What's "the point" of history?

The past isn’t a collection of trivia, it’s our entire world

What is the point of studying history? I get asked this question occasionally, although usually not so directly. Sometimes it’s a veiled reference to the fact that “knowing history” isn’t exactly the most employable skill set these days. According to one study “the annual number of history bachelor’s degrees in the United States has decreased by about half since the early 2000s.”  

If the question comes while I’m delivering a guest lecture to teenagers, it’s probably coming from a student wondering why we bother with history books in a world where Google exists and everybody has a smartphone. Instead of pointing out the fact that being able to conduct rigorous research is a widely applicable skill or starting a discussion on the precariousness of entrusting the storage of all human knowledge to privately-owned digital conglomerates, I prefer a simple response: We’re living in history. In other words, the past isn’t a collection of trivia, it’s our entire world.

Here’s one example: This 1937 “redlining” map above illustrates how institutional racism determined the demographics of this region by defining the boundaries of segregation. With few exceptions, people of color were only allowed to own property in the red areas, which meant they couldn’t access bank loans for homes or businesses, setting the stage for generational poverty that remains stubbornly entrenched all these years later. The intricacies of this process have been thoroughly explored in books like “American Babylon” and “The Color of Law.” The point is that the past is all around us. It’s even underneath us…

“Berkeley has dangerously mismanaged toxic gas below Cesar Chavez Park,” according to a recent Berkeleyside article that explains how regulators are increasingly frustrated by Berkeley’s failure to safely maintain the site of a former waterfront landfill. As I covered in a recent episode, most of the East Bay’s shoreline was used as a dump until the emergence of the Save the Bay movement in the 1960s. Since then, many of these toxic sites have been turned into parks or restored wetlands, but even though the waterfront looks and smells much better, danger remains below the surface. In both metaphorical and physical terms, we can bury the past, but we can’t stop it from bubbling up and potentially causing great harm.

Unfortunately, “poisonous gas” leaking from Cesar Chavez Park is only one of the many problems that will be plaguing the Bay Area in coming years, given the announcement that coastal cities throughout this region are “sinking.” Once again, this is a case of the unearthed past (in the form of combustible fossil fuels) haunting the present, on the widest scale imaginable.

The good news is that there’s still time to prevent the Bay Area flatlands from suffering the same fate as Drawbridge, the partially submerged “island ghost town” south of Fremont. Besides toxic gasses and chemical contaminants, clues on how to live sustainably can also be located below ground. Since the dawn of colonization, Ohlone shellmounds were treated as “rubbish heaps” by European newcomers, but a growing appreciation for these sacred sites, led by the descendents of the Bay Area’s Indigenous people, could lead to a better understanding of how to exist in balance with nature – something the Ohlone managed to accomplish for millenia.  

Tragically, the visible portions of most shellmounds were demolished in the decades following the Gold Rush, but layers upon layers of Ohlone history have been preserved underground, often covered by asphalt, in places like West Berkeley. Gaining knowledge from these sites, doesn’t necessarily entail digging up these remains, however. There are other ways of learning besides archaeological analysis. 

After many years of challenging a development proposed for the site of the West Berkeley shellmound, it was just announced that ownership will be transferred to the Indigenous-led Sogorea Te Land Trust. According to the group’s co-founder Corrina Gould (who I interviewed about Ohlone sacred sites in this episode), her vision for the property involves native plant restoration, a ceremonial structure, and an educational facility (see below). In this case, history could serve as a catalyst for positive change rather than a looming specter of doom.

