holiday here in California before it became a national holiday.
• Bobby Seale – co-founder of the Black Panther Party, and 1973 candidate for Oakland mayor announced his candidacy at the auditorium.

Alameda County Courthouse

• Black Panther Party – co-founder Huey Newton was on trial here for killing OPD officer John Frey. Author and former judge Lisa Pearlman spoke about the trial and her two books about it, The Sky’s the Limit: People V. Newton the Real Trial of the 20th Century and American Justice on Trial: People V. Newton. The trial transformed what “a jury of one’s peers” means in trials. The BPP evolved over time, from gun-carrying to community self-help focused.
• 1200 Lakeshore – Huey Newton lived for a time in the penthouse, under heavy security, in part because of COINTELPRO.
• Marcus Foster – first black superintendent of the OUSD, first to head a major U.S. school district. Assassinated by Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA, of Patty Hearst fame) in 1973 with cyanide tipped bullets because they mistakenly believed he supported mandatory student ID cards, police in schools and other Big Brother-esque stuff. See Paul Robeson Administration Building.
• Ida Louise Jackson – first black school teacher in Oakland schools in 1926. Only until Beth Pierre Wilson was hired 13 years later.
• Elizabeth Flood – she and husband Isaac Flood helped desegregate Brooklyn (town east of Lake Merritt) and then Oakland school in 1872.

Oakland Library

• Oakland History Center – run by Dorothy Lazard; a great place to learn more about Oakland history and research your own family
• Morrie Turner – first nationally syndicated African American cartoonist with “Wee Pals”. Initially in 5 papers; after assassination of Dr. MLK, Jr. it was in over 100. Also one of the founders of what became AAMLO.
• Royal Towns – early black firefighter, and first to be promoted

Malonga Casquelord Center for the Arts

• Alice Street Mural – amazing multi-story, multi-wall mural; alas no longer visible. Featured numerous people from Oakland history.
• Malonga Casquelord – Cameroon-born drummer and dancer; died in auto accident in 2003 and center renamed in his honor.
• Ruth Beckford – dancer and dance instructor; In 1947, she founded a recreational modern dance for Parks and Rec in Oakland: the first in the United States. Also organized the BPP free breakfast for school. We heard from one of her students and friends, who also taught dance.
• “I enjoyed every day” – East Bay Yesterday podcast on Ruth Beckford

Oakland Post newspaper

• Thomas Berkley – lawyer, founder of Oakland Post, and later Oakland Port Commissioner; oversaw containerization of Port of Oakland.
• Chauncey Bailey – journalist and editor-in-chief of Oakland Post; gunned down by Yusuf Bey IV and Devaughndre Broussard while investigating Your Black Muslim Bakery.
• Paul Cobb – current editor and publisher of Oakland Post

Athenian-Nile Club

• Joyce Gordon – owner of Joyce Gordon Gallery
• Geoffrey Pete – owner of Geoffrey’s Inner Circle

City Center

• Oakland Tribune Tower
• Robert Maynard – journalist, editor and later owner of Oakland Tribune
• Delilah Beasley – journalist and historian, first African American woman to be regularly published in a major U.S. newspaper; big part of why we know about contributions of blacks in early California
• Trailblazer : Delilah Beasley’s California by Dana Johnson
• John B. Williams – city planner for Oakland in 1960s and 1970s; bust near 12th St. BART

City Hall

• Henry Gardner – city manager of Oakland before “strong mayor” from 1981 to 1993
• Lionel Wilson – first black mayor of Oakland, 1977-1991; pitched for Oakland Larks baseball team
• Jennie Prentiss – woman born into slavery; became Jack London’s nursemaid and later loaned him $300 to buy his first boat
• Jack London Oak

Federal Building

• Ronald V. Dellums – longtime representative in U.S. Congress; mayor of Oakland for 1 term
• C. L. Dellums – Ron Dellum’s uncle, and one of the organizers of the Pullman Porters union
• Barbara Lee – current representative in U.S. Congress
• Donald P. McCullum – civil rights attorney, judge, and creator of youth court
• William Byron Rumford – pharmacist, community leader, and politician; passed Fair Housing Act to fight redlining and restrictive covenants
• Redlining – systematic practice of denying services to people in specific areas, generally along racial lines.
• “Unfair Housing” – East Bay Yesterday podcast about Byron Rumford and redlining

African American Library and Museum at Oakland

• Jesse and Marcella Ford
• Eugene and Ruth Lasartemay
• East Bay Negro Historical Society – collections formed the core of AAMLO
• A Journey of Promise mural

Great weather and turnout for Saturday’s walk exploring Cleveland Heights and the former estate of F.M. “Borax” Smith. Plus we saw a hawk flying over a couple of times! Special thanks to Meryl and Grey from our parent organization, WOBO, for helping with the walk logistics.

