Military

Dates: 1869-2008   Collection number: MS 189   Creator: African American Museum & Library at Oakland   Collection Size: 21.25 linear feet (30 boxes + 2 oversized boxes + 2 oversized drawers)   Guide to the African American Museum & Library at Oakland Photograph Collection Available at the African American Museum & Library at Oakland (AAMLO) The African American Museum & Library at Oakland Photograph Collection consists of 1,953 photographs documenting African Americans in California between 1869-2008. The photograph collection consists of photographs donated to the African American Museum & Library at Oakland, and its predecessor the East Bay Negro Historical Society. The collection is organized into 28 series by subject, and includes photographs of significant African Americans such Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall, and Byron Rumford, and documents various aspects of the African American community in Oakland including athletics, business, churches, civil rights, early pioneers, entertainment, military, fraternal and women's organizations. View online items 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.

The James E. Brackett papers include 91 photographs and Olive Brackett’s class notes and textbook attending Lee Ann’s Academy of Cosmetology in Oakland, California. Photographs are arranged by subject into four subseries: Brackett family photographs, military service, NAACP events, and assorted. Dates: 1932-1976   Collection number: MS 94   Creator: Brackett, James E.   Collection Size: .25 linear feet (1 box)   Guide to the James E. Brackett 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.

The John Edward Brooks papers includes correspondence, certificates, photographs, printed material, employment records related to Brooks' military service, employment as a police officer, and disability and equal employment claims. The papers are arranged into four series: biographical, employment records, printed material, and photographs. The bulk of the papers documents Brooks’ employment history, including his military service at Fort Lewis and in Germany, and also includes his applications for disability and equal employment claims. Dates: circa 1924-1988   Collection number: MS 34   Creator: Brooks, John Edward.   Collection Size: 1 linear foot (2 boxes)   Guide to the John Edward Brooks 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.

The Brown Family papers include photographs, an oral history, and notes on the Brown family genealogy. The bulk of the papers are photographs documenting the Brown, Clark, and Watkins families, most of which are photographs of various social gatherings around Palo Alto, California in the 1910s. There are also a number of photographs documenting horse racing, ranching, and harvesting at a ranch in Woodland, California in the 1910s. The papers include a photograph album created by Fred Brown when he stationed at Patterson Field, Ft. Campbell, Kahuku Army Airfield and Saipan during World War II. Dates: 1910-1976   Collection number: MS 36   Creator: Brown family.   Creator: Brown, Fred.   Collection Size: .75 linear feet (2 boxes)   Guide to the Brown Family 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.

The Calbert family papers include photographs, biographical sketches, and two monographs written by members of the Calbert family. The papers are organized into four series by family member: William E. Calbert, Madlyn W. Calbert, Sadie H. Calbert, and William Riley Calbert. William E. Calbert materials include a biographical sketch, two portraits, and a photograph of U.S. Army chaplain William E. Calbert's promotion to lieutenant, a biographical sketch of William Riley Calbert written by William E. Calbert, and a letter from librarian Miriam Matthews which includes a reproduction of an undated San Pedro St. YMCA group photograph. Also included in the papers is a monograph, The African American presence: the black chaplain, written by Madlyn W. Calbert; Sadie H. Calbert’s funeral program and self-published book of poetry, My thoughts, my faith, my dreams, and a 1909 greeting card with calendar and photograph from Busch Gardens in Pasadena, California inscribed by William Riley Calbert. Dates: 1909-2011   Bulk Dates: 1966-1989   Collection number: MS 109   Creator: Calbert, William E.   Collection Size: .25 linear feet (1 box)   Guide to the Calbert Family 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.

The Robert A. Cavallero papers include 29 photographs of U.S. Navy seamen training at the U.S. Naval Training Station in Great Lakes, Illinois in 1942-1943. The papers include 22 photographs of U.S. Navy cadets posing with their commanding officer, Robert A. Cavallero, and seven panoramic group photographs of U.S. Navy Companies 421, 721, 781, 1211, and 1421 under the command of Robert A. Cavallero at the U.S. Naval Training Station in Great Lakes, Illinois. The papers also include a thank you letter given to Robert A. Cavallero by U.S. Navy cadets. Dates: 1942-1943   Collection number: MS 76   Collector: Cavallero, Robert A.   Collection Size: 1 linear foot (2 boxes)   Guide to the Robert A. Cavallero 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.