On a final note, I want to highlight another story about Ohlone history set across town in the Berkeley hills. Ally Markovich, the guest of my most recent episode, wrote a two-piece series on Indian and Mortar Rocks. The first article in her series focuses on the Indigenous history of these rocks and explores their significance to the Ohlone people. The second piece, which we discuss in the podcast, covers the role these boulders played vis-à-vis the emergence of modern rock climbing culture. I hope you’ll give it a listen. -Liam    

East Bay Yesterday Updates & Events

After taking a winter hiatus from doing live shows, I’m coming out of hibernation with a stacked lineup of events… 

First up, I’ll be doing a Q&A at Oakland Photo Workshop on April 5 with Aja Cooper. We’ll be discussing her father Raymond’s incredible photos and the wild story of how they were almost lost forever. In her review of the exhibit, KQED’s Rae Alexandra wrote, “In Cooper’s images, we see snapshots of lives and characters, places and social events that vividly take us back to the streets and living rooms of 1970s Oakland.” This event is free, but RSVP is required due to limited space.

On April 9, I’ll be heading over to the West Bay for an event at The Commonwealth Club called “Overlooked Histories of the Bay and Beyond.” Here’s the official description: “Think you know the Bay Area? Our past is so much more diverse, more heartbreaking, and more inspiring than anything we are taught in school. Join us as we explore some of these histories with Heather Bourbeau, Gary Kamiya, and Liam O’Donoghue, three locals who are deepening our understanding of and relationship to this place we call home.” Gary and I worked together at Salon.com many years ago and his SF history book “Cool, Grey City of Love” is one of my all-time favorites so I’m thrilled to finally share a stage. Get tickets here.

For Oaklandside’s first Culture Makers event of 2024, we’re flipping the script. The regular host, Azucena Rasilla, will be one of the guests while I step in as moderator. I’ll be interviewing Azu, along with her newsroom colleagues Natalie Orenstein and Darwin BondGraham about Oaklandside’s stellar coverage of (surprise!) local history. These three have produced so many articles I’m excited to discuss (here are a few examples) and we’ll also be exploring the relationship between journalism and history. This event is so fresh that it doesn’t even have a link yet, but check Oaklandside’s site soon for a ticket announcement and in the meantime, save this date: April 25 at New Parkway Theater.  

75 years ago, KPFA-FM became the first listener-funded radio station in the country. To honor this anniversary, I’ll be doing a presentation on the sweeping history of this institution on June 3 at Shotgun Players Theater in Berkeley. The event is called “Rebel Airwaves” and my goal is not only to mention the station’s major milestones but also explore the impact of its legacy. I’m currently in the process of interviewing people who have been connected with KPFA for decades and I’m already digging up some incredible stories. Unfortunately, the process for acquiring tickets is a bit complicated: Go to the KPFA support page, donate $100, hit the “Misc” tab under “Pledge Gifts” and then hit the “Add” button under the “Rebel Airwaves” listing.

In Other News

Everyone who hikes the lesser-known trails of the East Bay hills knows that if you spot the remnants of some long-abandoned concrete structure, it will inevitably be covered in graffiti. Over the years, I’ve stumbled upon many of these “hidden art galleries” while tramping around on obscure connector paths and through overgrown passages. The history of one of these sites was explored in a recent episode of Bay Curious. Check it out to hear Oakland geologist extraordinaire Andrew Alden share the history of the Leona Heights Quarry, which operated until a massive fire incinerated the operation in 1913.

The Bay Area’s most active 102-year-old is back in the news. A musical production about the astonishing life of Betty Reid Soskin is premiering on March 29 in San Francisco at Z Space. According to the description, “Sign My Name to Freedom” will cover her time as a “World War II defense worker, business owner, activist, revolutionary, songwriter, and park ranger.” Getting to interview Betty was one of the highlights of my career. This woman radiates inspiration and I expect the show to be a gem. 

When I spoke with veteran journalist William Gee Wong a few years ago about the history of Oakland’s Chinatown, he was working on a story about his family’s history. That book, “Sons of Chinatown” has just been published and Mr. Wong will be doing a book release event at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center on March 24. RSVP here.

A new self-guided walking tour about Black history at UC Berkeley just launched. According to the Oakland Post, guided versions of the tour will be coming soon as well. I haven’t checked it out yet, but I notice that the first stop highlights Walter Gordon, a civil rights trailblazer whose legacy has been having a bit of a renaissance lately. Check out the Berkeleyside review of the new Walter Gordon documentary here: “Film celebrates Cal’s first Black football player, BPD’s first Black officer.”

