OAKLAND―Golden Gate After-Hours: Celebrating Neighborhood African American History

EUGENE & RUTH LASARTEMAY, founders of the East Bay Negro Historical Society, Golden Gate Library, 1983. 

OAKLAND―Join Commons Archive for a special Thursday evening ‘after-hours’ at North Oakland’s Golden Gate Library on February 13, 2020. Hear historian and writer Susan Anderson talk about the East Bay Negro Historical Society, their impact on the Golden Gate Branch and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland, as well as their legacy in Oakland. Experience the Golden Gate Library Local Collection, a new place-based reference series, in specially designed reading chairs crafted from re purposed library furniture. Explore neighborhood stories in larger than life photo and text prints installed on library windows, hallways and even the elevator. Contribute your neighborhood memory to the project’s growing collection of community stories. Enjoy local music from the library’s collection curated by The MERCER Brotherhood. Leo Mercer, a displaced North Oakland neighbor and rap-activist, will share an audio collage created from performances of the Golden Gate Library Summer Jazz Concert series along with local music and neighbor stories. February 13, 2020 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Golden Gate Branch Library 5606 San Pablo Avenue Oakland, CA The library is wheelchair accessible. Street parking is available. AC Transit bus 72 stops at the library’s entrance. For more information contact the library at 510-597-5023. Commons Archive holds in place the stories of those who have lived in the Golden Gate neighborhood and provides access to these stories for years to come. As neighbors continue to flow through the community, the archive will stand to preserve these memories. Commons Archive honors neighbors’ multiple roles as participants, narrators and creators of the many histories of this dynamically changing area. To learn more about Commons Archive, its past events and community partners, please visit www.commonsarchive.net and follow @commons_archive on Instagram. Commons Archive is supported by California Humanities through a Humanities for All Project Grant.