For Immediate Release: April 12, 2007

Demolition or “Civic Pride through Civic Improvement;”
Exhibit Opens April 15, 2007

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(Oakland, CA)— On July 1, 1957, city officials gathered near old Franklin School in Oakland’s Clinton Park neighborhood to launch the first project of urban renewal in the Western United States. In commemoration of that event, the Oakland History Room presents Demolition or “Civic Pride through Civic Improvement:” An Exhibition Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Urban Renewal in Oakland an exhibition of materials from the collection that surveys the history and socio-cultural impacts of urban renewal on the city of Oakland and its economy from its beginning to the present. The Oakland History Room, which is located on the second floor of the Main Library, 125-14th Street, will host this exhibit from April 15 to September 15, 2007.

The exhibition starts with the origins of modern urban renewal, featuring photographs of historic low-income housing being constructed during the Great Depression. Created under Federal Housing Administration programs, these projects were the first to use public money for inner-city housing development. The exhibit then follows history to shed light on the extensive redevelopment projects that transformed downtown Oakland during the mayoral administrations of Lionel Wilson and Elihu Harris.

For more information, please call (510) 238-3222, or see the Library's Web site: www.oaklandlibrary.org. The Oakland Public Library is a department of the City of Oakland.

Photos Available by Request.

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