Ever since I started DJing 20+ years ago, I’ve loved learning about the histories of various nightlife scenes. Some of the most famous, like the Wigan Casino’s Northern Soul parties or the Full Moon parties that helped launch the Bay Area’s rave scene in the 1990s, have been covered by books, documentaries, and countless articles. Unfortunately, due to the ephemeral nature of these scenes, even the most legendary parties often fade from memory rather quickly. That’s why I was so thrilled to see a glittering profile of former East Bay hotspot The Silks (which was located at the current site of The Public Market). In the words of SNL’s Stephon, this club had everything: A giant disco ball, an eccentric mayor, dance battles between Soul Train regulars and MC Hammer! Check it out at the Emeryville Historical Society’s site, and don’t miss the accompanying disco mix embedded at the bottom of the article.  

PS: A few years ago, I wrote how documentation of Oakland’s once-thriving warehouse party scene is rapidly disappearing. Surprisingly one of the few online sources that maintained evidence of this world was… Yelp! You can still read my article at SF MOMA’s sadly defunct Open Space site… but whenever MOMA decides to stop paying for the hosting of this dead site, that article will probably disappear into the cyber-ether, too.  

Sponsored Messages

In 1972, artist Romare Bearden created a mural for the chamber of Berkeley’s City Council called “Berkeley – The City and Its People.” The mural shows Berkeley’s past, present, and future in layers of collage fashioned from photographs, paint, and colored paper. Look closely and you’ll see a familiar icon: four faces in profile. Those faces represent Berkeley’s diversity – and they’re now Berkeley’s official city logo. Bearden’s mural is no longer on view at City Hall, but you can see his nearly-identical original study at The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. The work is part of a show called “What Has Been and What Could Be.” It also features 17th century Japanese scrolls, American landscape paintings, African-American quilts, and feminist art. This exhibition is on view through July 7, and BAMPFA gallery admission is FREE on the first Thursday of every month.

According to the California Department of Public Health, Black babies in the Bay Area are two to three times more likely to be born too soon or too small or to die before their first birthday, compared to white babies. Scientific evidence points to structural racism and a systemic lack of cultural awareness by providers among the causes of these disparities. To address this inequality in health outcomes, doctors and nurses at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland created BLOOM: the Black Baby Equity Clinic. This new clinic at UCSF Children’s matches mothers and families with culturally responsive pediatric care, and provides help like lactation counseling, check-ups, and critical support. UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals are committed to providing equitable care that makes a difference. 

Finally 

For the first few years of doing the podcast, the most common complaint I received about East Bay Yesterday was that people didn’t like the sound of my voice. Usually these critics bemoaned either my “vocal fry” (raspy throat noise) or “uptalk” (over-enunciating the last word of phrase). There’s only so much I can do to make my voice more radio friendly while still sounding natural, but I worked on polishing my delivery and eventually the complaints stopped coming. Either I accomplished my goal of sounding more buttery smooth or those listeners gave up and moved on. 

But last week I received a new complaint – that I “chuckle” too much. According to this listener, my laughter is “a weird tick that can easily be edited out.” Here’s the thing: I laugh a lot. I know. I notice how often I laugh when I’m editing my episodes, but I never thought of removing those “chuckles” because I want to sound natural and, well, laughter comes naturally to me. I hadn’t considered my jolly delivery could be annoying or offensive, but now I’m second-guessing myself. I’m curious if anyone else has thoughts on this, so if you want to share your opinion, drop me a line. I promise I won’t be offended by negative feedback, but please remember… even if you find my laughter mildly irritating, it could be much, much worse.  

Thanks for reading! And extra special thanks to those of you supporting East Bay Yesterday through Patreon or through a paid subscription to this Substack. The only reason that I’m able to devote so much time to this project is because of your generosity.  

-Liam

PS: Another way to support East Bay Yesterday is by purchasing my t-shirts and hats from Oaklandish or getting the Long Lost Oakland puzzle from Oakland Puzzle Company.