Kenneth P. Green Sr.’s Photographs of the 1960s and 70s.Â
Multiple women outside a West Oakland Methodist Church in 1967. (Kenneth P. Green Sr.)
ABOUT THE ARCHIVE (from the Website)
The Kenneth P. Green, Sr. Photography Archive seeks to preserve and present the collected work of photojournalist Kenneth P. Green, Sr. As a lifetime Oakland resident and the first African-American staff photographer for the Oakland Tribune (1968-1982), Mr. Green captured some of the most consequential social changes occurring not only in the Bay Area, but in our time. His photographs reflect the best of photojournalism and photography —a chronicle of the here and now and a collection of personal portraits that illustrate the timeless human side of the people involved. What separates the Green Archive from conventional journalistic sources are the thousands of additional images Green captured as a participant and member of a dynamic community mobilizing during turbulent years. His true artistry lies in his ability to capture the multifaceted organic expression of the African American community in the Bay Area—unrehearsed portraits of movement leaders, interactions of families, students, and community members, and the full range of people who participated in the daily work of social change.Â
ABOUT THE FOUNDATION
The Kenneth P. Green, Sr. Photographic Archive is maintained by Sugga’s Eye, Images, A Green Family Foundation. In 2015 the Green family opened The Kenneth P. Green, Sr. Archive to the public with the expressed purpose of preserving the rich history captured in these images and returning it to the community. Many who lived through these moments remain in our community and have shared their personal recollections and stories, further documenting the historic importance of the images.
The Foundation is also committed to engaging younger generations in confronting today’s problems through the lens of a history not often told. The stories these images tell have the power to inspire today’s teens by documenting an empowered black community working together to achieve self-determination and social change.
“Kenneth P. Green Sr. attended Laney College from 1965–67, majoring in Photography. During that time, he developed a close relationship with students and student associations at Laney, as well as Merritt College.  These Oakland-based campuses had substantial student bodies of color and were both vibrant community colleges as well as centers of activism and community organizing. His images capture all facets of campus life.”
OAKLAND COMMUNITY
“Kenneth P. Green Sr. was the staff photographer at the Oakland Tribune from 1968-1982. Prior to, and even during, his tenure at the Tribune, he was a keen observer of his community. This gallery highlights a set of personal portraits that capture the multifaceted organic expression of the African American community in the Bay Area.”
Current Show
CURRENT
Toward A Black Aesthetic: Kenneth P. Green Sr.’s Photographs of the 1960s and 70s. SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY, 25 January-21 April, 2024
 The exhibition, titled Toward a Black Aesthetic and on view through April 21, 2024, features Green Sr.’s mostly never-before-seen images capturing Bay Area Black women’s beauty and style in the 1960s and ’70s.
Jewett Gallery – Lower Level African American Center Exhibit Space – 3rd Fl, 100 Larkin Street SF CA 94102
More Info:
The Oakland Tribune’s First Black Photojournalist – KQED
A bit of history of the automotive industry in Oakland from 1911 to the mid-1960s. This is just a bit of history, as I have spent way too much time on this one post and need to get to work and finish the other 28 posts I have in draft form.
Be sure to check both pages of this post.
In 1913, automobile registrations in California reached 100,000. In 2021, California was the federal state with the highest number of motor vehicle registrations in the United States, with 14,268,528.
A large Fisher Body plant came next adjacent to the Chevrolet plant. Then the Buick Motor Company, Olds Motor Works, and Pontiac Motor Car Company opened warehousing facilities.
Oakland Tribune November 13, 1938
A-C, Delco,United Motors, and tire and truck companies added plants, factories, and warehouses.
Oakland’s first automobile manufacturer and the city’s first city’s most short-lived motor-car maker, opening in May 1911, the California Motor Car Company was housed in a two-story concrete building built in 1908 for the California Cotton Mills and located on the east side of High Street at the corner of San Leandro Blvd.
Oakland Tribune May 25, 1911
The owners, Walter Sachs (president) and A.J. Schram, proudly proclaimed that Oakland was to have
“the only large automobile manufacturing on the Pacific Coast.”
The first car, the Pacific Special, was ready to be tested in 1912.
Oakland Tribune June 1912
By 1914 the company was bought out by Cole California Car Company, and by 1915 the “Pacific Special” was no longer made.
More Info:
First Factory in Bay Region will turn out the Pacific Special – S.F. Examiner June 7, 1911
In 1916, Chevrolet opened the auto industry’s first West Coast assembly plant in Oakland in Elmhurst.
Breaking ground for the Chevrolet factory, 69th Avenue, and Foothill Boulevard in Oakland, California. Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
According to the Oakland Tribune, the plant was built in 90 days. A crew of twenty men poured 7,000 yards of cement in forty-six days.
Photos by Cheney Photo Advertising
Chevrolet Motors became a division of General Motors in 1918. In 1923 plant expanded to include Fisher Body Division.
Production of the Chevrolet Series 490 began on September 23, 1916.
S.F. Examiner November 23, 1954
During the first year (1917) of full production, the plant assembled 10,089 cars.
