signs: Greyhound Bus

Greyhound Bus

The Greyhound station on San Pablo Avenue has been there forever.

But there is something new in the world of Greyhound. Seems they've started a new service called Greyhound Express, featuring shiny new buses with more legroom, wireless, power outlets, and fares starting at $1. Looks like it's just between larger hubs like Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, etc.

walking tour: Women's History

Saturday after the West Oakland walking tour, I headed over to city hall for an Oakland Heritage Alliance walking tour on women's history in Oakland. 2011 marks the 100th year since women got the right to vote in California.

Ina Coolbrith

One of the first women we heard about was Ina Coolbrith. She was the niece of Mormon founder Joseph Smith. Her family came to California and was led over the Sierra Nevada by African American mountain man Jim Beckwourth, with Ina riding on Beckwourth's horse. Ina is probably best known as a poet, and was the first California Poet Laureate. But she was also the first librarian of the Oakland Free Library (the 2nd public library in California), and befriended and mentored 10-year-old Jack London (he called her his "literary mother") and also mentored a young Isadora Duncan. Alas, the affections of Isadora's father for Ina may have led to the breakup of his marriage. Ina was also an honorary member of the Bohemian Club, had her portrait taken in her later years by a young Ansel Adams, and was friends with Joaquin Miller (and helped him gain global fame.) Ina is buried in Mt. View Cemetery.

We also walked by the 7-story tall "Mitzvah, the Jewish Cultural Experience" mural. Amongst the people pictured are Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. I've blogged about Gertrude Stein before, so I won't repeat it here, but she was a remarkable woman. The mural is definitely worth checking out, but you need to be on foot to see it -- the mural is visible looking south on northbound Franklin between 14th and 15th. The mural also shows the dome of Temple Sinai, featured in the Churches and Temples walking tour. For better pictures of the mural, see Oaktown Art.

YWCA building

Nearby we admired the YWCA building designed by Julia Morgan. It was one of 17 YWCA buildings she designed around the west. Morgan is probably best known for designing Hearst Castle, but locally she designed El Campanil at Mills College, College Avenue Presbyterian, and an array of other buildings. Her name has come up during the "Borax" Smith and Churches and Temples walking tours, and doubtless will again. Julia Morgan is buried in Mt. View Cemetery.

Women of some means formed clubs and societies to further their educations and impact the world around them, as well as for social reasons. One such club was the Ebell Society, formed in Oakland in 1876, and named for Dr. Adrian Ebell. We saw the former location of the Ebell Society clubhouse on Harrison. Not far from that is the former Women's City Club of Oakland, now the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts. It was built in 1928, and designed by Miller & Warnecke, and housed various women's clubs. There was a surge in the number of clubs after national suffrage was passed.

Pardee House

Women got the right to vote in California in 1911, and nationally in 1919. The first woman registered to vote in California was Clara Elizabeth Chan Lee, and was the first Chinese American woman to register to vote in the U.S. But it's interesting to note that suffrage in California didn't pass in Oakland and San Francisco, but was carried by Berkeley and the farm counties.

We then walked west, past Lincoln Square, to Pardee House, past Preservation Park, past the First Unitarian Church of Oakland (where Isadora Duncan gave her first dance recital in 1890), and finished at the African American Museum and Library of Oakland (which the Ebell Society helped raise funds for).

some names from the tour:

• Ina Coolbrith
• Gertrude Stein
• Julia Morgan
• Isadora Duncan
• Ida Louise Jackson - education and public-health pioneer, first African American to teach in Oakland schools
• Clara Elizabeth Chan Lee
• Dorothy Ng - started a hospitality hall for Asian soldiers during WWII
• March Fong Eu
• Delilah Beasley - first African American woman to be published in a major US paper
• Jane Sather
• Madeline and Helen Pardee

more on Ina Coolbrith:
Wikipedia entry
"When the Grass Shall Cover Me" by Ina Coolbrith
Songs from the Golden Gate (free ebook)

more pictures:

women's history walking tour

walking tour: New Era, New Politics

The other week I took another of the city-sponsored walking tours. This one was the New Era, New Politics walking tour, which is the newest of the 8 tours the city offers. It also focuses on some of the more recent history of Oakland, though as we learned, that has connections further back, too.

