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Guide to the Carter Gilmore Papers
MS 151
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Table of contents
Title: Carter Gilmore Papers
Dates: 1960-2006
Collection number: MS 151
Creator:
Gilmore, Carter.
Collection Size:
.5 linear feet (1 box + 1 oversized box)
Repository:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Oakland, CA 94612
Abstract: Carter Gilmore (1926-2006) was born May 30, 1926, in Grapeland, Texas. In 1977 Gilmore became the first African American elected
to the Oakland City Council. He served from 1977 to 1990, during which time he also acted as vice mayor to Lionel J. Wilson.
Gilmore also served as president of the NAACP's Alameda branch and, later, of its Northern California division.
Physical location: African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Oakland, CA 94612
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 Carter Gilmore Papers must be obtained from the African American Museum & Library at Oakland.
Carter Gilmore papers, MS 151, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
Processed by Sean Heyliger and Sean Dickerson, July 18, 2017.
Biography / Administrative History
Carter Gilmore (1926-2006) was born May 30, 1926, in Grapeland, Texas, son of Payne Gilmore, a sharecropper, and Bertha Owens
Gilmore, who together had a large family of 12 or 13 children. Gilmore attended high school in Crockett, Texas, and then served
in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He married Liz Hampton of Crockett in 1947. In 1951, the couple moved to Oakland, California,
where he worked for Granny Goose Foods as plant manager. Gilmore also served as president of the NAACP's Alameda branch and,
later, of its Northern California division.
In 1977 Gilmore became the first African American elected to the Oakland City Council. He served from 1977 to 1990, during
which time he also acted as vice mayor to Lionel J. Wilson. Gilmore’s achievements on the City Council included creating a
city anti-blight ordinance and leading the fight to establish the Citizens Police Review Board and the Housing, Residential
Rent and Relocation Board. His work as chairman of the Oakland NAACP's labor and industry committee in the 1990s included
leading the investigation of racial discrimination against African American employees at United Parcel Service. Gilmore retired
from Granny Goose Foods in 1993, focusing on community advocacy work until his passing on December 23, 2006.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Carter Gilmore papers consist of campaign flyers, resolutions, commendations, plaques, correspondence, photographs, newspaper
clippings and assorted print material documenting the career of Carter Gilmore as Oakland City Council member and community
leadership. Photographs in the papers include Gilmore alongside prominent African American politicians and leaders such as
Willie Brown, Lionel J. Wilson, Coretta Scott King, and Barbara Lee.
Series 1. Politics
Series 2. Photographs
Series 3. Assorted printed material
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Gilmore, Carter.
Oakland (Calif.). City Council
Oakland (Calif.)--History.
Oakland (Calif.)--Politics and government.
Lionel J. Wilson Collection, African American Museum and Library at Oakland.