Description
The Hackett family immigrated to San Francisco in 1885, when James Alexander Hackett along with his wife, Alice, and daughter,
Sadie, came to San Francisco in search of employment at the advice of his first cousin, Charles Calvin Petty, a pastor at
Starr King Zion Church in San Francisco, California. Two brothers of James Alexander, Sylvester R. and Charles C. Hackett,
would both also move to California. James Alexander and Alice Hackett (née Hickerson) were one of the first African American
families to settle in Alameda, California, where they eventually constructed a house at 1608 Union St. and resided with their
twelve children, Sadie, Nora, Myrtle, Luther, Arthur J., Latrecia, Paul, Teresa, Lincoln, Alice E., Grace E., and Josephine.
The Hackett Family Papers consist of mostly portrait photographs of family members and friends and assorted printed material
that includes short biographies of members of the family, a photocopy of a diploma of Tyra D. Hackett, an appointment book,
and a collection of calendars.
Background
The Hackett family immigrated to San Francisco in 1885, when James Alexander Hackett along with his wife, Alice, and daughter,
Sadie, came to San Francisco in search of employment at the advice of his first cousin, Charles Calvin Petty, a pastor at
Starr King Zion Church in San Francisco, California. Two brothers of James Alexander, Sylvester R. and Charles C. Hackett,
would both also move to California. James Alexander and Alice Hackett (née Hickerson) were one of the first African American
families to settle in Alameda, California, where they eventually constructed a house at 1608 Union St. and resided with their
twelve children, Sadie, Nora, Myrtle, Luther, Arthur J., Latrecia, Paul, Teresa, Lincoln, Alice E., Grace E., and Josephine.
James Alexander worked as a porter, a clerk at the rubber goods firm of Girvin and Company, produce merchant, and eventually
opened an express and drayage company with his brother Sylvester. Sylvester and Marie Ada Hackett also resided in Alameda
with their seven children Tyra D., Bert D., Roy H., Ruth E., Deborah E., Reuben, and Esther. Charles C. and Gertrude Hackett
also lived in Alameda with their two daughters, Joza and Gertrude. The daughter of Sylvester R. Hackett, Ruth Lasartemay,
became the first curator of the African American Museum and Library at Oakland.