Oakland Urban Paths: Walk of the Dead

After the smoke from the fires up north forced a reschedule, we had a small but "lively" group for the Walk of the Dead. In addition to clearer skies in December, we also had great weather—sunny and not too warm. After talking a bit about customs around death like the Day of the Dead, a brief glossary of terms, and some of the symbols we might see on grave markers, we headed off.

Our first stop was Chapel of Memories, also known as the Oakland Columbarium. It opened in 1901 as an independent business, but now is run by nearby Chapel of the Chimes. The buildings are mostly full of smaller niches. While a few are tagged "before need", most are occupied.

Just up Howe St. is Oakland's oldest existing cemetery, St. Mary's Cemetery, a Catholic cemetery which started a bit before nearby Mountain View Cemetery. There were earlier cemeteries closer to downtown, but as Oakland grew, they got in the way of development. The Oakland Cemetery (1852-1857) was at 8th and Oak. The Webster St. Cemetery (1857-1867) was between Webster and Snow Park. Most of the residents
moved to Mountain View or St. Mary's c.1872-76, but not all:

An excavating machine hit a metal coffin and spilled the contents: “the left hand and arm
nearly to the elbow protruded from the ground, the hand drooped over gracefully from the
wrist. Portions of the coat and vest were visible, as were the outlines of the face, but over these
still rested a coating of fine earth.” Oakland Tribune April 28, 1877

After a brief stop at 4460 Howe Street, which was home at different times to a superintendent of St. Mary's, a florist, and a granite and marble showroom, we went in the top entrance of Chapel of the Chimes. That took us into the newer areas, but down some flights of stairs and around a couple of corners, and we were into an older part, which was designed by noted architect Julia Morgan. Five different architecture firms worked on the structure over the years. The oldest part was originally a station for the streetcar which stopped at the top of Piedmont Avenue.

From there it was through the gates of Mountain View Cemetery, but into Home of Eternity Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery run by Temple Sinai. They purchased land from Mountain View in 1865. Besides more familiar religious symbols on the grave markers, there we saw some kohanim hands, which mean the person was of the priestly tribe of Aaron. Leonard Nimoy used a modified version of the gesture as the Vulcan greeting in Star Trek.

Stepping past a row of trees took us into Mountain View Cemetery, which at 224 acres, is by far the largest cemetery in Oakland.

First we went into one of several large mausoleums on the Mountain View grounds, which contains the remains of Oakland city council member Frank Ogawa and his family. He and his wife were imprisoned in an internment camp along with other Japanese Americans during WWII. Their daughter, Nancy Lynne Ogawa, was born in the Topaz camp and died there. That mausoleum also contains the remains of my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, and my aunt's father, Dr. Edward Lundegaard. Dr. Lundegaard served as a surgeon in the county coroner's office from 1946 to 1954, and then was elected coroner in 1954.

We wound our way up the hill to "Millionaire's Row", where the likes of "Borax" Smith, mayor Samuel Merritt, and the Crockers of Crocker Bank fame are buried in some sizable and lovely mausoleums. The air quality was better than November, but it was hazy enough it didn't show off the great view. That view, plus the park-like setting (MVC was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park in New York City) are part of why people used to visit their grave sites before they needed them, and countless Oaklanders still walk, run and admire the views today.

We finished by the Infant's Plot by the Main Mausoleum, in view of the Pauper's Plot. We didn't have time to continue down Piedmont Avenue and check out the cemetery-related businesses, including florists, grave marker carvers (former), and funeral homes, but we got a nice overview of part of Oakland inhabited mostly by the dead.

photo of the week: The Living and the The Dead

Lots of dead people, and thanks to the rain last week and sun this week, lots of living flowers and grass in St. Mary's Cemetery.

photo of the week: swimming the estuary

Not a great photo, but shows a nice slice of the estuary and Port of Oakland with the new Bay Bridge section in the background. What's interesting is the person swimming in the estuary at the lower right...definitely not something you see every day.

Being the Oakland history geek that I am, it reminded me of a story from 1903. Albert Olander, proprietor of Olander's Saloon in East Oakland, bet his barber that he could swim across the estuary. Olander bet his saloon and his barber, Daniel King, bet his barbershop. The selected location was about 1.25 miles across, and before a crowd of hundreds of people, Olander successfully swam across and won the barbershop.