AAMLO

We started the tour in from of the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO), part of the Oakland Public Library system. Alas, since it was a Monday and the AAMLO was closed, I couldn't check out the museum afterwards. The building itself is interesting, one of 5 libraries built with funds from Carnegie. But what's of real interest are the collections it houses. In 1946, Eugene and Ruth Lasartemay and Jessie and Dr. Marcella Ford began collecting the oral histories and artifacts that documented the activities of African Americans in and around Oakland, the Bay Area and California. After combining with other collections and various moves, the collection ultimately became the AAMLO in 1994. Read more of the history of the AAMLO collections on the OPL website.

Judge McCullum

During the tour, there were a ton of names from Oakland's history, some you doubtless recognize, and probably a few you don't.

• Did you know Jack London was raised by ex-slave Jenny Prentiss? He later borrowed money from her to buy his first boat, and left money to her in his will.
• That section of highway 24 named the Rumford Freeway? That's named after William Byron Rumford, the first African American elected to public office in Northern California. He also was one of the early fighters against automotive air pollution. Besides the freeway, there's also an Oakland post office named after him. Ironically, it's one of the post offices slated to be shut down.
• Oakland's Youth Court? It's named for civil rights activist and superior court judge Donald McCullum.
• mayor Lionel Wilson was the first African American mayor of Oakland.

There were lots more people of note, including Bob Maynard, George Scotlan, Elihu Harris, Ron Dellums, C.L. Dellums, Henry Gardner, Curt Flood (I ride past Curt Flood field on Coolidge), and more.

I have to admit the names and facts were kind of a blur, because we spent the first 30 minutes standing outside the museum. It was tiring to stand in one place for so long, and it made it harder to remember the names and associated facts because there wasn't a place to associate many of them with. But it was a still a good, informative tour, and worth checking out.

More pictures in my Oakland New Era, New Politics walking tour album:

Oakland New Era, New Politics walking tour

food: Rising Loafer Cafe

Rising Loafer Cafe

I'm not downtown very often for breakfast or lunch, so it was a while before I was able to final try the Rising Loafer Cafe and Bakery. I first heard about it at the Oakland Indie Awards back in May, when they won a Greenie Award, and briefly met the owner, Maria Gastelumendil, at an Oakland Grown event.

Wednesday I took another downtown Oakland walking tour, which ended in Frank Ogawa Plaza right at lunch time, so I had my chance.

Greek Crepe

Since it was a beautiful day, after I ordered I sat at one the outside tables in the shade of the plaza trees. From my seat, I could see the B shuttle running over on Broadway, people out enjoying the open space of the plaza, and hear the free Summer Sounds concert at City Center in the distance. Lovely.

I had a Greek Crepe for lunch, and it was delicious. It came with choice of a green salad or soup. I chose salad, which was nothing special but was tasty. I'm looking forward to trying some of their baked goods when I'm downtown some morning. Next time you're looking for a spot for breakfast or lunch downtown, give the Rising Loafer a try.

showing off Oakland!

Thanks for the ideas on showing off Oakland. After figuring out when we were both available, I arranged to meet my friend D Thursday morning at West Oakland BART as he was coming over from SF.

Brown Sugar Kitchen

The first stop was Brown Sugar Kitchen for breakfast. K and I went there earlier this year and loved it. I considered Mama's Royal Cafe (worth the trip for the napkin art alone) and Mama Buzz Cafe, but settled on BSK as more unique to Oakland and because it was close to West Oakland BART. We both had the cornmeal waffles, which are served with brown sugar butter and apple cider syrup. Maybe not the healthiest breakfast ever, but hecka tasty. We took our time drinking coffee and catching up, as we hadn't seen each other in some years. As we drove around, I told him about the Cypress Structure and the Loma Prieta earthquake, and a bit about the railroads before that.

City Center

We went over to Downtown and walked around. It was foggy (no great surprise there, given the weather this summer), but there were lots of great buildings to look at and interesting things to see. By European standards, even the oldest buildings are new, but they're still interesting architecturally.

City Hall and Frank Ogawa

Cathedral Building

Oscar Grant mural

Walking towards Uptown, there were Oscar Grant posters in various store windows, and this large mural. I told D about the killing of Oscar Grant, the protests, the trial, and the impending sentencing.

Fox Theater

Oaksterdam

We walked to Uptown to admire the Fox Theater, Flora, and various other buildings. On the way back, we passed Oaksterdam and talked about the ballot measure to legalize marijuana and the futility of 'the war on drugs'. In Switzerland, apparently marijuana is not legal, but generally the police won't make an issue of a small amount. Most police, at least; like California, it depends on where you are.

