Oh, you didn’t think a little thing like a temporarily building closure would keep us from bringing you Oakland history programs this fall, did you?!
The Oakland History Center is pleased to announce our 2024 Fall History Series lineup.
On Tuesday, October 29 at 6pm, join us for a tour of the newly remodeled Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts. Formerly known as variations on “the Auditorium,” tens of thousands of Oaklanders have enjoyed the facility for ceremony, entertainment, and memory-making over the years. This landmark building opened in 1915 and has hosted everything from the Oakland Christmas Pageant to high school graduations and Richard Pryor opening for the Isley Brothers. Reservations are required for this tour, and capacity is limited, so be sure to RSVP here beginning October 1.
For our other two programs this fall, we welcome you back to the Main Library’s recently refreshed Bradley Walters Community Meeting Room, our lower level auditorium.
On Saturday, November 9 at 3pm, we welcome local author and journalist William Gee Wong, discussing his recent memoir Sons of Chinatown: a Memoir Rooted in China and America. Mr. Wong will be in conversation with Roy Chan, director of the Oakland Chinatown Oral History Project / AAPI Elder Voices Project, opens a new window. We look forward to learning more from these two expert historians of Oakland’s Chinatown.
And on Wednesday, November 13 at 6pm we are thrilled to host Kristen Caven, Writer in Residence at Joaquin Miller Park, on Reconsidering Joaquin Miller. Oaklanders have mixed feelings about Miller, the colorful literary figure and late 19th Century man about town. Ms. Caven will share her insights on Miller and why she thinks we should reconsider the opinions of his detractors.
We look forward to learning more about Oakland history with you! See you soon.