Oakland Heritage Alliance

Oakland Heritage Alliance A 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to preserving the architectural, cultural, and natural resources of Oakland, California.

Be a part of Oakland’s future and join our email list, attend an event, volunteer, or become a paid member. Oakland Heritage Alliance is Oakland's over 40-year-old preservation organization, and has participated in preserving some of Oakland's most iconic buildings and settings, such as City Hall, the Oakland Fox Theatre, Flora, the Broadway Building, the 16th St. Train Station, Lake Merritt, Lake

side Park, and many others, as well as celebrating cultural institutions from Black Cowboys to Fairyland and from individual homeowners to large development companies. We present walking tours all around town, lectures, presentations, talks, and building tours, as well as special events. Our advocacy promotes a healthy appreciation of the past alongside an optimistic view of the future.

Join us on Thursday, November 20 [7PM] for the lecture Between Worlds: Humanizing the Immigrant Experience!Location: Cha...
11/18/2025

Join us on Thursday, November 20 [7PM] for the lecture Between Worlds: Humanizing the Immigrant Experience!

Location: Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA 94611

Author Karin K. Jensen will discuss her book, The Strength of Water: An Asian American Coming of Age Memoir. The story begins in 1920s Detroit and vividly illuminates her mother’s journey to wartime China — and back — in a powerful memoir of identity, survival, and hope that humanizes the immigrant experience. Much of the second half of the book takes place in the East Bay, where historic Oakland sites like the Ming Quong Home, Pland’s Restaurant at MacArthur/Broadway, and the Paradise Café next to the Paramount Theater form the settings. The Strength of Water received a coveted starred Kirkus review and was named to Kirkus’s annual list of the top 100 indie books.
Karin K. Jensen is a local news writer for the Alameda Post. She has won NewsBreak editorial awards, including on the topics of and Voices. For her work, Authority Magazine named her a social impact author.

Celebrate the innovators who keep our town vibrant ✨. Join us Sunday, Oct 19 from 4–6 PM PDT at the 2025 Partners in Pre...
10/09/2025

Celebrate the innovators who keep our town vibrant ✨. Join us Sunday, Oct 19 from 4–6 PM PDT at the 2025 Partners in Preservation Awards, hosted in the beautiful and historic Wendte Hall at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland.

The PIP awards honor individuals, organizations, projects, and programs whose work contributes significantly to the rich cultural and historic fabric of Oakland. With this recognition, we of the OHA board of directors hope to inspire others to preserve, protect, and promote Oakland’s historic and cultural resources.

Schedule:
4:00 PM – Doors open
4:30 PM – Reception begins
5:00 PM – Award ceremony
6:00 PM – Event ends

🎟 Buy tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/pip-2025
Your ticket includes a catered reception with light fare.

💵 Suggested donation: $25 members / $30 nonmembers — but if this is a hardship, please email us privately. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

🍷 Fine California wines available for purchase (21+).

Specific information about parking will be available soon. Interior parking for bicycles is available on request.

Celebrate the innovators who keep our town vibrant ✨. Join us Sunday, Oct 19 from 4–6 PM PDT at the 2025 Partners in Pre...
10/09/2025

Celebrate the innovators who keep our town vibrant ✨. Join us Sunday, Oct 19 from 4–6 PM PDT at the 2025 Partners in Preservation Awards, hosted in the beautiful and historic Wendte Hall at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland.

The PIP awards honor individuals, organizations, projects, and programs whose work contributes significantly to the rich cultural and historic fabric of Oakland. With this recognition, we of the OHA board of directors hope to inspire others to preserve, protect, and promote Oakland’s historic and cultural resources.

Schedule:
4:00 PM – Doors open
4:30 PM – Reception begins
5:00 PM – Award ceremony
6:00 PM – Event ends

🎟 Buy tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/pip-2025
Your ticket includes a catered reception with light fare

💵 Suggested donation: $25 members / $30 nonmembers — but if this is a hardship, please email us privately. No one will be turned away for lack of funds

🍷 Fine California wines available for purchase (21+)

Specific information about parking will be available soon. Interior parking for bicycles is available on request

09/29/2025

California Preservation Foundation

As one of Oakland’s best loved preservation victories, the Kingfish was awarded the 2016 Partners in Preservation Rehabi...
09/26/2025

As one of Oakland’s best loved preservation victories, the Kingfish was awarded the 2016 Partners in Preservation Rehabilitation and Adaptive Reuse Award and continues to enchant Temescal lovers of beer and sports.

Bait shop-turned-beer joint, the Kingfish Pub & Café has seen North Oakland through most of the past century. The stories - of bootleggers & Bears, regulars & Athletics, weekenders & Warriors - are written on our walls.

East Bay Yesterday, awarded the 2018 Partners in Preservation Education Award, had been launched only the prior year whe...
09/24/2025

East Bay Yesterday, awarded the 2018 Partners in Preservation Education Award, had been launched only the prior year when OHA recognized Liam O’Doinoghue for this wildly popular podcast. Now eight years in production, it keeps getting better.

Since 2016, this independently-produced series has explored stories of culture, politics and nature from Oakland, Berkeley and other towns throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties. An hour-long version East Bay Yesterday airs Wednesdays at 1 P.M. on 94.1 KPFA-FM. East Bay Yesterday was named “The Best Podcast about the East Bay” in 2017 by the East Bay Express.

Allan Michaan is recognized as an Oakland hero for his loving care of the iconic Grand Lake Theater for the 2019 Partner...
09/22/2025

Allan Michaan is recognized as an Oakland hero for his loving care of the iconic Grand Lake Theater for the 2019 Partners in Preservation Lifetime Achievement Award. Michaan is also a longtime friend of OHA, check out the video lecture he presented for us during the depth of the COVID shutdown.