The Collier Family Papers include correspondence, photographs, military service records, deeds, and newspaper clippings that document members of the Collier, Taylor, and Coffin families. The papers are organized into six series: Francis B. Collier, Muriel Taylor Collier, Cherie Collier Ivey, Claire Lynne and Muriel Patricia Florey, Willis Patrick and Lillian Taylor, and photographs. The bulk of the collection is approximately 800 photographs of mostly of Frank and Muriel Collier, their children, Patricia Flory, Claire Lynn Flory, and Cherie Collier, and family, friends, and relatives. There are also a number of photographs of Muriel Collier’s first husband, Ishmael Flory, the noted civil and labor rights activist, her father, Willis Patrick Taylor, who was active in the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and her uncle, Alfred Oscar Coffin, the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in the biological sciences. View online items Dates: 1894-1999   Collection number: MS 23   Creator: Collier, Muriel Taylor   Creator: Collier, Francis B.   Collection Size: 3.5 linear feet (8 boxes + 1 oversized box)   Guide to the Collier Family 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.

Newsletters, reports, meeting minutes, and other materials from the East Bay Conversion and Reinvestment Commission (EBCRC). Established in 1993, EBCRC was one of four local pilot programs for assisting local communities impacted by military base closures. (OHC COLL 2016-2) 3 folders in box (.42 linear feet) Go here for a more detailed list of this collection's contents.  Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.      

Photographer Cleveland Glover (1922-1995) was born on August 22, 1922 in Savannah, Georgia to Freddie and Susie Glover. After attending school in Savannah, Glover joined the U.S. Army and served as an Army photographer and film projectionist during World War II and the Korean War. He would eventually rise to the rank of Master Sargent and was the African American photographer assigned to the West Point Academy and was General Maxwell D. Taylor’s official photographer. The Cleveland Glover Papers include photographs, certificates, newspaper clippings, and a funeral program that document the life and activities of photographer Cleveland Glover. The bulk of the papers are photographs taken by Glover while serving in the U.S. Army in the 1950s-1960s. Dates: 1951-1995   Bulk Dates: 1951-1960   Collection number: MS 66   Creator: Glover, Cleveland.   Collection Size: 2.25 linear feet (1 box + 2 oversized boxes)   Guide to the Cleveland Glover 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.

The Madison Harvey Jr. papers include photographs, Black history newsletters, and funeral programs documenting the life and professional activities of Madison Harvey Jr. (1928-2013). The papers are organized in to three series: photographs, publications, and funeral programs. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs documenting Harvey’s family, friends and classmates at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa Oklahoma, career as a sailor in the United States Navy in the late 1940s, a surprise party prepared by his co-workers at the Continuing Education of the Bar, and photographs of businesses making preparations prior to the Rodney King verdict. Dates: 1945-2013   Collection number: MS 84   Creator: Harvey, Madison.   Collection Size: .5 linear feet (1 box + 1 oversized box)   Guide to the Madison Harvey Jr. 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.

Correspondence, photographs, and memorabilia of Corporal Homer J. Aubry, relating to his service in Company K, 363rd Infantry, American Expeditionary Forces, during the first World War. The bulk of the collection consists of letters from Corporal Aubry to his mother, Mrs. Joseph Aubry. Also included: letters to his brothers, Alfred A. and Lawrence, and letters to him from his mother and his aunt, Mrs. Hough; photographs of his service in France; certificate of appointment to rank of Corporal; honorable discharge; holiday menus; french language guides; newspaper clippings; welcome home button and program; Catholic prayer book; playing cards; notebook listing all letters he wrote during his time in France; a program for the eleven-year reunion of his company; two maps of France; and a calendar of the correspondence and military service chronology created by an unknown family member at a later date. (OHC MSS AUBRY) 7 folders, .2 linear feet Correspondence arranged chronologically. Go here for a more detailed description of this collection's contents.    Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.  

