The February Feature
Black History in the Bay: A Three-Part Story
Volume 100 | February 2023 | By Meghan Boyle
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EBMUD CHABOT DAM AND RESERVOIR WALK |
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When: Saturday, February 11, 2023
Time: 11:00 AM-1:00/1-3PM
Where: 3860 Hanly Rd, Oakland, CA, 94602
Note: While we added a second walk, both events sold out in the first 1.5 hours. Thank you to all who registered!
On this exciting tour around Oakland's Sausal Creek, expert mycologist Damon Tighe will take you on a deep dive into the world of Oakland's slime mold and fungus species! This event was advertised in a separate email a few weeks ago - if you missed it, be sure to follow us on EventBrite and turn on the notifications to stay tuned for more events.
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What else are we up to? Wholly H2O regularly plans exciting environmental events throughout the year, including beach cleanups, walking tours, art projects, and nature observations (aka BioBlitzes). To view our future events, click the link here, or use the button below.
Our events sell out FAST, so if you'd like to stay tuned and get notifications about our events, feel free to use the link above or the button below to follow us on EventBrite!
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Black History Month in the Bay Area |
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A peek into the Bay Area's Black history, told in 3 stories |
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An Afro-Caribbean entrepreneur, one Berkeley real estate developer's housing policy, and a north Oakland bakery’s past identity. All of these have one thing in common: they helped shape the story of Black history in the Bay Area. This Black History month, join Wholly H2O as we take a deep dive into three little-known stories about Black history in the Bay Area. |
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Part One: An Afro-Caribbean Entrepreneur
By BIPOC creek history researchers Yasmin Golan and Mirana Rideout
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Portrait of William Alexander Leidesdorff, Online Archive of California
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Let's start in the 19th century, on the Caribbean island of Saint Croix. It was here that one of pre-Gold Rush San Francisco's most prominent figures, William Alexander Leidesdorff was born.
Leidesdorff was born in 1800, the son of a woman of mixed African ancestry named Anna Marie Spark, and a Danish sugar plantation manager named Wilhelm Alexander Leidesdorff. The island’s Taíno name was Ay Ay, its French name was Sainte-Croix, and its Spanish name was Isla de la Santa Cruz. Once considered part of the Danish West Indies, today it is considered one of the US Virgin Islands.
As a youth, Leidesdorff became fluent in at least four languages, spent part of his youth in New Orleans, and became proficient in international maritime trade and bookkeeping by his early twenties. In 1841, Leidesdorff sailed on his own ship from Port au Prince, Haiti, to New York City, and into the San Francisco Bay, to settle in what was then Yerba Buena, a mostly adobe town preceding San Francisco. As an entrepreneur, Leidesdorff quickly foresaw the Bay’s potential as a major port city on the western coast of North America, and began developing a number of economic and political interests to that end.
Fluent in Spanish, he was friendly with the Spanish-speaking land-owning families in the East Bay. He acquired Mexican citizenship in 1844, became vice-consul of Yerba Buena to Mexico by 1845, and received 35,000 acres in Alta California (one of the largest land grants ever given by the government of Mexico to any individual). In Yerba Buena, Leidesdorff mixed with Russian fur traders and their Native American crews, hosted visiting dignitaries, and became close associates with European-Americans such as Thomas Larkin who sought California’s future entry into the United States. It could be said that Leidesdorff understood the opportunities available at each moment, and the opportunities to come.
Among Leidesdorff’s many accomplishments, he directed the first warehouse for international trade in early San Francisco, for which a small street is still named after him. Leidesdorff boasted the city’s only flower garden during his lifetime, opened the city’s first hotel, and staged California’s first horse race. After acquiring his vast rancho, Leidesdorff is credited for naming the American River. Respected for his integrity among businessmen, Leidesdorff was an early treasurer of the city, and supervised the opening of what became San Francisco’s first school for children. He also sailed the first steam ship into the San Francisco Bay, through the Delta to Sacramento.
Multilingual, multiracial, economically and politically ambitious, Leidesdorff combined his financial and social capital across languages, communities, and racial categories of the time to create favorable trading alliances among personalities and interests during the transitional period of California’s history between Mexico and US rule, becoming an important figure in mid-19th century history of the Bay Area.
Among his portfolio of investments were lumber mills in the Oakland hills, whose products were transforming the forests of San Antonio Woods into trading commodities. Just prior to the Gold Rush that would have made Leidesdorff a multi-millionaire from his landholdings adjacent to Sutter’s Mill, Leidesdorff died from a brain fever in San Francisco and was buried in Mission Dolores cemetery. No will was found.
Much of the erasure of William Leidesdorff’s legacy from California history may have to do with the European-American men who claimed his land and wealth after his death. Leidesdorff’s mother, Anna Marie Spark, survived her son in Saint Croix. A Black woman, she was located and approached by white men from the U.S. who offered her a fraction of her son’s actual net worth in exchange for the rights to his vast acreage and assets in California, which had become even more valuable after his death by the discovery of gold and the rising demand for ranch cattle during the Gold Rush.
