Establishing This Project

The road to this project started in December 2014 while working as a volunteer at my local library. While scrolling through the Berkeley Daily Gazette microfilm searching for death notices for local Berkeleyans, an odd (and racist) headline stopped me mid-scroll:

Berkeley Daily Gazette, 10 March 1909.

"Charles Mills Defends Jap" Berkeley Daily Gazette, 10 March 1909.

The strangeness and desperate nature of the article stuck with me, ("The people up in that neighborhood don't need to be afraid that his children will play with theirs..."). That humans could be so frightened of another human being, or that their children would have any reason to fear Mr. Shima's children was ridiculous. But this is much bigger than fearing children at play or fear of unseemly people associating in the neighborhood.

Berkeley was the result of larger and more ingrained racism that flourished in California since the beginning of its colonization. But rather than putting it on an institution or political affiliation alone, one should still consider free will. The acts of individuals, the influence of noteworthy citizens participating in civic activities, and what they believe to be the best interest of the community. These civic engagements had real consequences.