The building that housed Olander's Saloon is still standing, at 1247 East 12th Street. It's no longer a saloon, but the interior still has the wooden bar and other details from the days when it was. Serious props to the guy in the photo above, who was swimming the length of the estuary, not just across.

Chapel of the Chimes

If you know how I've spent some of my days off and how much time I've spent learning about Oakland history in local cemeteries, you can probably guess my reaction when I was asked if I wanted a tour of Chapel of the Chimes. I knew a little about it: legendary Oakland architect Julia Morgan worked on it (but what parts?), some notable Oaklanders are interred there (but who?) and it had the first electric crematorium in the world (wait, what?). So I jumped at a chance to learn more.

It turns out Julia Morgan did a lot of work on the Chapel, even incorporating some items that had been at Hearst Castle. It's difficult to see what she worked on from outside, but if you're familiar with her style, you can quickly spot it while wandering the inside. Her work includes retractable skylights in several areas, though not all of them still function. (Note that the Julia Morgan Chapel within Chapel of the Chimes was not designed by her, but was renamed in her memory in 1995.)

I also learned more about some of the notable Oaklanders who are interred at Chapel of the Chimes:

• Al Davis
• Bebe Patten
• Forrest C. Shaklee
• H. C. Capwell
• John Lee Hooker
• Lawrence F. Moore

What struck me this time through Chapel of the Chimes is how beautiful and peaceful it is. It's not so peaceful during some of their events like Jazz at the Chimes, but it's quite remarkable. And various spaces within Chapel of the Chimes are available for events other than funerals, too. Weddings have been held in the main chapel (which has a Wurlitzer organ), and of course you're free to wander around Chapel of the Chimes any time it's open.

All of this information will be more useful some time next year, as I'm planning a "Dead Tour" for Oakland Urban Paths. I'm still figuring out the details, but we'll probably start at the Chapel of Memories (which is owned and operated by Chapel of the Chimes), into part of St. Mary's Cemetery, down through Chapel of the Chimes, through the Home of Eternity, and around part of Mountain View Cemetery. And of course there are several historic and some still extant related businesses.

Lots more pictures from Chapel of the Chimes:

Saint Mary's Cemetery 150th Anniversary

The other week, Saint Mary's Cemetery marked its 150th anniversary with a special ceremony and the unveiling of several new features. The day began with a mass led by Bishop Michael Barber of the Oakland diocese, who re-consecrated the cemetery grounds.

Following the mass, a beautiful new statue of the Virgin Mary was unveiled. Currently it's near the chapel in the center of the cemetery, but will be moved to near the front gate. Also unveiled was a new grave marker for the last governor of Alta California, Juan Bautista Valentin Alvarado, and his wife, Maria Martina Castro de Alvarado. Some of the most famous of St. Mary's residents, their grave was unmarked until local historian Alfred Janske re-discovered their burial location. He worked with St. Mary's Cemetery, the San Pablo Historical Society, and other groups to have a marker added.

Afterwards I talked with Janske, and learned that the first burial in St. Mary's was Mary Riley, who died December 13, 1863. Her grave is currently unmarked, but he's hoping to get a marker added. Given how far back in local history that is, and her relatively common name, finding out more about Mary's story has been difficult.

More pictures from the 150th anniversary:

Oakland's Cemeteries - St. Mary's turns 150

You'd expect plot 1 in a cemetery as old as Mountain View Cemetery to have a lot of history, and in that regard, it doesn't disappoint. It's the resting place of a number of people who were instrumental in the shaping of the early town of Oakland, like Solomon Alden, John McElrath, Moses Chase (the first American citizen to settle in Oakland), Enoch Pardee and George Pardee, Jane Waer (the first burial in Mountain View) and many others.

While Mountain View is the biggest cemetery in Oakland, it wasn't the first. It's not even in the top 3. The first cemetery was the Oakland Cemetery, near where Laney College is now. When it was started in 1852, Oakland was a brand new town, and the location was out of the way. But Oakland was growing rapidly, and within 5 years the cemetery was in the way of expansion.

The larger Webster Street Cemetery was started in 1857, but it barely lasted 10 years. Mountain View Cemetery was founded in 1863, but the first burial didn't take place until 1865. Burials stopped at Webster Street in 1867. In preparation for development, most of the remains were moved from Webster Street to other cemeteries. The 'most' part makes it unsurprising that in 1877, an excavator accidentally hit one of the remaining coffins and spilled the contents: "the left hand and arm nearly to the elbow protruded from the ground, the hand drooped over gracefully from the wrist. Portions of the coat and vest were visible, as were the outlines of the face, but over these still rested a coating of fine earth."