White men like Joseph Libbey Folsom - for whom the town of Folsom, California is named - came to own Leidesdorff’s property through the deal, obscuring Leidesdorff’s legacy as an Afro-Caribbean capitalist and settler of color in the American West, who made his fortune in places including Oakland alongside a predominantly-European owning-class. From a modern perspective, William Alexander Leidesdorff can be understood as North America’s first African American millionaire.
More about William Leidesdorff’s legacy will be joining Wholly H2O’s Walking Waterhoods Sausal Creek tour in 2023, through research conducted by our History and Geography scholars, Yasmin Golan and Mirana Rideout.
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Part Two: A Berkeley Real Estate Developer's Housing Policy
by Meghan Boyle, newsletter writer and junior at California High School
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Laymance Real Estate Co. Rockridge Park Advertisement, c.1900 |
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Jumping forward to the early 1900s, we'll be exploring how real estate developer Duncan McDuffie almost single-handedly shaped the demographics of Berkeley and Oakland's residential neighborhoods, and the effects this has had on Black families throughout the Bay Area.
In 1916, McDuffie devised a land use ordinance for the City of Berkeley called single-family zoning, which forbade developers from building multi-family housing (apartments, duplexes, etc) in designated areas, starting in what would become Claremont. This meant that in regions where single-family zoning was implemented, only single houses could be constructed. This practice was especially popular in Berkeley and Oakland, and it eventually spread across the United States, becoming a quintessential American housing ideal.
This policy was cloaked in the idea that highlighting the wealth of individual families would add to a city’s character and charm. But in practice, single-family zoning is a racist policy that excludes people of color, especially Black families without access to the same wealth and opportunities as white families. To this day, it facilitates the perpetuation of systemic segregation between people of color and white families.
So how does single-family zoning work against Black families? Multi-family units tend to cost less and are a more financially-friendly choice for families unable to afford a house, while single-family houses are significantly more expensive. A study by the University of California, Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute found that the higher the prices of housing, the more white families took up residence. Much of this has to do with the country’s racial wealth gap, with white families making around $188,000 on average, while Black families make about $24,000. Thus, single-family zoning was a clear exclusionary practice meant to keep families of color out of what McDuffie wanted to be white-only neighborhoods. But that wasn’t the only way he discriminated against Black families.
McDuffie was the developer of the Claremont and "Rock Ridge" neighborhoods. Unsurprisingly, he made sure that those areas utilized single-family zoning, but he also implemented racial covenants that explicitly prevented Black and Asian families from moving in. He went so far as to build gates in front of Berkeley’s Claremont Court to signal to citizens that the neighborhood was for white people only. Further, McDuffie was afraid that families of color moving into nearby neighborhoods would lower the property values in Claremont and Rockridge, so he extended his covenants to surrounding areas, and effectively banned a Black-owned dance hall from being built near the Elmwood neighborhood.
Even areas that McDuffie was not directly involved with still suffered from the racist policies that were imposed during the East Bay’s early days. Neighborhoods along Temescal Creek were redlined to prevent Black families from living in houses built in the upstream areas, which were reserved for white residents. Instead, Black families were pushed to neighborhoods downstream, where trash and debris gathered in the open creekbeds, polluting the local environment. After deciding the dirty conditions around these downstream neighborhoods were an eyesore, the city decided to cover up that section of the creek, and eventually built highways over the area, too.
Unfortunately, many of these practices are still not behind us. As much as 83% of the Bay Area’s residential land is under the single-family zoning policy, and throughout the entire country, it's about 75%. Racism and discrimination have been baked into America’s housing and residential development system, causing unnecessary hardship for Black families and leaving a still-spreading stain on the history of the country’s treatment of African Americans. This all begs the question: what are we doing about it now?
Fortunately, California’s Senate and Assembly approved a proposed bill (SB 1120) that will eliminate single-family zoning throughout the state, which they plan to pursue sometime in the next year. And, in 2021, the Berkeley City Council condemned the practice of single-family zoning and is currently working to combat it by legalizing multi-family housing units and building more apartment complexes.
While we can’t change what has already been done or easily erase the fallout of these discriminatory practices, it is important that as citizens, we do our part to recognize the history of the neighborhoods and cities in which we live and advocate for inclusive policies that will create an open Bay Area for all residents. At Wholly H2O, we offer walking tours throughout neighborhoods in Oakland and Berkeley where we discuss not only these areas' environmental features, but the history of the people as well. These tours are a great way to get involved in learning about the history of your own neighborhood, and we always encourage participants to add their knowledge so that everyone can gain deeper insights into the places we inhabit. If you’d like to take one of our tours, be sure to follow us on EventBrite to stay updated on our future walking tour events.
