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Saturday, December 9, 2023, 2 pm: Book Talk with Susan Austin
The Bamboo Garden, the 1923 Fire and an Unlikely Friendship On September 17, 1923, the strong, dry Diablo winds from the east were in full effect when a fire erupted just east of the Berkeley Hills ridge line near Wildcat Canyon. The fire quickly swept over the hill and down into the heart of Berkeley. In…
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Saturday, November 25, 2023, 1-4 pm: Special Event with Steven Finacom
Special One-Day Showing: Early Berkeley “Tinted Photos” and Their History By the early 20th century, photographs were coming into their own as an art form. Many Berkeleyeans proudly displayed on their walls not only traditional paintings and etchings, but artistic photographs taken by both commercial and amateur photographers, often elaborately framed under glass. Favorite subjects…
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The 1923 Fire: Berkeley’s First Wildfire Disaster
November 5, 2023 – March 23, 2024 Curator: Steven Finacom The early fall is “fire weather” season in Berkeley. Anyone who has lived in the town for a few years or more knows what this means. The weather turns warm, the typical pattern of cool breezes off San Francisco Bay slows and stalls, and hot,…
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Saturday, November 11, 10 am: Tamalpais-Shasta Loop Walk
Led by Bob Johnson The walk will cover Tamalpais Road and the nearby neighborhood with a wealth of architecture, history, former homes of famous people (like Robert Oppenheimer), unique public paths, and a great view (weather permitting); moreover, a creek runs through it. We will be at the edge of the 1923 fire area and…
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Saturday, October 14, 10 am: Radical 60s Walk
Led by Harvey Smith The McGee-Spaulding District could be considered a hotbedof Berkeley 1960s radicalism and counterculture given thenumber noted activists and alternative living communitieslocated in the neighborhood. This walk will explore themany locations where activists lived and the houses that werehome to experimental communes. We will briefly explorethe political and social roots of these…
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Saturday, October 7: Kensington Park Walk
Led by Bob Johnson In the past often considered as an extension of Berkeley,Kensington developed in the early twentieth century and washome to many people associated with UC Berkeley. We will reviewa bit of the history (including the home of a very famous formerresident), see some varied architecture, explore public paths andenjoy occasional views. This…
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Touching Ground, Putting Down Roots: Chinese in Berkeley
April 30 – September 30, 2023 The history of immigration to the United States is often portrayed as a great western movement of European peoples, across the Atlantic and then across the North American continent. But beginning with the California Gold Rush, the U.S. has also been populated by people moving east, across the Pacific…
A Window on the Past, "Exactly Opposite the Golden Gate"