The third cemetery to open in Oakland was Saint Mary's Cemetery in 1863. This Saturday, Saint Mary's will be celebrating its 150th birthday with a ceremony and tour. It's a great chance to learn more about this smaller neighbor of Mountain View Cemetery, and learn some Oakland and California history in the process.

Lots more pictures from Plot 1 in Mountain View Cemetery:

photo of the week: shapes

One of my more abstract and favorite shots from my most recent Mountain View Cemetery explorations.

more Mountain View Cemetery explorations

Wednesday I took advantage of the amazing weather and stopped by Mountain View Cemetery. I wanted to find the grave of Chris P. Johnson, founder of the Johnson Electric Washer Co. but I also wanted to check some things out at Saint Mary's Cemetery so I figured I wouldn't stay too long. Um, yeah, about that...

I ran into some friends I know from Habitat for Humanity who were out for a walk with their 10-week old baby in a carrier. We got to talking, and I showed them the map of the cemetery which shows the locations of some of the interesting people buried at Mountain View.

After we parted, I looked at the map to figure out the route to plot 66A, and noticed that I would be going close to the grave for Enoch Homer Pardee, the 18th mayor Oakland and his son, George Pardee, 29th mayor of Oakland and later governor of California. Oh, and Moses Chase is buried nearby. Just one more little side trip...

A few side trips later, I did make it to plot 66A and found the Johnson Grave. The entire plot is markers that are flat with the ground, like in plot 54. In theory, this makes it easier to maintain, as you can just run a lawnmower over everything, but in practice it was found that flat stones have a tendency to sink over time. It also makes it harder to find graves, as from a distance there's nothing distinctive about any of them. Plot 66A is in a lovely area, and though it doesn't have the sweeping vistas of nearby "millionaire's row", the views aren't too shabby.

But then I was off to check on something else I'd seen...a truck with a compressor and sandblaster working on a gravestone nearby. I talked for a while with Dale, the owner and chief of Gateway Memorials. He was mostly done by the time I got there, but I learned a bit about the marking of gravestones. Whether they're working in the shop on a new marker or in a cemetery on an existing one, they use a heavy, slightly adhesive sheet of rubber as a mask. What's not covered gets sandblasted, then painted with black or white paint. It turns out Dale's company also does work in Kaua'i, so it's entirely possible I've seen some of their work when I was there last summer.

I did some more looking around plot 66A, and then realized I didn't have time to go to Saint Mary's Cemetery, too, so I might as well make the most of my time here. I checked the map again to see what other well-known markers I could visit that I hadn't seen before. I went along the row of mausoleums below "millionaire's row".

From there I swung past the Folger (of Folgers Coffee) plot then back to find the mausoleum of David Hewes, who was an associate of The Big Four, and lived for a time at Camron-Stanford House on Lake Merritt. Oh, look, some of the Camrons and the Marshes are just down the hill. And Ina Coolbrith—I think I've seen her grave, but do I have a picture of it?

After only a few more side trips, I eventually left the cemetery. But as usual, I had a few answers, but I had even more questions than when I'd arrived. At least for a change, I'd actually found what I was looking for instead of getting completely sidetracked.

Lots more photos from my exploration:

more Mountain View Cemetery explorations

The other week after I stopped in Saint Mary's Cemetery I went to nearby Mountain View Cemetery to find the grave of A.K.P. Harmon. Amongst other things, he's known for donating for Cal's first indoor athletic facility, and later, Harmon Gym was named in his honor.

After finding the Harmon grave, I did some more exploring. Mountain View Cemetery is so large that I see new things every time I'm there, even though I've lost track of the number of trips I've made. But I also see things in a new light, sometimes literally. While exploring, I saw the warm afternoon light on the Colton mausoleum. It's the resting place of David Douty Colton, who the town of Colton, California is named for, and probably Colton Boulevard in Oakland, too. He was an interesting sounding man, sometimes referred to as one of "the Big Four and half" because of his association with Crocker, Huntington, Stanford and Hopkins of railroad fame. But other than the possible naming of a street for him and his interment in Mountain View, I don't know of any Oakland connections so I haven't dedicated much time to learning more about him (say, to write an Oakland Wiki entry for him). Regardless, the warm light and the beautiful design made for a lovely image.

