14th Street and Broadway, 1925 Oakland Bay Bridge, 1936 Lake Merritt Tribune Tower Fairyland, Courtesy of the Oakland Convention & Visitors Bureau Oakland Public Library
 
 
Civic Pride through Civic Improvement
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clinton park demolition

The monthly shopping guide for members of the former Affiliated Government Employees' consumer cooperative feature the Clinton Park Project on the cover of its October 1960 issue.



Demolition : or, ‘Civic Pride through Civic Improvement’ :
an exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of urban renewal in Oakland”
April 15, 2007 – September 15, 2007

 

On July 1, 1957, city official 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 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 the beginnings to now.

The exhibition includes photographs of the creation of low-income housing during the Great Depression under the Federal Housing Administration, whose programs first brought public money into use for inner-city housing development. It follows the history through the extensive redevelopment projects that transformed downtown Oakland during the mayoral administrations of Lionel Wilson and Elihu Harris.



Clinton Park

Clinton Park

The cover of a final report on the Clinton Park Project, published in 1962, shows how some of the subsidies went to modernize buildings in the neighborhood.

 

A "before-and-after" shot of a stretch of Tenth Avenue illustrated the possibilities of the project. (Top photo, 1957, bottom photo, 1962). The improved property is located at 2011 Tenth Avenue.




Oakland History Room,
Apr. 15 - Sep. 15, 2007


An Exhibit


Oakland History Room
Main Library
125 14th Street
Second Floor

For exhibit hours and more information call
(510) 238-3222
or
(510) 238-3136

 

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Page Last Edited May 2, 2008