Link: https://youtu.be/q68jmFA0hcg?feature=shared

Grand Lake Theater: In 1926, the Reid Brothers’ design for the Grand Lake Theater was completed for West Coast Theaters, Inc. March 6, 1926 marked the grand opening of this Vaudeville Show and Silent Movie House. In 1928, West Coast Theaters, Inc. became part of the Fox Theater Chain. Vaudeville Shows were discontinued after talking pictures (known as ‘talkies’) became popular. In 1980, Allen Michaan, owner of Renaissance Rialto, Inc. purchased the ground lease, opening the theater as a single screen Movie Palace and beginning a process of restoration and upgrades that continues to this day.

Image credit:

OHA values opportunities to celebrate the faith leaders who play an important role in Oakland cultural stewardship, and ...
09/20/2025

OHA values opportunities to celebrate the faith leaders who play an important role in Oakland cultural stewardship, and have recognized the Allen Temple Baptist Church for the 2022 Partners in Preservation Stewardship Award. Senior Allen Temple pastor, the Revered Dr. Jacqueline A. Thompson, delivered a fire-and-brimstone sermon at the 2022 PIP ceremony at the Pardee Home Museum.

Allen Temple Baptist Church was organized in 1919 in Oakland, CA. Throughout its history, the church has served as a bright beacon of faith, hope, and love beyond its four walls. The congregation is affiliated with both the American Baptist Churches USA and the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

This restoration at Resurrection Chapel, just steps away from the OHA office, was recognized for the 2022 Partners in Pr...
09/17/2025

This restoration at Resurrection Chapel, just steps away from the OHA office, was recognized for the 2022 Partners in Preservation Stewardship Award and illustrates the talent of Nzilani Glass Conservators. Principal Ariana Makau, an alumna of the Royal College of Art, London, brings an international perspective to stained glass resources in Oakland.

Beginning in August 2019, Nzilani Glass conservation embarked on their latest monumental conservation project, fully restoring a 118 year old inverted Stained Glass Dome at Resurrection Church in Oakland, CA. Nzilani spearheaded the project which saw collaboration with many talented Bay Area artists including architectural metal workers and Rbhu Creative to redesign and engineer the original structural support apparatus. An enhanced rigging system which supported its steel frame was also added. The project received a Craftsmanship/Preservation Technology Award from the California Preservation Foundation.

OHA was delighted to recognize this grassroots collaboration for the 2023 Partners in Preservation Stewardship Award amo...
09/16/2025

OHA was delighted to recognize this grassroots collaboration for the 2023 Partners in Preservation Stewardship Award among neighborhood activists, “sports parents”, history enthusiasts, and city of Oakland staff.

Rickey Henderson Field was built in 2007-2008 (as the former Carter Field) by Oakland Tech parents and community members through an extraordinary grassroots, volunteer effort. Approximately $350,000 in cash and in-kind donations were raised, along with ‘sweat equity’—countless hours of grueling, hands-on field work by scores of dedicated volunteers of all ages, including Tech ballplayers. It’s not only the new home baseball field for the Oakland Tech Bulldogs, it’s also an invaluable asset for local youth leagues, including North Oakland/South Oakland Little League, Oakland Cal Ripken-Babe Ruth Baseball League, the Metropolitan Junior Baseball Team and American Legion Baseball.

Join us on Saturday, August 23, 2025 [2:00 - 4:30 PM]!Location: Pacific Renaissance Plaza 9th Street Entrance – Look fo...
08/12/2025

Join us on Saturday, August 23, 2025 [2:00 - 4:30 PM]!

Location: Pacific Renaissance Plaza 9th Street Entrance – Look for the green flag.

RSVP for this event here:
https://events.humanitix.com/oakland-chinatown-2025

Oakland proudly celebrates its diverse cultures, unique heritages, and immigrant diasporas that make this country great. This year we’ll explore some of the communities that call Oakland’s Chinatown home. We’ll bring Japanese American, Chinese American and Southeast Asian communities to life. You’ll hear immigrant and refugee stories, and you’ll experience the beauty of a diverse cultural fabric woven together by those who sojourned to Oakland in search of a better life and a place to belong. This tour is limited to 25 attendees, so get your tickets soon. Easy; a level walk

Tour Guide: Lailan Sandra Huen

More info:
https://www.oaklandheritage.org/events/oakland-chinatown-2025

Join us on Sunday, August 17, 2025 [10:00 AM - 12:30 PM]!Location: Southeast corner of 17th Street at Telegraph AvenueRS...
08/07/2025

Join us on Sunday, August 17, 2025 [10:00 AM - 12:30 PM]!

Location: Southeast corner of 17th Street at Telegraph Avenue

RSVP for this event here:
https://events.humanitix.com/tiles-part-2-2025

In the brief period from 1928 to 1931 a wave of colorful ceramic buildings appeared on the scene. Soon afterwards the economics of the Great Depression put a damper on new construction, and the more minimalist Streamline Moderne style supplanted the exuberant expressions from Oakland’s magic year of 1931. We are left today with an outstanding collection of colorful ceramic Art Deco buildings. Approximately half of the city’s original cluster of such buildings still survive. Some interesting examples of damage and subsequent facade restoration will be explored. Easy; a level walk

Tour Guide: Riley Doty

More info:
https://www.oaklandheritage.org/events/tiles-part-2-2025

Address

446 17th Street, Ste 301
Oakland, CA
94612

Telephone

+15107639218

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Oakland Heritage Alliance posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Oakland Heritage Alliance:

Shortcuts

Share

Category