Berkeley Historical Society

Come meet and greet other Berkeley history enthusiasts! Please bring a contribution of food and/or non-alcoholic beverage. We have reserved a picnic area in San Pablo Park in southwest Berkeley, an area whose history we are pursuing through a number of routes. This park was the City of Berkeley’s first, opened in 1914.

Our next installment of the Book Talk Series features Paula Friedman and her new novel, The Change Chronicles: A Novel of the Sixties Antiwar Movement. Friedman was a young activist in late 1960s Berkeley protesting the Vietnam War, and a reporter at the “underground” Berkeley Barb. In The Change Chronicles, Friedman provides an intellectually and emotionally intense tale exploring the human depths of the Bay Area’s antiwar and proto-feminist struggles of 1965-1969.  

Admission is free (donations always welcome), but space is limited, so please register on Eventbrite to be sure of a seat. Doors open at 2:30; talk begins at 3:00. Light refreshments will be served after the talk, and the author will be available to sell and sign copies of the book.

Our next exhibit, Collection Gems: Forty Years of Documenting Berkeley History, will display a wide variety of materials collected over the years since the BHS started in 1978. Items will be grouped into several topical areas: schools, businesses, politics and government, performing arts, and family life, as well as some highlights from the society’s own history.

The exhibit will open on Sunday, May 20, with a talk by Betty Reid Soskin, whose memoir, Sign My Name to Freedom, was recently published. The reception following her talk will include a big cake to celebrate BHS’s fortieth birthday.

This special occasion will also include the debut of our first permanent exhibit, an illustrated Berkeley History Timeline that will make it possible for all visitors to get an overview of the history of our city.

Ann Harlow, Berkeley Historical Society president, will give an illustrated talk about eight notable Berkeley photographers born before 1900: Oscar V. Lange, Anne Brigman, Oscar Maurer, Laura Adams Armer, Adelaide Hanscom, Emily Pitchford, Cedric Wright, and Dorothea Lange.

Ann Harlow is an independent art historian specializing in the art and culture of California from 1850 to 1950. She is a past director of the art museum at Saint Mary’s College and has had many opportunities to become familiar with California photographic history, beginning with her apprenticeship with curator Therese Heyman at the Oakland Museum forty years ago.

The talk will be preceded by a brief annual election meeting and followed by the opening of an exhibit about Berkeley photographer Allen Stross (1923–2017).

The event is free but seating is limited; make a reservation on Eventbrite or call (510) 848-0181. Please plan to arrive by 2 pm.

Shelley was a longtime and invaluable Berkeley Historical Society volunteer. She coordinated the current exhibit, “Soundtrack to the ’60s” (which you will have an opportunity to visit), and was a co-author of Berkeley Bohemia. As assistant archivist, Shelley was extremely knowledgeable about our collection and gracious and helpful to visitors as well as fellow volunteers.

Contributions in Shelley’s memory can be made to the Berkeley Historical Society, P.O. Box 1190, Berkeley, CA 94701.

The panel will include Dennis King of D. King Gallery, poster designer Tom Weller, and Country Joe McDonald.

Would you like to see Country Joe and the Fish as they were
in the sixties? Joe McDonald has arranged for the
Berkeley Art Museum•Pacific Film Archive to show the documentary film 
Woodstock, along with a the short film A Day in the
Life of Country Joe and the Fish by Robert Zagone, on Saturday, January 27,
at 6:30 p.m. We will keep the Berkeley History Center open
an extra hour that day, to 5 pm, for those who would like
to see the exhibit, have dinner downtown, and then see the
presentation up the street at 2155 Center Street.
Both Joe McDonald and Robert Zagone will introduce the screening.
Here is the link for the BAMPFA showing  
https://bampfa.org/event/woodstock-1.
You can purchase tickets in advance.