#TodayInOaklandHistory September 2, 1950, Children's Fairyland first opened! Admission was 9 cents for children under 12, and 14 cents for everyone else.

In the original design, adults had to stoop down and pass through the shoe, the same as children. Children's Fairyland also once had its own tiny post office.

Historic photos from Oakland History Center at the Oakland Public Library

https://oaklandwiki.org/Children%27s_Fairyland

#Oakland #History

#TodayInOaklandHistory August 19, 1924, Frank Epperson was granted a patent for the Popsicle.

He originally called them Epsicles, but his kids wisely told him to call them Popsicles instead.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Frank_Epperson

#Oakland #History #OaklandWiki

#TodayInOaklandHistory August 7, 1858, Albert Vander Naillen, Jr. was born. He was a surveyor, engineer, actor (to the consternation of his father), but most famously, a balloonist.

In August 1909, he and Captain Park A. Van Tassell soared aloft in a balloon called the "City of Oakland." Thousands gathered downtown to watch the launch.

You may have seen the balloon featured on the East Bay Yesterday "Long Lost Oakland" poster (now available as a puzzle), or heard about it on the podcast.

Balloon photo in #Oakland is looking west on 14th Street. The older city hall is visible in the background. Courtesy Oakland History Center

https://oaklandwiki.org/Albert_Vander_Naillen%2C_Jr

https://eastbayyesterday.com

Happy Birthday to poet, playwright, and author Judy Juanita, born July 19, 1946 in Berkeley. She edited The Black Panther, the newspaper of the BPP. She later taught at Laney College for many years; she now teaches at UC Berkeley.

https://www.judyjuanita.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Juanita

#TodayInOaklandHistory #BlackHistory

#TodayInOaklandHistory May 30, 1995, Glenn Burke died. He was the first openly gay player in MLB.

He drew the wrath of LA Dodgers coach Tommy Lasorda for befriending Lasorda's estranged gay son. His welcome at the Oakland A's wasn't much better, with coach Billy Martin introducing him with a slur

To their credit, some of his former A's teammates came to his assistance when they found out he was suffering from AIDS

On a lighter note, Burke and then teammate Dusty Baker are credited with the first "high five" after Baker hit a game-tying home run

https://oaklandwiki.org/Glenn_Burke

#OaklandHistory #LGBTQ

#TodayInOaklandHistory May 25, 1944, Frank Richard Oznowicz was born. Better known as Frank Oz, or perhaps better known for the characters he has played, including Bert from Sesame Street, Fozzie Bear on the Muppet Show, and Yoda in Star Wars.

He worked with Lettie Schubert's traveling Vagabond Puppets team, which performed regularly at Children's Fairyland. Oz (R) is shown here with Bert (L), and Fairlyland's master puppeteer Lewis Mahlmann (C).

https://oaklandwiki.org/Lewis_Mahlmann

#LengendaryLocalsOfOakland

#TodayInOaklandHistory May 24, 1943, activist and artist Emory Douglas was born in Grand Rapids, MI.

As the Minister of Culture of the Black Panther Party, his distinctive style of art gave a visual brand to the party.

Happy Birthday!

#TodayInOaklandHistory May 4, 1852, #Oakland was incorporated as a town. The founding scoundrels, Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon hired Julius Kellersberger to lay out the town, which was originally a small area below 14th St., from West St. to the channel (which was much wider then.)

Two years later in 1854, Oakland was re-incorporated as a city.

The color map is from 1857; Kellersberger's map is from 1853.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Oakland_Incorporation_%28Historic%29

#TodayInOaklandHistory April 28, 1958, the last Key System train ran, ending the streetcar era in the East Bay.

From 1938-39 until the end, the trains ran on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge to SF. Before that, Key System ferries took passengers across the Bay.

The "now" picture is at the @westernrailwaymuseum near Suisun City, which has old trains from the Key System, the Sacramento Northern, Southern Pacific interurbans, and more -- some of which still run for excursions.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Key_System

#RailHistory #BayArea #ThenAndNow

#TodayInOaklandHistory April 9, 1882, Rev. Laurentine Hamilton died while preaching on Easter.

Hamilton had been pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, but was charged with heresy(!) and forced to leave. He founded a new church, which eventually became the First Unitarian Church of Oakland.

