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The public is invited to the opening event for a new exhibit at the Berkeley History Center this Sunday, November 11. [Note: Both the timing of the event and the closing date have changed since initial publicity went out.]
About the event:
November 11, 2018, is the?100th Anniversary of Armistice Day – the end of World War I. At 11:11 AM, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín will hold a ceremony on the steps of the Veterans Memorial Building for the World War I memorial plaque, newly restored. Immediately following, there will be a presentation in the building's auditorium hosted by the Berkeley Historical Society.?
The program will include City Councilmember Linda Maio speaking on her experiences with Sanctuary City movements in Berkeley. In addition, representatives from the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission and Code Pink will speak?about one Sanctuary City moment: a 2011 resolution that the Guantanamo prison should be closed and the welcome of one of the refugees to the Berkeley community with an event known as “From Guantanamo to Berkeley.”?
Exhibit curators Phyllis Gale and Harvey Smith will then present introductions to the subject matter of the new exhibit. The exhibit will be opened for viewing for approximately one hour, with light refreshments served in the lobby. ?
Following this event, people may wish to attend the?across the street in Civic Center Park, scheduled from 1 to 4 PM.?
The Center Street Parking Garage, a block from the Veterans Building, has just reopened. Parking is $3 per hour. You may also find free parking behind Old City Hall or on the streets west of Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
About the exhibit:
The new Berkeley Historical Society exhibit will explore Berkeley’s humanitarian spirit and internationalism. Berkeley became the first sanctuary city in the United States at the end of the City Council Meeting of November 7, 1971, when Resolution #44,784 was signed, providing sanctuary for Naval seamen of the USS Coral Sea who were opposed to the Vietnam War. The exhibit will also explore nine more City resolutions passed since that time?in areas such as sanctuary for Central American refugees (1985), acceptance of Arab immigrants (1991), a Hate Free Zone (2001), opposition to the Patriot Act (2002), reaffirming Berkeley as a City of Refuge (2007), and finally last February, when Berkeley became a sanctuary city for cannabis.
One part of the exhibit is selections from “Building Bridges, Not Walls: Immigrants, Diversity and Internationalism,” curated last year by Berkeley Historical Society member Harvey Smith, originally for the San Francisco Public Library and the Canessa Gallery. It celebrated San Francisco Bay Area immigrants and children of immigrants and the roles they played in the building of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges and the region’s internationalist outlook culminating in the founding of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945. Additionally, the exhibit celebrated the diverse workforce that built the new western span of the Bay Bridge. Local artists, photographers,?and poets inspired by these stories created art that explored both the history and the contemporary relevance of the themes.
The Berkeley History Center is in the Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street, Berkeley. History Center hours are 1-4 PM, Thursday through Saturday. Admission is free (donations welcome); wheelchair accessible.
The History Center will be open the Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 23 and 24.
For further information, visit www.berkeleyhistoricalsociety.org or call (510) 848-0181.
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