The Otis Tarleton Mansfield Papers include six photographs of Otis Tarleton Mansfield and other African American soldiers who served in the U.S. Army and Navy during World War I. The papers also include Mansfield’s honorable discharge from the U.S. Naval Reserve Force and his war service certificate. Dates: 1918-1921   Collection number: MS 74   Collector: Mansfield, Otis Tarleton.   Collector: Branch, Curtis.   Collection Size: .1 linear feet (1 folder)   Guide to the Otis Tarleton Mansfield 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.

The Melzrine and Warren Moore papers include military records, correspondence, church and funeral programs, and photographs documenting the life of Melzrine Moore (1922-1994) and Warren Moore (1921-1993). The papers are organized into four series: Warren Moore, Melzrine Moore, photographs, and assorted printed material. The bulk of the Warren Moore material relate to military service and employment at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona and the Naval Supply Center in Oakland, California. The Melzine Moore items are mostly educational records, including report cards, a commencement program, and diplomas, related to her attending the Colored High School in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The collection also includes six family photographs of the Moore family in Oakland, California, an assortment of church and funeral programs, and a World War II ration booklet. Dates: 1931-1994   Collection number: MS 111   Creator: Moore, Melzrine.   Creator: Moore, Warren.   Collection Size: .25 linear feet (1 box)   Guide to the Melzrine and Warren Moore 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.

The Archians Mosley Photograph Collection consists of 164 photographs documenting the activities of the 184th Medical Collecting Company while stationed in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany in the early 1950s. The photographs mostly show soldiers while on the U.S. army base in Schwäbisch Hall performing military drills, receiving medical treatment, and socializing, though there are also photographs of Schwäbisch Hall street scenes, St. Michael’s Church, Comburg monastery, and photographs of soldiers aboard ship approaching New York City. Dates: 1951   Collection number: MS 40   Creator: Mosley, Archians.   Collection Size: .25 linear feet (1 box)   Guide to the Archians Mosley Photograph 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.

Handbooks, newsletters, and other printed material created by or pertaining to the Oakland Naval Supply Center (formerly known as the Naval Supply Depot). The runs of The Acorn and The Oak Leaf in the collection are very incomplete, consisting of only 12 issues and 9 issues respectively. The related materials consist of an employee handbook (undated), an issue of the Naval Supply Corps Newsletter (1980), materials relating to the Naval Fuel Department anniversary (1963), Congressional reports, and a program for the disestablishment ceremony in 1998.   (OHC COLL 2024-2)   4 folders in 1 box (.3 linear feet)   Go here for a more detailed list of this collection's contents.  Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library. 

The Arthur R. Page collection includes photographs, baseball programs, and newspaper clippings documenting the baseball and military career of Arthur R. Page, one of the first African American baseball players to play on integrated baseball clubs in the United States Navy. The collection includes 24 photographs of the United State Navy Barbers Point Pointers, a baseball club in the Hawaiian Area Inter Service Baseball League. Most of the photographs are team photographs and Page playing for the Pointers in the late 1940s and early 1950s. There are also two group photographs of the crewmen of the USS Atka, an ice breaker ship in the United State Navy, two Hawaiian Area Inter Service Baseball League programs, and an assortment of newspapers clippings of box scores of Barbers Point Pointers baseball games. Dates: 1947-1960   Collection number: MS 114   Creator: Page, Arthur R.   Collection Size: .25 linear feet (1 box)   Guide to the Arthur R. Page 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.

Dates: 1921-1991   Collection number: MS 28   Creator: Proctor, Eudora C., 1917-1993.   Collection Size: 3.75 linear feet (7 boxes)   Guide to the Eudora C. Proctor Papers Available at the African American Museum & Library at Oakland (AAMLO) Performer and dance instructor Eudora “Dodo” Proctor (1917-1993) was born on September 29, 1917 to Clyde Proctor and Ellen Proctor. The Eudora Proctor Papers includes photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, musical programs, songbooks, and legal and financial records related to Proctor’s career as an entertainer, member of the USO, cosmetologist, and creator of the Eudora National S.L. E. Organization, a non-profit lupus organization. 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.

