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Image of Book on Oakland Army Base History Celebrated by Those Who Lived It

Book on Oakland Army Base History Celebrated by Those Who Lived It

Press Releases, Seaport, Community
July 23rd, 2010

Press Releases

For Immediate Release
July 23, 2010

New Book on Oakland Army Base History Celebrated by Those Who Lived It

Oakland Army Base life from WWII-era and beyond captured in Oral History Project

A book launch party celebrated the publication of The Oakland Army Base: An Oral History, from UC Berkeley's Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) at The Bancroft Library, with support from the City of Oakland and the Port of Oakland, Thursday evening, July 22, at the West Oakland Senior Center, 1724 Adeline Street, Oakland.

The book project team – the Bancroft Library, the Oakland Public Library's Oakland History Room, the Port of Oakland, and the City of Oakland – sponsored the event to honor the contributors whose voices are featured in the book and to publicly launch the book.

Life at the former Oakland Army Base, from construction of its barracks and shipping piers in 1941, to base closure in 1999, is the subject of the book. The ROHO historians interviewed nearly 50 military veterans, civilian employees and longshore workers from every era of the base's history, plus local community members who sought to shape the future of the base once it closed in 1999.

The book is the culmination of a four-year oral history project of exhaustive research and in-depth interviews commissioned by the City and Port to commemorate and preserve the human story of the 58 years of the Oakland Army Base.

For photographs contact: Margaret Sullivan, City of Oakland, at 510-238-7387, or at [email protected]. To see the full transcripts of each interview and details on obtaining the book, go to the ROHO Oakland Army Base project website: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/projects/oab/index.html

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Media Contacts:

Marilyn Sandifur, Port Spokesperson
Port of Oakland Spokesperson
(510) 627-1193
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