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Guide to the East Bay Negro Historical Society Records
MS 32
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Table of contents
Title: East Bay Negro Historical Society records
Dates: 1965-2001
Collection number: MS 32
Creator:
East Bay Negro Historical Society
Collection Size:
6.75 linear feet
(11 boxes + 1 oversized box)
Repository:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Oakland, CA 94612
Abstract: The East Bay Negro Historical Society Records include meeting minutes, correspondence, reports, program flyers and brochures,
financial ledgers, and scrapbooks documenting the activities of the society between 1965-2001.
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 East Bay Negro Historical Society Records must be obtained from the African American Museum
& Library at Oakland.
East Bay Negro Historical Society records, MS 32, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland,
California.
Sean Heyliger, 05/04/2013. Updated because of additions by Sean Heyliger on 01/17/2014. Updated because of additions (Acc.
#2016-091) by Sean Heyliger on 12/14/2016.Updated because of additions (Acc. #2016-051) by Sean Heyliger on 7/14/2017.
Biography / Administrative History
The East Bay Negro Historical Society (EBNHS) was organized on July 2, 1965 in the home of Marcella Ford. In attendance at
the first meeting were the seven founding members of the society: Marcella Ford, Jesse Ford, Eugene Lasartemay, Ruth Lasartemay,
E. Harold Mason, Morrie Turner, and Madison Harvey Jr. The society’s mission was to “collect, preserve, record, and disseminate
information related to the history, culture and experience, of persons of Black American and African descent, especially those
in the East Bay, the State of California and throughout the West.” The EBNHS consisted of members, officers, and an executive
board and included library, museum, publications and publicity, program, membership, finance, and nomination committees which
met on the third Saturday of every month. Initially, the society operated as a unit of the Oakland Unified School District
Volunteer Program, with members giving lectures on black history to students that would visit the library and museum.
In 1970, the EBNHS moved to a storefront located at 3651 Grove Street in Oakland, California and remained there for six years
before moving to 4519 Grove St., where it established a museum and library. In 1982, the society was invited into the Golden
Gate Branch of the Oakland Public Library, making it the first Oakland library branch with a collection focused on African
American history and culture. Following the appointment of Dr. Lawrence Crouchett as its executive director in 1988, the
society changed its name to the Northern California Center for Afro-American History & Life (NCCAAHL). In 1994, the City of
Oakland and the NCCAAHL merged to create the African American Museum & Library at Oakland (AAMLO).
Scope and Content of Collection
The East Bay Negro Historical Society Records include meeting minutes, correspondence, reports, program flyers and brochures,
financial ledgers, and scrapbooks documenting the activities of the society between 1965-2001. The records are organized into
three series: East Bay Negro Historical Society (EBNHS), Northern California Center for Afro-American History & Life (NCCAAHL),
and photographs. The East Bay Negro Historical Society (EBNHS) are divided into subseries administrative records and scrapbooks.
The administrative records document the planning and operation of the historical society and includes its constitution and
by-laws, a short narrative history and overview of its mission, two volumes of meeting minutes, visitors log and membership
dues ledgers, and assorted correspondence and program flyers. The scrapbooks contain photographs, newspaper clippings, flyers
and programs, and assorted correspondence and proclamations from 1965-1988.
Series I. East Bay Negro Historical Society
Series II. Northern California Center for Afro-American History & Life
Series III. Photographs
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
East Bay Negro Historical Society
History--Societies, etc.
African Americans--California--East Bay--History.
Oakland (Calif.)--Clubs.