Ship's logs, weather books, medical logs, visitors registers, and other records from the U.S. Coast Guard's cutter ship Bear. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bear patrolled the Alaska coast from 1886 to 1926 from her home port of Oakland, Calif. The patrols were five-month seasonal voyages that began in May. Decommissioned in 1926, the Bear became a maritime museum on the Oakland waterfront until 1932, when she was sold to Admiral Richard E. Byrd for his second antarctic expedition. The Bear had several more incarnations before sinking in a storm off the Massachusetts coast in 1963. (OHC COLL 2020-6) 19 boxes (8.67 linear feet) Go here for a more detailed list of this collection's contents.  Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.  

Alice Calbert Fauntleroy Royal (1923-2014) was born Alice Lucinda Calbert on January 15, 1923, in her grandparents’ home in Allensworth, California to William Riley Calbert and Sadie Hickerson Hackett Calbert. The Alice Royal Collection includes material assembled and donated to the African American Museum & Library at Oakland by Royal on the activities of family members Joseph W. Hickerson (1883-1971), Dorothy Hickerson Harris (1916-1989), and William E. Calbert (b. 1918). Dates: 1913-2011   Collection number: MS 140   Creator: Royal, Alice. Harris, Dorothy Hickerson. Hickerson, Joseph William. Calbert, William E.   Collection Size: 1 linear foot (2 boxes + 1 oversize box)   Guide to the Alice Royal 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.

The Rushing Family Photograph Collection consists of 200 photographs and ephemera. The bulk of the photographs document the lives of African Americans in northern Louisiana in the vicinity of the towns of Arcadia, Bienville, Minden, and Simsboro and Oakland, California. Collection is also significant for photographs of African American soldiers during World War I. Dates: circa 1860s – circa 1980s   Bulk Dates: bulk 1910s-1940s   Collection number: MS 216   Collection Size: .5 linear feet (2 boxes + 1 oversized box)   Guide to the Rushing Family Photograph 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.

The United States. Naval Supply Depot (Oakland, Calif.) newsletter collection includes 34 volumes of the newsletter, Oak Leaf, of the United States Navy Supply Depot in Oakland, California. The monthly newsletter began publication in 1943 and featured photographs and news stories related to human resources and general Navy issues at the supply depot. View online items Dates: 1944-1945, 1961-1972   Collection number: MS 174   Creator: United States. Naval Supply Depot (Oakland, Calif.)   Collection Size: 33 volumes (1 oversized box)   Guide to the United States. Naval Supply Depot (Oakland, Calif.) Newsletter 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.

Dates: 1906-1971   Collection number: MS 51   Creator: Wells, Robertha J.   Collection Size: .2 linear feet (1 box + 1 oversized box)   Guide to the Robertha J. Wells Papers Available at the African American Museum & Library at Oakland (AAMLO) The Robertha J. Wells Papers include education material, certificates, programs, employment records, ephemera, and photographs documenting Robertha J. Wells, Earle Keikikane and the Wells family. The papers include diplomas, programs, and term papers documenting Robertha J. Wells education career, certificates, ephemera, and employment records related to Earle Keikikane’s career as a sailor and two poems written by Keikikane, and 15 photographs mostly of Wells’ mother and father, Robert E. Wells and Anna Abigail Jenkins Wells, in Bakersfield, California and Pasadena, California in the 1900-1910s. 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.

The Marion E. Wildy papers consists of photographs, diplomas, yearbooks, programs, speech, and correspondence documenting his education, military service, and family life. The papers are organized into three series: photographs, education, and biographical material. The bulk of the photographs are portraits of Wildy’s friends and family in Oakland, California and Seattle, Washington in the 1920s and also include a 1941 photograph of Jackie Robinson in Hawaii, a 1923 class photograph of Golden Gate Junior High School in Oakland, California, and a group photograph of the California State Police force at Treasure Island during the Golden Gate International Exposition.  Dates: circa 1910s-1979   Bulk Dates: 1924-1942   Collection number: MS 133   Creator: Wildy, Marion E.   Collection Size: .5 linear feet (1 box)   Guide to the Marion E. Wildy 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.