There were a number of groups represented and various resources for other walks and research mentioned:

• Walk Oakland Bike Oakland – Slow Oakland campaign
• Berkeley Path Wanderers
• East Bay Yesterday podcast – “Unfair Housing” episode
• Oakland Underfoot – sidewalk stamps
• Oakland History Room
• Oakland Heritage Alliance
• City of Oakland walking tours

We covered a lot of topics in our 2.5-3.0 hour walk. Here are links to the Oakland Wiki pages on some of the things we saw:

• Cleveland Cascade
• Oakland Gnomes
• 552 Montclair Ave. (Robinson House)
• Edward C. Robinson
• Bestor Robinson
• Louis R. Wicker
• Key System
• Peter Lee – mural artist
• Ivy Hill Studios
• Borax Smith
• Mary R. Smith
• Borax Smith’s Red House
• Evelyn Ellis Smith
• Arbor Villa
• Arbor Villa Palm Trees
• Mary R. Smith Home for Friendless Girls
• Cielito Lindo
• St. Vartan Armenian Church
• Haddon Hill
• Haddon Hill Stairs
• Henry J. Kaiser
• Kaiser House
• William Edward Schirmer

A number of people asked about researching the history of older buildings, especially homes. Someone asked specifically about the house behind us as we viewed 552 Montclair Ave. (the Robinson House). I didn’t know anything about it, but it is an interesting looking house.

One of the challenges of researching history is that what we consider landmarks (streets, addresses, neighborhood names, etc.) change over time. Below is part of a 1905 map; “Arbor Villa” and “Mary Smiths Trust” (i.e., the Home for Friendless Girls) are clearly visible on the map. But if you look more closely, you’ll notice there’s no Cleveland Street (it’s Prospect Avenue), no Park Blvd. (it’s 4th Avenue), and no Montclair Avenue (it’s East Oak St.) And there’s a vague “Boulevard Heights” labeling what is now known as Haddon Hill.

If that wasn’t enough, the addresses have changed, too. 552 Montclair was 252 East Oak St. And really old locations might not have had an address number. But none of this is unique to the area–street names and addresses have changed all over Oakland, and more than once. A big part of this is because Oakland grew in stages. It started small (previously the village of Contra Costa) near the foot of Broadway, and grew, and then annexed other nearby towns like Brooklyn and Elmhurst. It didn’t grow to it’s current bounds until 1909. Annexing those other towns mean absorbing their existing streets and street names, and sometimes those conflicted with the street names in Oakland.

All confusing stuff if you’re trying to find the history of a particular building (and that’s not even getting into the possibility the building has been physically moved to a new location.) Putting all those thing together is a big part of why the Oakland History Room is the best place to start when doing this kind of research.

Join Oakland Urban Paths as we explore Hiller Highlands and Claremont Hills and get different looks at the Claremont Hotel. This is a variation on a walk we’ve done before, and it is hilly with a lot of stairs. Read more and signup (required) on Eventbrite.

Join Oakland Urban Paths and the city of Oakland Walking Tours program for a 2.5 hour walk celebrating women’s history in Oakland. We’ll start near AAMLO on 14th St.
More info and signup (required) on Eventbrite.

Join Oakland Urban Paths and the city of Oakland Walking Tours program for a 2.5 hour walk celebrating some of Oakland’s black history. We’ll start near Lake Merritt and finish at AAMLO on 14th St.

More info and signup (required) on Eventbrite.

A chilly start to the morning, but a nice turnout to clean up the paths near Hyacinth Avenue. A combination of neighborhood residents and volunteers from elsewhere in Oakland…and Fremont! Thanks to Nancy, Kat, Jody, Tom and his family, and “Team Fremont”. Special thanks to Chris from Walk Oakland Bike Oakland, who picked up the tools, brought coffee and La Farine pastries, water, more debris bags, and her seemingly boundless energy, and still found time to work on the cleanup.

More photos here.