More photos from the afternoon:

Saint Mary's Cemetery

Friday after the 12th Street Project update and some lunch, I went to Saint Mary's Cemetery to look for the grave of journalism pioneer Delilah Beasley. Although I've been to Saint Mary's Cemetery before, I haven't spent nearly as much time there as at neighboring Mountain View Cemetery.

I'd read that Delilah Beasley's grave was there, although the marker wasn't added until 20 years after her death. I also wanted to check on whether Dr. John F. Slavich (the 39th mayor of Oakland) was buried there or not, as I'd seen conflicting reports. Yes, I've been spending a lot of time lately on Oakland Wiki topics.

I started with a visit to the office to find out about Mayor Slavich and to get the location of Delilah Beasley's grave. Although Saint Mary's is much smaller than Mountain View, it's still plenty big so finding a grave with no guidelines is a matter of luck. I quickly got the location of Beasley's grave and found out the source of the confusion about Dr. Slavich's location. His father, John F. Slavich, Sr., had been interred there in 1922, but his remains were moved to Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Hayward in 1923. That's also where Dr. John F. Slavich, Jr. is buried, so the seeming inconsistencies were resolved.

Location in hand, I headed to the area where Delilah's grave is. I enjoyed wandering around looking at the various graves, seeing familiar symbols and features, and then quickly found the marker for Delilah. It's a simple but attractive marker, though it would be nice if there were some recognition to her work.

I spent some additional time exploring the cemetery, and setting in motion another half dozen historic rabbit trails. Who was this person? What's their story? Why was the symbol selected for their marker? Alas, those rabbit trails will have to wait. But Saint Mary's Cemetery, while smaller than nearby Mountain View, is worth exploring, too.

More pictures from Saint Mary's Cemetery:

photo of the week: Chapel of the Chimes

Yesterday after the rains stopped, I rode into Mountain View Cemetery to visit a family mausoleum space, and stopped to take this picture of the Chapel of the Chimes against the beautiful sky. I was also doing some scouting for an upcoming "Jack and Julia" bicycle history tour, along the lines of the 5 Historic Houses Bike Tour we did last year. Julia Morgan of course, was one of the architects who worked on Chapel of the Chimes over the years.

Mountain View Cemetery: Perimeter Tour

Saturday we had perfect weather for a walking tour at Mountain View Cemetery. Second Saturdays there are general tours to give people an overview, and fourth Saturdays there are more specialized tours focused on different subjects. This one was titled "Perimeter", which promised a fair amount of walking because of the size of Mountain View.

The tour was led by docents Stafford Buckley and Barbara Gibson. Also on hand was docent Michael Colbruno, author of the extremely interesting and useful Lives of the Dead website about the people of Mountain View Cemetery.

We started in the chapel in the main mausoleum with a brief overview of the cemetery, its founding and its design. It was founded in 1863 by a group of Oakland civic leaders who met at the house of Dr. Samuel Merritt. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the noted landscape designer who also designed Central Park in New York.

We headed for the nearest point on the perimeter, with a few interesting stops along the way to note some different mausoleums and graves, including the stately Colton mausoleum. It's the resting place of David Colton, who is sometimes referred to as one of "the Big Four and a half" because of his involvement with "the Big Four" (Crocker, Huntington, Hopkins and Stanford) of California and railroad history. The mausoleum is guarded by a pair of Greek-style sphinxes.

Along the southern perimeter there are several reservoirs, which were created by damming Cemetery Creek (which is known as Glen Echo Greek further downstream). They normally provide water for watering the cemetery grounds for 1 to 2 months of the dry season.

Nearby is one of the unendowed sections of Mountain View. Normally people purchase a plot or mausoleum crypt in Mountain View, which pays for its uptake in perpetuity. People were buried in the unendowed areas with no such promise, but as long as family or friends wanted, they could maintain the grave site. Areas of the unendowed section were also given to a number of charities, like the King's Daughters' Home, a hospital for people considered incurable. That building was designed by Julia Morgan, and still stands at 3900 Broadway.

We also heard about Blair's Park, an amusement park on the border between Oakland and Piedmont. It was created by Walter Blair, who owned property in the area, and featured boat rides, ponies, music and other amusements. Blair also owned the horsecar which brought vistors up the hill from Oakland.

