Description
The
African American Museum & Library at Oakland Oral History Collection consists of 79 oral history interviews conducted in 2002-2007. The interviews
were initially conducted by the AAMLO Coalition, a group of volunteers and supporters of the
African American Museum & Library at Oakland, which interviewed prominent and long-time Oakland residents in the fields of education, performing
arts, politics and religion.
Background
The
African
American Museum & Library at Oakland (AAMLO) was organized on July 2, 1965 in the home of Marcella Ford as the East Bay Negro Historical
Society (EBNHS). 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 society 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 society 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).