The collections of the Oakland History Center document the history of Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont, Calif. and the metropolitan East Bay area of Northern California.
Items from the collections chosen for this project include a selection of photographs originally collected by Hon. Joseph R. Knowland, former publisher of the Oakland Tribune, that include scenic views and depict specific news events, such as the visit of Charles Lindbergh to Oakland, the arrival of Kelly's Army from San Francisco on its cross-country march protesting joblessness in 1914, the earthquake of 1906, visits of presidents William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1910, the influenza epidemic of 1917-1918, and various activities of celebrity authors and others, including Jack London, Edwin Markham, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lillie Langtry, Joaquin Miller, et al.
Items were chosen from other parts of the larger collection, with images documenting significant achievements in the history of aviation, industrial development and the cultural arts, with specific contributions of portraits of local residents with great historic significance to the state, including Anthony Chabot, Laurentine Hamilton, Lucia and Arthur Mathews, Ina Coolbrith, James Gamble, Cliff Durant, Herman Whitaker, William T. Shorey, J. Ross Browne, et al. Other images were selected to reflect the history of the industrial expansion of the California, most notably through the development of the railroads, the port facilities, the retail trade sector (with stores such as MacMarr Stores, Piggly Wiggly, National Dollar Stores, Money Back Smith's menswear, etc.), manufacturing and food processing (California Cotton Mills, Duchess Sandwiches, etc.) and high technology (Magnavox, etc.), for which Oakland served as a vital hub.
In response to preferences solicited from members of the community, images reflecting the richness of Oakland's architecture were chosen, along with historic scenes from its neighborhoods and hills.
Some items originally included in this digital collection have been split off into separate collections to make them easier to find and view online. These include the Peralta Family Manuscripts; Oakland maps; Picturesque Oakland, 1889; New or Greatly Enlarged Industrial Establishments of Oakland and East Bay Cities, [1917]; Oakland, Cal. illustrated in photo-gravure from recent negatives, 1892; and Views of real estate subdivisions by Wickham Havens Inc., Oakland [1926].
This collection was selected and created by staff of the Oakland Public Library, led by Steven Lavoie with the technical assistance of Richard Tan, as part of the Local History Digital Research Project, 2005-2006, supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian. Jean Langmuir and Doug Smith of the Oakland Public Library supplied administrative support throughout the project.
