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Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Access Restrictions
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Processing Information
  • Biography / Administrative History
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Arrangement
  • Indexing Terms
  • Separated Material

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Flood family papers
    Dates: circa 1850s-1963
    Collection number: MS 49
    Collector: Flood, Lydia Flood.
    Creator: Flood family.
    Collection Size: .1 linear feet (2 folders)
    Repository: African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
    Oakland, CA 94612
    Abstract: The Flood family was one of the earliest and most prominent African American families to settle in Oakland, California. The Flood Family Papers includes 18 photographs, Lydia Flood Jackson’s funeral program, and two letters written by Lydia Flood Jackson to Ruth Lasartemay.
    Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

    Access

    No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.

    Access Restrictions

    Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.

    Publication Rights

    Permission to publish from the Flood Family Papers must be obtained from the African American Museum & Library at Oakland.

    Preferred Citation

    Flood family papers, MS 49, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.

    Processing Information

    Processed by Sean Heyliger, 08/15/2013.

    Biography / Administrative History

    The Flood family was one of the earliest and most prominent African American families to settle in Oakland, California. After purchasing his freedom, Isaac Flood (1816-1892) moved to California in following the Gold Rush, settling in Oakland in 1853. He worked as a laborer and tradesman and married Elizabeth Thorn Scott (1828-1867) in 1855, a school teacher from Sacramento who started the first public school for African American students in the state. In 1857, Elizabeth opened a private school in the Flood home for African American students, which was moved to the African Methodist Church in 1863 and operated for three years before closing in 1866. The couple had two children, George Francis Flood, who was born in 1857 and was thought to be the first African American born in Oakland, California, and Lydia Flood (1862-1963).
    Isaac Flood and Lydia Flood Jackson were both out-spoken advocates for African American civil rights and education. Isaac Flood served as secretary on the Education Committee of the Colored Citizens of the State of California and in 1871 successfully petitioned the Oakland Public School Board to admit minority children. Lydia Flood Jackson was active in many women’s organizations, including the Native Daughter’s Club, Fanny Jackson Coppin Club, and Federation of Women’s Colored Clubs. She served as the Federation of Women’s Colored Clubs’ first legislative chairwoman and advocated for the organization to promote women’s suffrage.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The Flood Family Papers includes 18 photographs, Lydia Flood Jackson’s funeral program, and two letters written by Lydia Flood Jackson to Ruth Lasartemay. A majority of the photographs are portraits of Flood family members and friends of the Flood family in Oakland, California. Included in the collection is a tintype portrait of Oakland’s first African American school teacher, Elizabeth Scott Thorn Flood, taken mostly likely in the 1850s.

    Arrangement

    Series I. Photographs Series II. Lydia Flood Jackson

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
    Flood family.
    Jackson, Lydia Flood.
    African American families -- California -- Oakland.
    African American teachers -- California -- Oakland.

    Separated Material

    Four folders of photocopies of genealogical material transferred to accession file.