Chinatown church

Old Oakland

We then walked around Chinatown, enjoying the life and activity there. Not so much the cooked ducks hanging in the window, but the hustle and bustle of people going about their lives, going to shops, to work, etc. Then it was back to Old Oakland to admire the old brick buildings.

gondola

glass and steel, anyone?

cathedral

kids playing

Lake Merritt colonnade

As we headed over to Lake Merritt, the sun finally made an appearance. D had been at a conference in San Francisco, and was dismayed to pretty much not see the sun the entire time. I told him the usual weather patterns, and while the basic pattern (foggy in San Francisco, foggy mornings and sunny afternoons in Oakland) was normal, the duration and amount of the fog was not. We walked around Lake Merritt, stopping in to check out the cathedral and bird- and people-watch as we walked around.

Tacos Sinaloa

After working up an appetite, we headed over to Tacos Sinaloa for a late lunch. Discussing favorite taco trucks can be like discussing politics or religion, but Tacos Sinaloa (well, technically the Mariscos truck) is my favorite. After lunch I drove him through San Antonio and the Fruitvale, again noting the life and energy present there.

Loard's Ice Cream

As lunch was on the small side, we stopped by Loard's for some ice cream, and to view the Mormon Temple. D said there aren't many Mormons in Europe, but there are fair number in South America where he's traveled.

Joaquin Miller Park

Despite the ice cream to cool us down, it was getting on the warm side, so we headed for the hills. We walked around Joaquin Miller Park and nearby Roberts to check out the redwoods. Proximity to various parks is a big part of why I bought our house here (and I'm glad I bought when I did). D lives near some parks, too, so he felt right at home. We stopped by the house (D reads my home improvement blog) to meet the cats, check out the improvements in person, and talk some more.

Julia Morgan designed church

We checked out the view on the way down from the hills, and went to Rockridge. All this touring and talking was thirsty-making work, so we headed to Barclay's for a pint and more talking. I was considering various options for dinner, but one pint turned into three, so we had dinner there and talked some more. After more talking, I put D on a BART train back to San Francisco, and headed home myself.

A long, tiring, fun tour of Oakland. I know I had a good time showing off Oakland -- I hope D enjoyed it at least half as much as I did. I think he did, because typical tourist things in San Francisco (e.g., Fisherman's Wharf) aren't his favorite, so a somewhat non-typical tour of Oakland was more his speed.

Oakland Earth Expo

Oakland Earth Expo

Yesterday was the Oakland Earth Expo, a public fair for Oaklanders looking to be more green. There were a number of groups and companies I'm familiar with there, including:

• TransForm
• Walk Oakland Bike Oakland
• East Bay Bicycle Coalition
• Habitat for Humanity (thanks for the donations!)
• Greening Oakland Homes
  
• East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse
• Ella Baker Center
• SunPower Solar

There were also a number of groups I wasn't familiar with:

• Friends of the Morcom Rose Garden - There's a nice post on the rose garden at Oaktown Art
  
• Universal Waste Management - electronic waste recyclers based here in Oakland
  
• B Spoke Tailor - custom and individualized cycling clothes
  

There appeared to be a good turn out for the event. I was there after noon so I missed the special Earth Day 2010 photo shoot that was planned, but I saw lots of people checking out the booths.

In a bit of irony, PG&E was there trying to to drum up some good press for smart meters after the problems they've been having with smart meters in Bakersfield; a couple of booths down was a group encouraging people to Vote No on 16. Prop 16 is sponsored by PG&E to the tune of millions of dollars, and they're putting it forth as a "keep governments from spending unlimited funds without a vote". In reality, it's because PG&E doesn't want municipalities like Marin becoming power producers and thereby competing with PG&E. On one hand, I love that PG&E sponsors the solar panels for Habitat for Humanity homes around California, but then they pull stuff like Prop 16. Sigh.

Oakland Earth Expo

Come celebrate 40 years of Earth Day at the Oakland Earth Expo. It runs from 10AM to 2PM on Wednesday, April 14th, in Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of city hall.

Visit over 100 dynamic local green exhibitors: • green businesses • environmental and social change organizations • artists • government agencies • community groups.

Find tips, products and partners to: • reduce waste • compost • green your workplace • drive less • build or remodel green • reduce energy use • become a smarter consumer • bring your own bag • conserve water • practice bay-friendly gardening • hold a ZeroWaste event • reduce your carbon footprint • restore our creeks • eat seasonally • volunteer • much more!

Read more on the Oakland Public Works Earth Expo page.