We headed up the hill to see the eastern perimeter, which provided spectacular views of Oakland and the bay. Stafford said that on a clear day from the top of Hill 550 it's possible to see nine Bay Area counties. From the back of the hill you can see areas where many eucalyptus trees were cut down to decrease fire danger, and many, many more redwood seedlings have been planted in their stead.


We walked back downhill along the border shared with St. Mary's Cemetery, and past the influenza plot back to our starting point. As always, lots of interesting stuff to see and learn in Mountain View Cemetery!

Links to some things mentioned:

• Lives of the Dead website
• Barbara Gibson's Last Wishes site
• Mountain View Cemetery Symbols tour
• Mountain View Cemetery influenza plot
• the story of Aurelia Ghiradelli
• Frank Ogawa
• Fred Korematsu
• Piedmont Bath House (more pictures)

Lots more pictures from the tour:


After the tour was over, I rode my bike around to check out a few things for the Oakland Wiki and do some scouting for another history focused bike ride that's in the planning stages. And also to get a closer look at the grave of Fred Korematsu.

Even more pictures from after the tour:

Memorial Day Observance at Mountain View

Hundreds gathered in Mountain View Cemetery to remember and honor the soldiers who gave their lives in the service of their country. As people gathered, a brass trio played. After the presentation of the colors, a variety of veterans and active servicemen and women spoke. One speaker called upon people to not only remember the fallen, but to remember and honor vets who've made it home, too, and one way to honor them is to encourage the Veterans Administration to speed up processing of benefits for the vets who need them. The ceremony finished with the placing of a wreath at the veteran's memorial and a 21-gun salute. About 50 people stayed for a tour of the three veteran's plots at Mountain View led by docent and historian, Dennis Evanosky.

More photos:

Mountain View Cemetery: Flowers

tulips and mausoleum

Oakland flower lovers take note: this weekend is the annual tulip exhibition at Mountain View Cemetery. There are thousands of tulips blooming right now around the grounds of the cemetery. Unfortunately the unusually warm weather followed by storms made them peak earlier than normal, but they're still gorgeous and should be OK through the weekend.

In addition to the tulips around the always-beautiful grounds, there will be a special exhibition in the Tower Chapel between 10am and 4pm, Friday through Sunday. At 1pm each day there will be a special demo.

Even if you aren't interested in the expo, I recommend checking out the grounds while the tulips are in bloom. There are other flowers and trees blooming around the cemetery, too, making it even more beautiful.

And for the taphophiles in the crowd, there are lots of stone 'flowers' around the cemetery, too. While sometimes flowers were selected as decorations simply because people liked them, on older graves they frequently have symbolic meanings, too:

• tulip - love and passion
• rose - love, beauty, grace
• lotus - creation and rebirth; particularly on Egyptian-themed graves
• Easter lily - purity, innocence
• lily of the valley - renewal, resurrection
• evening primrose - eternal love, memory, hope
• morning glory - departure, farewell, resurrection
• thistle - Scotland, Scottish
• daisy - innocence, hope; frequently found on children's graves
• bellflower - gratitude

Sara Plummer Lemmon

For the history buffs it should all be interesting, but of particular note is the grave of Sara Lemmon. She shares a marker with her husband, John Lemmon, which reads:

partners in botany
the California poppy was named the state flower in 1903 due to the persistent efforts of Sara Lemmon

Unsurprisingly, her marker features a California poppy.

lots more pictures of flowers in Mountain View:


See more Taphophile Tragics posts from the world, and at Oakland Daily Photo here in Oakland for an interesting marker.

Mountain View Cemetery: 1918 Flu Pandemic

Last month I was in Mountain View Cemetery again to check out the grave of Captain William T. Shorey, and noted that he died during the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic, or as it's widely known, the Spanish flu. You may also have seen the name grippe, or la grippe.

Kaiser Convention Center

Although Capt. Shorey and his family are in their own plot, there's a section in Mt. View where many Oakland victims of the flu are buried. According to Wikipedia, the three waves of the pandemic killed more than 1,400 people out of 216,000 then living in Oakland, or about 0.65% of the population. For a time, the Kaiser Convention Center (then known as the Oakland Auditorium) was used as a makeshift hospital.

The worldwide toll was staggering. It's estimated that between 50 and 100 million people died in the years of the pandemic, or between 3 and 6% of the world's population at the time. In an unusual twist, most of the victims were healthy, young adults, because the virus stimulated an overreaction from their healthy immune systems. It spread rapidly around the world because of advances in transportation and because of World War I, even as far as the Arctic and remote Pacific islands.

