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.