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Part Three: A North Oakland Bakery's Past Identity
by Meghan Boyle, newsletter writer and junior at California High School
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It's All Good Bakery, Feb 2023 / Meghan Boyle |
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For the last installment of our Black History Month newsletter special, we’re finishing off in 1960s Oakland. It was here that political organization, The Black Panther Party for Self Defense, or more commonly known as the Black Panther Party, was formed. Co-founded by Temescal born-and-raised Black activists Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the party originally served as a self-defense group dedicated to protecting African Americans from the dangers of racial discrimination and police brutality.
The American 1960s were a tumultuous time, characterized by progressive civil change, but also harsh marginalization and racial cruelty. In the wake of Malcom X’s murder, Newton and Seale (both students of Merritt College at the time) created the Black Panther Party in 1966 in hopes of sparking change and liberating Black individuals from the shackles of systemic racism and police violence that oppressed them. The Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program was penned in Temescal, delineating the organization’s main philosophy and goals. Their final objective: “We Want Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice And Peace” inspired their efforts for the rest of their time as an organization. The Party soon went nationwide, organizing chapters across the United States and eventually reaching a peak membership of 2,000 in the late 1960s. And those efforts originally began right here in Oakland.
This is where the bakery in question comes in. Currently, the building sitting at 5622 Martin Luther King Jr Way is the location of It’s All Good Bakery, a Black-owned bakery famous for its 7-up pound cake and sweet potato pie. But before it was established, the very site which it sits on was the original office of the Black Panther Party. Here, the Party’s members drafted programs, started social justice initiatives, planned protests, and more. Many of these projects started out in Oakland, where the Panthers would regularly patrol the city’s streets and neighborhoods with weapons to protect Black citizens, headed breakfast programs that kept schoolchildren fed, wrote newspapers, and even managed free medical and legal clinics. These efforts fell under the Party’s iconic “survival programs” that worked to promote social justice and combat the perpetual oppression faced by Black communities. Today, It’s All Good Bakery honors the Black Panther’s legacy with a wall tribute packed with newspaper clippings and photos of former members.
The Black Panther Party was eventually dismantled in the early 1980s as a result of their reputation of violence and characterization as a Communist organization due to their anti-Capitalist ideology. But the Party’s legacy has lasted well beyond their years as an active organization; it has influenced social justice movements both nationally and worldwide, inspired themes in rap music, and even led to the development of federal programs that have continued their work in helping aid underserved communities across America. And their core message, the very first point outlined in their Temescal-born 10 Point Program is an important one that still resonates with people all over the world today: “We want freedom.”
To explore more Black Panther history in Oakland, check out this guide full of significant Black Panther historical sites that you can visit throughout the city. Also, Wholly H2O, regularly runs walking tours that uncover Bay Area history, including that of the Black Panthers, so make sure to follow our EventBrite for tour updates and sign-up information. And, before you go, take a look at this directory of local Black-owned businesses to support this February and beyond!
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Show Some Love! Our Lives Depend on Healthy Watersheds, and Wholly H2O Depends on YOU!
Support Wholly H2O as we plan many more exciting events over the next year!
We create educational content that connects YOU to the watersheds you live in, and we love doing what we do! No matter how much you decide to donate, you will make an impact on what we can accomplish. Click the button below to contribute a tax-deductible donation or check out our fundraiser on our Facebook page!
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Want to Give Back to Your Watershed? Join our Board of Advisors! |
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During the last 100 years, California has been in on-and off drought conditions. We also have one of the five most important delta systems in the world, yet, most Californians do not know where their water comes from, how much they use a day, or what watershed they live in. At Wholly H2O, we are creating deep connections with watershed ecosystems in order to inspire people to take long-range personal and political action, while still having fun. And our Board of Advisors is a crucial part of how Wholly H2O functions. We ask for a solid commitment to:
- Join a 1.5 hour board meeting every four months.
- Put the word out about at least 3 Wholly H2O events a year
- Attend at least 3 Wholly H2O events per year
- Assist us in making connections for program content, partners, funding, and growth.
We're looking for experts in Bay Area creek and marine ecosystems, East Bay BIPOC history, citizen science, curriculum development, East Bay K-12 schools, art, marketing, or outreach. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, apply using this link. Also, be sure to check out our current Board of Advisors to learn more about our current members!
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Wholly H2O couldn't run without the work of our talented volunteers. We have a bunch of unique opportunities throughout the year, such as podcast producing, accounting, and content editing! Take a look at our Volunteer Match to learn more!
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Our Interns Do Really Cool Stuff. |
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We always have a pod of 10-15 interns researching creek histories, creating wildlife guides, editing livestreams, writing copies for our watershed tours, and more. We promise you will never be bored - lend your skills or add your curiosity to our work!
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Wholly H2O catalyzes dynamic, informed connections between people and their watersheds that yield proactive and appropriate water management through conservation and reuse. Our watershed-positive educational programs engage Californians in community , citizen science, art, and green infrastructure education.
Our activities: waterhood tours, BioBlitzes, Moth nights, and art events are bringing waterhoods to life for hundreds of water-users around the San Francisco Bay area! Join us for an event, follow us on social media, volunteer or intern, or donate to support our fun and innovative work. (We also love matched donations from your workplace!)
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