Warren E. Greer

Not all of the people buried in plot 53 at Mt. View are influenza victims, but one was Warren Everett Greer (1880-1919). He married Freida Jund, and they had a son, Everett Greer (who is buried nearby in St. Mary's cemetery). Warren was an accountant, and a Woodman of the World. He would have been about 39 when influenza struck, in the prime of life.

A few of the other gravestones that caught my eye are below. Not all are influenza victims, but there's a native of Australia, some symbols that were new to me, and more. DeMolay International (the crest with the DM, crescent moon and star) is connected to the Freemasons, and past members include Walt Disney, John Wayne, Walter Cronkite, John Steinbeck, and Bill Clinton.




lots more pictures:


Read more about the influenza plot at Mountain View Cemetery, and about some of the more famous victims of the flu at Lives of the Dead. Read some newspaper articles from the period at Oakland Genealogy.

Visit Taphophile Tragics for interesting graves from around the world.

Mountain View Cemetery: Black History

Saturday, the walking tour at Mountain View Cemetery focused on Black History Month. This tour covered spots around entire cemetery, which is quite large, so we carpooled rather than walked for most of it. Our docents were Gaye Lenahan and Sarah Calhoun, who are both very knowledgeable about the cemetery and its occupants.

First we heard about Frederick Law Olmstead who designed Mountain View Cemetery. He's best known as a landscape architect, but was also a journalist. He was hired by what is now the New York Times to research the slave economy. After touring Texas, Olmstead realized that not only was slavery morally wrong, but he believed it was expensive and economically inefficient. His subsequent writings helped inform and galvanize antislavery sentiment in the north.

Shorey plot

The first grave we visited was one I visited recently, the grave of Captain William Shorey, the 'Black Ahab'. He was the first black captain operating on the west coast back in the 1880s. He died during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1919, and is buried with his wife Julia Ann (1944) and daughter Zenobia Pearl (1909).

Then we went to an unmarked grave for Isaac and Elizabeth Flood. Isaac was born into slavery in South Carolina, but somehow made his way to California.

Elizabeth Flood
photo: BlackPast.org

Elizabeth Thorn was born a free woman in 1828 and educated in Massachusetts. When her son by her late first husband, Joseph Scott, was not allowed into a school in Sacramento, she opened a private school for black children. Elizabeth and Isaac married in 1855 and moved to Brooklyn, just outside of Oakland (the neighborhood near Highland Hospital is also known as Lynn), where she started another school in their home on East 15th. Elizabeth and Isaac went on to help found the First African Methodist Episcopal church, which eventually took over the school. Isaac helped challenge segregation laws, and their daughter, Lydia Flood, became the first black student to attend John Swett School in Oakland in 1872. Lydia went on to become active in the movement for women's voting rights. The plot is unmarked, but a docent discovered it when she noticed the name Isaac Flood on an old plot map of the cemetery and did some investigation.
more about Elizabeth Thorn Scott Flood
more about Lydia Flood Jackson

Nearby, on what is now a plot with mostly Elks Club members buried there, is another unmarked grave. This one is the final resting place of Jenny Prentiss and her children. You may remember her from the New Era, New Politics walking tour downtown—she was a former slave who was Jack London's foster mother. Her husband Alonzo is buried separately in the veterans plot, but he knew Captain Shorey and played cribbage with him.

Our next stop was a long way up the hill. Unfortunately one of the docents fell ill during the drive, and we spent some time figuring things out, then shuffling amongst cars while another docent who was along took Gaye to get checked out.

Glenn Burke

We eventually found the next marker, the grave for major league baseball player Glenn Burke. He was the first and only openly gay player in baseball, and suffered discrimination both for his homosexuality and his race. When he was with the LA Dodgers, he drew the wrath of manager Tommy Lasorda for befriending his estranged gay son, Tommy Lasorda, Jr. But he's also known for having invented the 'high five' with then teammate Dusty Baker. Burke had a rough time after a shortened baseball career, but his former teammates and the Oakland A's came to his assistance when they found out he was suffering from AIDS. Glenn Burke died in 1995 at Fairmont Hospital in San Leandro. His mother Alice died in 1999 and is buried nearby.

