Oakland Heritage Alliance - Oakland

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Oakland Heritage Alliance (OHA) is a non-profit that advocates for the protection, preservation, and revitalization of Oakland's architectural, historic, cultural and natural resources through publications, education, and direct action. OHA gives out annual Partners in Preservation Awards to people and organizations who have contributed to preserving Oakland's heritage and culture.

Website: www.oaklandheritage.org
Telephone: (510) 763-9218
Mailing Address: 446 - 17th Street, Suite 301, Oakland, CA 94612
Email: Info@oaklandheritage.org

Education

OHA works to educate people about Oakland's rich cultural heritage in different ways. Probably best-known is their summer walking tours program, which highlights different neighborhoods. They also co-sponsor year-round tours of the Fox Oakland Theater, and have occasional one-time events, like opening the 16th Street Station for Doors Open 2025.

Less well-known are their winter lecture series that cover a wide range of Oakland history and culture. Past lectures have included Between Worlds: Humanizing the Immigrant Experience; Oakland’s Notes on the History of the Mayan-Mam Language; and Picture This: Oakland's Tumultuous Redevelopment History Through Photographs.

The OHA received the California Governor’s Historic Preservation Award for the summer walking tours program in 2005. ¹

History of OHA

Various OHA members were involved in the research for the Cultural Heritage Survey, which was started c.1980. Some had also been involved in the efforts to save Camron-Stanford House in the 1970s. ⁴

Marlene Wilson recalls a group discussing preservation at a backyard party in 1980. Present were Wilson, Leslie Flint, Tom and Melinda Frye, Charles Buckley, Bruce Judd, Brad and Laura Neibling, and Beth Bagwell (who became the first president.) ⁴ The OHA was formed in 1981, and was created from several neighborhood groups, including Brooklyn Neighbors.

The first board of directors was Beth Bagwell, Leslie Flint, Melinda Young Frye, Jon Good, Bruce Judd, Gary Knecht, Brad Niebling, Laura Pan, William Sturm, Michael Swernoff, Marlene Wilson, and Dean Yabuki.

Other people from the early days include Naomi Schiff, Annalee Allen, Betty Marvin, and others.

One of the first preservation efforts that OHA was involved in was the Victor Metcalf House, the home of the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, Victor Metcalf. A developer wanted to demolish it to build a new apartment house; some Adams Point neighbors wanted it left intact; others suggested moving it. Ultimately it was moved to 750 - 14th Street.

In 1982-1984, OHA advocated for restoring and reusing the Floral Depot Building. The owners, Carter Hawley Hale, wanted to demolish it to build a large shopping center. It was made a landmark in 1984.

In 1987,Helen Lore became the first OHA staff member, first as office manager, then administrative director. At the time, OHA had its office in Camron-Stanford House. ⁵

Following the 1989 earthquake, OHA worked to get the city to consider repairs and renovations of some of the damaged historic buildings instead of demolition. Buildings at risk of demolition included City Hall, the Rotunda Building, and the Lionel J. Wilson Building.

Not every preservation effort by OHA has been successful. In 1999, OHA filed its first lawsuit, over the Rubino Building on Lakeshore where a Gap store now stands. They were hoping to convince the developer to rehabilitate and use the existing building if possible. The lawsuit was filed because the city was not following its own preservation guidelines, and some in OHA felt a lawsuit was the only way to stop them. It was also to help protect other "C"-rated historic buildings in Oakland. The lawsuit was settled, but the building was demolished. It also caused internal conflict in OHA, plus animosity from some of the businesses and people in the neighborhood. ² One OHA board member and the executive director resigned, and the rest of the board voted to remove the president of the board. ³

Newsletters

The OHA has published periodic newsletters since shortly after its founding. Most of them are available in PDF form on the OHA website.

You can search them electronically using Google search with some custom filters: https://www.google.com/search?q=site:oaklandheritage.org+filetype:pdf. That URL can be further refined by adding phrases like "Chryst House".

Note that not all of the past issues have been equally well indexed for searches. So consider the above search as a quick first pass, not a definitive answer.