For Immediate Release: December 27, 2006

Real Stories, Original Music Bring Oakland’s
Locomotive Legacy to Life in More Rail

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(Oakland, CA)—Railroad history in the US has been widely documented, but few oral history projects have examined the legacy of railroads through the eyes of African Americans. With so much local history tied to the railways, inter-disciplinary artist Michael Copeland Sydnor has devoted his considerable energies to bringing California’s railway history to life through dramatic readings of oral history supported by images and original music in his fascinating performance work, MORE RAIL: Montage of Rail Experience – Restoring An Intimate Legacy. Starting Tuesday, January 9, 2007 and continuing into March, MORE RAIL will visit libraries throughout Oakland to offer all-age performances that no Oaklander should miss.

"This is part of storytelling in the African griot tradition," said Copeland Sydnor, referring to the traditional West African wandering musician or poet who is considered the keeper of oral tradition. Part biography, part conversation, and part historical fact, MORE RAIL also offers a taste for the everyday life of other eras. Copeland Sydnor designed the performance piece as a way to research and collect oral histories and ephemera for scholars as well. To that end, he invites people to reflect on history by collecting history, and he continues to seek interview subjects with personal or family stories of the rails.

So take your seat and enjoy a ride back in time at one of these live performance dates:

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. & MAYORAL INAUGURAL CELEBRATION
Dimond Branch, Tuesday, January 9, 6:30 pm
West Oakland Branch, Saturday, January 13, 2 pm
Temescal Branch, Saturday, January 27, 10 am

AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH PERFORMANCES
Eastmont Branch, Thursday, February 1, 3 pm
Asian Branch, Saturday, February 3, 2 pm
Main Library Children's Room, Wednesday, February 7, 6:30 pm
Brookfield Branch, Tuesday, February 13, 3:30 pm
Melrose Branch, Saturday, February 17, 2 pm
M. L. King, Jr. Branch, Tuesday, February 20, 3:30 pm

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH PERFORMANCES
West Oakland Branch, Saturday, March 3, 2-4 pm
Golden Gate Branch, Saturday, March 10, 2pm

As part of this series of programs, a one-man art installation national heritage exhibit of MORE RAIL by producer and artist Michael Copeland Sydnor will be on display for Black History Month at the Elihu M. Harris State of California Building Craft & Cultural Arts Gallery, located in the atrium at 1515 Clay St. in Oakland. It runs Friday, January 12 through Friday, March 2, 2007. The exhibition and related events are free and open to the public.

Learn more about MORE RAIL, a Soul in the City Urban Advocates presentation produced by Go Productions, by visiting http://www.soulinthecity.org/. For more information, please call (510) 238-3134, or see the Library's Web site: www.oaklandlibrary.org. Please refrain from wearing scented products. To request sign interpretation, or other accommodation, call the number above or (510) 834-7446 (TTY) at least five working days prior to the event. The Oakland Public Library is a department of the City of Oakland.

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