The next scheduled stop was for the grave of Byron Rumford, another name you may remember from the New Era, New Politics walking tour. He was the first black elected to public office in Northern California, and has a section of highway 24 named after him. Unfortunately the remaining docent didn't know the exact location of the grave, so I didn't find it until later. William Byron Rumford died in 1986, and his wife, Elsie Rebecca Rumford died in 2002.

Lil' Bobby Hutton

The grave we did find next was for Lil' Bobby Hutton, the first to join the Black Panthers. He was born in Arkansas, but his family moved to Oakland when he was three years old, after nightriders began intimidating blacks in the area. At age 16, he was the first member to join and the first treasurer of the Black Panther Party. He died April 6, 1968, when he and other Black Panthers were surrounded in a house in West Oakland. Eldridge Cleaver said Bobby stripped to his underwear to show he was unarmed, but police shot him more than dozen times. Police maintained that Hutton attempted to run away and ignored orders to stop, but one Oakland police officer who witnessed the shootout later told Cleaver that, "What they did was first degree murder." Bobby Hutton was buried in Mountain View Cemetery, but didn't get a gravestone until 2003, 35 years after his death.

Marcus Foster

Then it was back around the hill to the grave of Marcus Foster, who was the first black superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District. He was murdered by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA; of Patty Hearst fame) because they believed he supported student ID cards and police in schools. He and his deputy, Robert Blackburn were shot by SLA gunmen with bullets dipped in cyanide, but Blackburn survived. His wife Albertine (Abbe) died recently on December 27, 2011, and is buried alongside him.

We went past the Grand Army of the Republic plot which I visited a couple of weeks ago, and saw the grave of Obediah Summers. He was born into slavery, and his master paid for him to take his place in the Confederate army. Obediah was captured, and then enlisted in the Union army. He later became a minister, and served as the California State Legislature as its first black chaplain. He wasn't originally buried in the GAR plot, but Obediah's granddaughter Myrna Adams petitioned to have his remains moved.

Ida Louise Jackson

Nearby is the grave of Ida Louise Jackson. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 1922, and was the first black teacher in Oakland (the only one until 1934). Ida was also active in public health, working on the Mississippi Health Project which brought medical care to rural Mississippi. As international president of her sorority (the 8th supreme basileus reference on her marker), she also started a program to train rural teachers during the Great Depression in 1934. Ida Jackson died in 1996 at the age of 93.

Our last stop was an unmarked grave in the veterans plot, for Alonzo Prentiss, the husband of Jenny Prentiss. It was a long, but very interesting tour—highly recommended.

more pictures from the tour:


More Taphophile Tragics from around the world,

black history month: Captain William T. Shorey

William and Julia Ann Shorey

When most people think about early black history in Oakland, they think of the Pullman Porters. Less well known is William T. Shorey, who was captain of a whaling ship in the 1880s, the only black captain operating on the west coast at that time. He was known to his whaling crews as the 'Black Ahab'.

William was born in Barbados in 1859, went to sea as a teenager, and made his first whaling voyage in 1876. Whaling brought him to California, and he married Julia Ann Shelton, the daughter of a leading African American family in San Francisco. He was a skilled captain and navigator, earning his masters license which allowed him to command any size vessel anywhere in the world. He and Julia Ann had 5 children, living in West Oakland at 1782 8th Street. William retired from the sea in 1908, as the whaling industry was winding down as petroleum was discovered.

Active in politics before and after his retirement, William hosted a dinner in 1903 honor of Booker T. Washington, who spoke to raise funds for his school at Tuskegee. William died in 1919, one of many victims of the Spanish flu pandemic. Some of the influenza victims from Oakland are buried in plot 53 in Mountain View Cemetery, but William is in plot 14B. Julia Ann (-1944) and their daughter Zenobia Pearl (-1909) were also buried there. Their grave is prominently marked on the maps the cemetery provides. Nearby is a marker for William T. Shorey, Jr. (1902-1969), presumably their son.

Following his death, Shorey Street in West Oakland was named after him. He was the first black resident in Oakland to be honored by the city fathers.

more on Captain William T. Shorey:

• William Shorey (Lives of the Dead)
• influenza plot (Lives of the Dead)
• black Captain Ahab (Black History Album)
• William Thomas Shorey (BlackPast.org)
• William Shorey (Wikipedia)
• Shorey House (blog about their home)

Historical photo from the Oakland History Room at the Oakland Public Library.

More Tapophile Tragics from around the world.