East Bay Yesterday

07/12/2025

This is gonna be so much fun

It's easy! Choose an East Bay tale from an old newspaper. Turn that into a tiny model. Win respect — and maybe prizes too!

07/12/2025

Here are a few pics from the archive of La Peña Cultural Center, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Check out my new episode to hear about the history of this vital institution! (link in comments)

07/11/2025

There are dozens of incredible quilts on display as part of the new Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive exhibition “Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts” - but I want to highlight three works that celebrate Oakland history. “Riding High” by Marion Coleman depicts a scene from the Oakland Black Cowboys’ annual parade. “Delilah Leontium Beasley” by Marsha Carter shows the pioneering author and historian who wrote “Negro Trailblazers in California.” And “My Migration” by Ora Clay incorporates images of the Pullman Porters into a story about Clay’s journey from Alabama to Oakland via rail in 1962. I can’t recommend this show highly enough! It’s on display until November 30 and admission is free on first Thursdays...

07/11/2025

"A pathbreaking civil rights lawyer who fought for workers, unions, and human rights advocates over five decades..."

Siegel served as president of Oakland's school board and fought for workers, unions, and human rights advocates over five decades as a lawyer.

07/10/2025

New episode just dropped!

In 1973, Chile’s democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende was toppled by a right-wing military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet. As news of the brutal repression that followed spread around the globe, a group of activists in Berkeley opened a cafe to serve as a hub of organi...

07/06/2025

I'm doing a free walking tour this Thursday in downtown Oakland...

Explore the under-heard histories of the people and places of "The Town" around Oakland City Hall from pre-colonization to present day with East Bay Yesterday.

07/02/2025

Very excited for this Lake Merritt history event...
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/exploring-watershed-history-reflections-on-lake-merritt-film-preview-tickets-1425975343639?aff=oddtdtcreator

07/02/2025

“Looking at the work now, I am struck by the feeling that what I have resembles nothing so much as a family album..."

  One picture changed everything. In the 1960s, Nacio Jan Brown was a photographer for the San Francisco Express Times, an underground weekly newspaper. Typically, he would sit in Caffe Mediterraneum on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley and wait for something to happen. One day, nothing did. So he left ...

06/20/2025

The history of the East Bay Dragons totally changed my perspective on motorcycle clubs...
https://pod.link/1158506231/episode/aa1b26bd2f5c8d1fe93c5489cf73b5b4

06/05/2025

Because history isn't just data...

Sometimes objects convey history in ways that a screen never could

06/04/2025

Everyone is always asking about how to "bring back" downtown. Here's an idea: MORE NEON! Do I really need to explain?

06/03/2025

“This contest is a unique and creative way to get people to engage with Oakland history...”

Create a diorama based off an Oakland news article for a chance to win prizes and be part of an art exhibit at the main library.