[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 54 (Friday, May 3, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF OAKLAND STATEHOOD

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 2, 2002

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to commemorate the 
150th anniversary of the City of Oakland. One hundred and fifty years 
ago, on May 4, 1852, the City of Oakland was incorporated. It is my 
great privilege to represent the Ninth District of California, which 
includes Oakland, a city that has played a vital role in the history, 
economy, and culture of the wonderful state of California and the 
nation.
  The City of Oakland has cultivated a rich history in the last 150 
years. The city offers ethnic diversity, intellectual ferment, and 
economic vitality, and has made a wide array of contributions to 
science, technology, literature, the arts, and business.
  Oakland emerged as a major commercial and transportation center in 
the heyday of the California Gold Rush of 1849. It became a crucial 
transit point from the San Francisco Bay to Sutter's Mill and the 
Sierra Nevada foothills. Oakland dramatically expanded after the tragic 
San Francisco earthquake of 1906 as Californians sought firmer ground. 
The city's population significantly increased again during the World 
War II, when thousands of Americans came to the City to work in the 
busy shipyards, the Oakland Army Base, and the Naval Air Station in 
Alameda.
  As the city grew, so did its commitment to progressive activism. 
Individuals stood tall for their rights and organized others to follow 
suit. Individuals such as Cotrell Lawrence Dellums, a Pullman porter 
and a Bay Area representative for the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car 
Porters, began organizing fellow African-Americans to join the union in 
1925, when Oakland was still strongly linked to the passenger rails. As 
the head of the Alameda County NAACP, he helped the AFL-CIO consolidate 
its membership by delivering the support of Black railroad workers and 
members of the NAACP, and was among the first to organize voter 
registration campaigns in the district. C.L. Dellums' spirit of 
activism has remained alive in Oakland throughout the years.
  Two-time Socialist Party Candidate for Mayor and Call of the Wild 
author Jack London called Oakland his home for nearly thirty years. 
From this city, London wrote many of his vivid evocations of the Far 
North. The East Bay's sometimes chilly climate may have helped inspire 
some of his more picturesque depictions of life in the Yukon. Today, 
Jack London Square bears Oakland's famous son's name, a beautiful 
waterfront business and shopping area, representing both tradition and 
the economic vitality of the city.
  London was not the only cultural icon to grace Oakland's streets: 
Robert Louis Stephenson, Ishmael Reed, and Gertrude Stein lived in 
Oakland, and all enriched our literary heritage.
  As a sea, air and rail port, Oakland is at the hub of California 
trade. The maritime port stretches across nineteen miles of San 
Francisco Bay. One of the largest ports on the West Coast, the Port of 
Oakland is today second only to New York in terms of container terminal 
space. It is a primary sea terminal connecting the western United 
States to Asia, South America, and Europe. Like the seaport, the 
airport also represents a crucial link in the chain of intrastate, 
interstate, and international commerce. The Oakland Airport was also 
the starting point in 1937 for Amelia Earhart's ill-fated round-the-
world flight.
  Historic landmarks in Oakland include the Dunsmuir House, Mills Hall 
located on the Mills College campus, the Paramount Theatre, the USS 
Hornet (CV-12), and several buildings designed by architects Julia 
Morgan and Bernard Maybeck. Additional landmarks in the district 
include the C.L. Dellums Train Station, the just-opened Chabot 
Observatory and Science Center, Children's Fairyland (Walt Disney's 
blueprint for Disneyland), Jack London Square, Lake Merritt, Oakland's 
Chinatown, and the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building.
  Three of Oakland's annual events were recently placed as a ``Local 
Legacy'' in the Library of Congress' Bicentennial celebration. These 
events are the Dia de los Muertos, The Black Cowboys Parade and the 
Festival of Greece. I am proud that these events are recognized by the 
Library of Congress as a local legacy.
  With a century and a half of history behind it, Oakland now stands at 
the brink of a new century and a new millennium. As we move forward 
into the future, we must continue to celebrate our diversity, remember 
our past, and refute Gertrude Stein's famous Oakland lament that 
``there was no there there.'' There is a there, there, and for a 
hundred and fifty years there has been. Congratulations to the people 
of Oakland on 150 years of history and tradition.

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