Building, Belonging, Becoming: The Story of Black Oakland
For generations, Black communities have shaped the culture, identity, and spirit of the Bay Area. Their story begins long before World War II, rooted in the movements of Black families and workers seeking opportunity, safety, and a place to call home.
Following the Civil War and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, many African Americans arrived in California as Pullman porters. Oakland quickly became a key destination, as porters and their families settled near the rail lines that once connected the country. Early community landmarks, like the Tubbs Hotel, offered not only lodging but also a space for gathering and organizing, helping lay the foundation for one of the Bay’s first Black neighborhoods in West Oakland.
Black Spaces: Reclaim & Remain, July 18, 2025—March 1, 2026, Oakland Museum of California. Photo by Kiki King. Courtesy of Oakland Museum of California.
As the decades passed, new waves of migration continued to reshape the region. During World War II, thousands of Black migrants came to the Bay Area from the South, drawn by jobs in the shipyards and wartime industries. West Oakland blossomed into a vibrant cultural and social hub, where churches, clubs, and corner stores served as the heartbeat of everyday life. Beth Eden Baptist Church, a community anchor since the 1890s, became a center of faith, organizing, and resilience. Just down the street, Slim Jenkins’ legendary nightclub helped turn Seventh Street into a national destination for Black music and nightlife, attracting iconic performers like Nat King Cole and B.B. King.
Michelle Vignes, Kenny Playing Sax at the De Luxe Inn in Oakland, 1983. Gelatin silver print. Collection of the Oakland Museum of California, Dorothea Lange Award Purchase. Michelle Vignes photograph archive, © The Regents of the University of California, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
But even in the face of cultural flourishing, structural challenges were constant. Redlining, discriminatory housing policies, and urban renewal projects targeted Black neighborhoods, displacing families and dismantling long-established communities. Despite these obstacles, Black residents built powerful networks of care, resistance, and creativity that continue to shape the Bay Area’s identity and its movements for equity.
This fall, the Oakland Museum of California invites you to experience this story more deeply through Black Spaces: Reclaim & Remain, our newest exhibition. This immersive experience explores the powerful legacy of Black migration, community-building, and resistance across Oakland and the greater Bay Area.
Step into the stories of the Black communities who laid early roots in West Oakland. Learn how faith communities and music venues became both sanctuaries and sparks for social change. Discover how Black residents have remained rooted and resilient, even as the forces of gentrification and displacement have continued into the present day.
Black Spaces: Reclaim & Remain, July 18, 2025—March 1, 2026, Oakland Museum of California. Photo by Kiki King. Courtesy of Oakland Museum of California.
Black Spaces is more than a history exhibition. It is a celebration of culture, an acknowledgment of struggle, and a call to protect the spaces that generations have built and project them well into the future.