Payday at the Chevrolet Plant November 24, 1919 – Photo by Cheney Photo Advertising
By 1923 the original plant had been enlarged three times, increasing the workforce to 1,300.
Oakland Tribune October 23, 1927
Real Estate
Real Estate developers used the erection of the plant to their advantage. They advertised that you live close to your job at the plant. One development was named “Chevrolet Park. Melrose Highlands announced the “working man home.”
Oakland Tribune October 19, 1916
During World War II, the plant stopped the production of automobiles for commercial use and contributed to the war effort by producing mutations. When commercial manufacturing resumed, Chevrolet’s most well-known vehicles during the 1950s were built at the plant.
50 millionth General Motors Car
In November 1954, General Motors celebrated the fifty million passenger car by making a solid gold 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. In Oakland, they celebrated by giving public tours of the assembly and truck plants.
S.F. Examiner November 23, 1954
Plant Closes
In 1963 the plant closed and moved its operations to Fremont, CA.
Before the factory closed and moved to Fremont in 1963, more than 4 million Chevys rolled off the assembly line.
In 1965 the old factory was demolished to make room for the 13 million-dollar Eastmont Mall.
What did Oakland’s Eastmont Mall site look like in decades past? – The Oaklandside
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Elmhurst 1925 Vol 6 Image 27 – Library of Congress
Fageol Motors Company
“Fageol Signs Up For New Factory”
The Fageol Motors Companyof Oakland bought four acres of land between Foothill and Hollywood Boulevards (now MacArthur Blvd) and 107th Avenue to build an auto and truck plant.
The exterior of Fageol Motors Company plant, Iveywood Development in Oakland, California Cheney Photo Advertising Company. Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
GROUND BROKEN FOR FAGEOL PLANT
“Oakland City Officials Join Company Heads in Celebrating Event – Trucks and Tractors to Be Built
“Factory is Welcomed To Oakland Auto Parade Celebrates Event”
Oakland Tribune June 19, 1917
Speeches were made by John L. Davie, mayor of Oakland, Frank R. Fageol, secretary and manager of the Fageol Motors Co., and Joseph H. King, president of the local Chamber of Commerce. After the groundbreaking, three short racing events entertained the large gathering of spectators. The celebration closed with a demonstration of the new Fageol tractor.
“Fageol Plane is a Mecca of Big Crowds”
Oakland Triobune June 19, 1917
The plant’s first unit was to be built immediately at Hollywood Boulevard and 107th Avenue for $100,000, with more than 15,000 square feet of floor space. The structure was made of steel and brick, and cement.
Photos by Cheney Photo Advertising
Interior of Fageol Motors Company, Hollywood Boulevard at 107th Avenue in Oakland, California. Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room. Circa 1931
“Since the founding of Fageol Motors Company, there had been a plan to build automobiles. Frank R. and William B. Fageol, with Louis H. Bill, built and marketed what was to be the most expensive luxury car of the time using the Hall-Scottaircraft engine. Marketed as the “Fageol Four Passenger Touring Speedster,” only three were known to have been produced before the government took over the engine manufacturing plant to build war planes, ending production.” From Wikipedia
The factory produced trucks and tractors; in 1921, Fageol became the first company to build a bus from the ground up.
Oakland Tribune June 1996
In 1938 the factory was bought by T.A. Peterman.
“On a 1938 business trip in San Francisco, Peterman learned that Fageol Truck and Motor Company was to be sold. Seeking an opportunity to expand into new vehicle production, he acquired Fageol fromSterling Motor Company for $50,000, receiving the 13.5-acre Fageol plant in Oakland, California, its tooling, and parts inventory; the purchase was completed in 1939″
Peterman died in 1945, and the business was sold in 1947 to a group of Peterbilt executives. His wife, Ida Peterman, retains ownership of the land.
In 1960 site was sold to the Draper Companies of San Francisco for the development of a $2,500,000 shopping center to be known asFoothill Square. Peterbilt moved to a new factory in Newark, CA.
More Info:
I am not sure if the factory was on land that was 4 acres or 13.5 acres. I bet they purchased more land later, bringing the total from 4 to 13.5.
In 1921 William Durant started Durant Motors, and a year later, opened a 20-acre, 300,000-square foot plant in Oakland along East 14th between 107th and 109th.
The site included a spur (an extension of the Stonehurst branch) built by Southern Pacific. They laid two miles of track on the factory grounds.
Oakland Tribune December 4, 1921
The chassis was assembled on the first floor, and bodywork was done on the second floor. When the completed chassis arrived at the end of the assembly line, the completed body was lowered on it.
The Oakland plant assembled Durant Model Fours and Sixes and later the economical Star Car.
Durant Motors operated until 1931 when it was renamed De-Vuax-Hall Motors. In 1936 the facilities were sold to General Motors, becoming Chevrolet Trucks, General Motors Truck, and Coach Division.
Later the plant was used as a regional parts warehouse.’
In the 1980s, two wings of the plant were converted into a marketplace bazaar called Durant Center (Durant Square Mall.)
