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Guide to the Shades of North Oakland Photograph Collection
MS 99
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Title: Shades of North Oakland photograph collection
Dates: circa 1888-1999
Collection number: MS 99
Collector:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Collection Size:
.75 linear feet
(2 boxes)
Repository:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Oakland, CA 94612
Abstract: Shades of North Oakland was a neighborhood photograph collecting project conducted by the African American Museum & Library
at Oakland and the Oakland Public Library in July 1999. The project was an outgrowth of a statewide photograph project, Shades
of California, that sought to document the daily lives and the historical, political, and cultural contributions of diverse
communities in California.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.
Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.
Permission to publish from the Shades of North Oakland Photograph Collection must be obtained from the African American Museum
& Library at Oakland.
Shades of North Oakland photograph collection, MS 99, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.
Oakland, California.
Photographs were collected and donated to the African American Museum & Library at Oakland by North Oakland community members
at a photograph donation and reproduction clinic conducted at Washington Elementary on July 10-11, 1999.
Processed by Sean Heyliger, Archivist, October 20, 2016.
Biography / Administrative History
Shades of North Oakland was a neighborhood photograph collecting project conducted by the African American Museum & Library
at Oakland and the Oakland Public Library in July 1999. The project was an outgrowth of a statewide photograph project, Shades
of California, that sought to document the daily lives and the historical, political, and cultural contributions of diverse
communities in California. Funding for the project was provided by a $10,000 grant from the Library Services and Technology
Act of the California State Library’s Shades of California Program, a statewide extension of the Shades of Los Angeles Project
at the Los Angeles Public Library. The mission of the Shades of North Oakland Project was to document the activities and history
of current and former residents of African descent of the North Oakland neighborhood by copying photographs from family albums
and private collections. The photographs were reproduced and donors provided details of the history of each donated photograph
and their family’s migration to California. The reproduction prints and negatives were housed in the collection of the archives
of the African American Museum & Library at Oakland and the California State Library.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Shades of North Oakland Photograph Collection consists of photographs, negatives, and project files documenting the neighborhood
documentation project. The collection is organized into three series: I. Photographs, II. Negatives III. Shades of North Oakland
Project Files. The photograph series includes 273 photographic reproductions and is organized by donor. The photographs document
the social, religious, educations, business and political activities of African Americans living in North Oakland mostly from
the 1940s-1990s. Most of the photographs are family photos taken by family members and document the everyday life of African
Americans in North Oakland. A copy negative was created for each image and also included in the collection. The Shades of
North Oakland project files consist of donor information sheets, promotional fliers, program agenda, press release, and a
training manual for volunteers.
Series I. Photographs
Series II. Negatives
Series III. Shades of North Oakland project files
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Oakland (Calif.)--Culture.
Oakland (Calif.)--Social conditions.
African Americans--California--Oakland--Social conditions--20th century.