Fires

The African Americans Affected by the East Bay Hills Fire Collection was an oral history project undertaken by the African American Museum & Library at Oakland. The African Americans Affected by the East Bay Hills Fire Collection consists of 10 interviews conducted from 1993 to 1995 with African Americans who were living in the East Bay during the Oakland hills firestorm of October 1991. View online items Dates: 1993-1995   Collection number: MS184   Creator: African American Museum & Library at Oakland   Creator: Atkinson, Nicole C.   Collection Size: .75 linear feet (1 box)   Guide to the African Americans Affected by the East Bay Hills Fire Oral History Collection Available at the African American Museum & Library at Oakland (AAMLO) We encourage researchers to contact AAMLO before visiting so that we can be prepared to assist you. Please call 510-637-2000 or email aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org to arrange an appointment or inquire about access.

Photographs taken by Andrew Ritchie in Oakland, California (1990-1991). The bulk of the photographs are of the 1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm, taken both during and after the fire. Ritchie photographed the active burn while working alongside other civilians to fight off the fire with garden hoses, successfully saving two homes, and revisited the burn zone later to document the destruction. Also includes a letter of commendation from President George H.W. Bush, for Ritchie's role in fighting the fire, and a series of negatives taken at a Nelson Mandela rally at the Oakland Auditorium, 1990.   (OHC COLL 2024-5)   3 folders in 1 box (.8 linear feet)   Go here for a more detailed list of this collection's contents.  Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library. 

Royal E. Towns (1899-1990) was born February 10, 1899 in Oakland, California to William and Elizabeth Scott Towns. Towns was raised in West Oakland and attended West Oakland Free Kindergarten and married Lucille Dennis in 1920. He worked for a short time as dining car waiter before joining the Oakland Fire Department as a hoseman at Engine No. 22 in 1927. In 1941, Towns became the first African American to be appointed as the fire department’s chief operator, and eventually was promoted to lieutenant, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1962. The Royal E. Towns Papers consists of photographs, correspondence, publications, financial and legal records, and ephemera that document Towns’ work as a City of Oakland firefighter, photographer, director of public relations for Free and Accepted Masons of California, and as an amateur historian. View online items Dates: 1857-1990   Collection number: MS 26   Creator: Royal E. Towns   Collection Size: 17.8 linear feet (30 boxes + 1 oversized box)   Guide to the Royal E. Towns Papers Available at the African American Museum & Library at Oakland (AAMLO) We encourage researchers to contact AAMLO before visiting so that we can be prepared to assist you. Please call 510-637-2000 or email aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org to arrange an appointment or inquire about access.