Besides his untimely exit, Hamilton is best remembered as the namesake of Mount Hamilton near San Jose.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Laurentine_Hamilton

#OaklandHistory #OaklandWiki

#TodayInOaklandHistory March 14, 1913, Florence Wysinger Allen was born. She was an artist and teacher, and called "SF's best loved artists model"

The Wysinger family has deep California roots; her grandfather Edmond Edward Wysinger came to CA in 1849

https://oaklandwiki.org/Florence_Wysinger_Allen

#BlackHistory #WomensHistoryMonth

#TodayInOaklandHistory March 10, 1841, Ina Coolbrith was born. She was the first librarian of the #Oakland Free Library, and the first poet laureate of California.

Her family came to California, led over the Sierra Nevada by Black mountain man Jim Beckwourth

She and her mother used her mother's maiden name Coolbrith to distance themselves from their relative, Mormon founder Joseph Smith

https://oaklandwiki.org/Ina_Coolbrith

#OaklandWiki #OaklandHistory

#TodayInOaklandHistory March 9, 1862, Andrew Anderson was born in the Halland province of Sweden. By the 1880s he had made his way to the Bay Area

Andrew and his wife Emma lived in West #Oakland. He worked as a deckhand on the ferryboat Piedmont

And he was my great-grandfather

https://oaklandwiki.org/Andrew_Anderson

#TodayInOaklandHistory March 6, 1824, Francis Kittredge Shattuck was born. He held various offices, including serving as the 5th mayor of #Oakland. He was involved in real estate, banks, and a host of other activities in Oakland and #Berkeley.

In a sad and ironic twist, he died from injuries sustained by someone stepping off a streetcar and knocking him down...on Shattuck Avenue

https://oaklandwiki.org/Francis_Kittredge_Shattuck

#TodayInOaklandHistory February 2, 1943, Elaine Brown was born. She was the first woman to chair the Black Panther Party, and wrote "A Taste of Power" about the experience.

Brown ran for city council unsuccessfully, then managed Lionel Wilson's successful campaign to become Oakland's first Black mayor.

These days she's working on affordable housing in West #Oakland

https://oaklandwiki.org/Elaine_Brown

#OaklandHistory #WomensHistoryMonth #BlackHistoryMonth

#TodayInOaklandHistory February 13, 1916, Kingsley Wightman was born. A teacher and the director of the Chabot Observatory, he's a big part of why we still have a Chabot Observatory and Science Center.

Countless #Oakland schoolchildren went to the earlier Chabot location and heard him speak. His demonstrations often involved at least one explosion.

He worked to keep Chabot open through budget cuts, even working without pay for 10 years.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Kingsley_Wightman

#TodayInOaklandHistory February 12, 1934, the amazing Bill Russell was born in Louisiana. Russell's play started off awkward (he was cut from the JV team at Hoover Jr. High), but went on to star at McClymond's, USF, and the Boston Celtics. His athleticism and height changed the game of basketball.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Bill_Russell

#OaklandHistory #BlackHistoryMonth

#TodayInOaklandHistory February 10, 1899, Royal Towns was born. He was one of the first Black firefighters in #Oakland, and worked to desegregate the department.

He was assigned to the segregated station #22 at 3320 Magnolia. There he mentored various firefighters, including Jimmie Stanislaus and Sam Golden.

Sam Golden went on to become the first Black chief of OFD.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Royal_Towns

#BlackHistoryMonth

#TodayInOaklandHistory February 4, 1874, author Gertrude Stein was born. She's probably best remembered locally for the oft-misinterpreted "there is no there there"

It wasn't disrespect for #Oakland, it was lamenting that all the things she remembered from her childhood here were gone. The bucolic home, the garden, the Tubbs Hotel (where the family 1st lived when they came to Oakland) -- all of it was gone.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Gertrude_Stein

#TodayInOaklandHistory February 2, 1908, Byron Rumford was born. A pharmacist, community leader, and politician, he was the first Black elected to public office in northern CA, and the first hired at Highland Hospital.

He faced discrimination when applying for jobs, but persisted. He served in the CA State Legislature from 1948 to 1966. In 1963, the legislature passed Rumford Fair Housing Act.

https://oaklandwiki.org/William_Byron_Rumford

#BlackHistoryMonth