History Rushes Towards You at Rancho Peralta Historical Park

by Meredith Florian

If you sit quietly by the creek, allowing your senses to be transported by the breeze through an ancient oak or by the flight of a dragonfly, you might be able to imagine what life was like in the beginnings of Oakland's history when, in 1820, Rancho San Antonio was granted to Mexican Luis Peralta for military services to Spain.

This site in the Humboldt Ave./Davis St. area, where a six-acre park remains, transitioned from forests, to ranchos, to farms, and eventually cities, including Oakland. Considered by city officials to be "the ground zero of Oakland History," the park, according to Holly Alonso, Executive Director of the Friends of Rancho Peralta Historical Park, had been almost completely effaced and annihilated until the late 1970s, when an indefatigable little core of neighbors kept plugging away to get it established.

For the past five years Ms. Alonso, a Michigan native with a background in history and the humanities, has passionately joined their efforts and leads the restoration efforts with a contagious enthusiasm. Under her guidance, the park currently offers tours, arts and performance series, and school field trips. Our discussion, which took place as we slowly meandered throughout the property, illustrated Ms. Alonso's organic view of history: "We want [the exhibits] to look like history rushing towards you, not neatly tied up in a little package."

The current award-winning exhibit, Faces of Fruitvale, displays history with a community-centered approach that diverse 21st-century Oaklanders can appreciate.

"We took 55 neighborhood oral histories and put them up on panels. Vista volunteers did the photos, artists did the graphics, and there is audio that goes with it so you can hear the voices of everyone in this room." Afterwards, Ms. Alonso and a core group of dedicated Americor volunteers transcribed every interview into Spanish and other local languages so that non-English speakers can follow around the exhibits and read every word in their own language. The colorful pictures, ranging from African American grandmothers to Mien youth, highlight not only artists but other locals who had extraordinary gifts for storytelling and dramatization.

Ms. Alonso admits that when she first started, she noticed a "sort of spiteful yawn about history." But in order to involve Oakland youth directly in history, she emphasizes, "Everyone should realize that when they are talking about their own life, they are talking about history. Faces of Fruitvale was an attempt to get the community connected. And it did accomplish this."

I asked Ms. Alonso how she linked the present day to the past to teach children about California's Mexican heritage. She noticed that children are interested in ecology, so she used the example of how the longhorn cows that Peralta brought changed the ecology of the region. There were milk cows that came after, with dairies of Fruitvale. Fruit trees changed it again, as did the huge urbanization. "And we who live here now have changed it together. That's something that kids can come to understand."

Since children like to visualize things, she is excited about a recent California Heritage grant that will enable her to bring in objects like a grizzly bear skull and Native American art. In 1996 six boxes of archeological finds were discovered. The pottery and bones are now being evaluated, and an archeological scrape will soon take place on the site of the first Peralta home.

Thanks to recent grants from sources such as the NEA, State Proposition 12, and OaklandBond Measure I, Ms. Alonso has been able to develop a clear vision for the future of the park.

An NEA grant will make possible a "map of time." Huge revolving panels will create a kind of outdoor urban book that will tell about history. "In keeping with our way of operating throughout this project to involve the community in the whole process, before the designers set to it, we'll commission parts of it with community artists."

In spite of these grants, Ms. Alonso and her staffers still struggle. They need funding for staff and volunteers. So until additional funding is found, Rancho Peralta House remains open on the first Saturday of every month, and every Sunday, from 1 to 4 p.m. The house is located at 2465 34th Ave (at Hyde). Entrance is free to Fruitvale neighbors and $3 for others. If you would like to contribute, checks may be made out to "Friends of Peralta Hacienda Historical Park" and sent to the above address.

For further information, Ms. Alonso may be reached at 525-0712.

Related Web links: See The Core of Oakland History, by Holly Alonso, at www.OaklandChamber.com. For a chronology of the Peraltas, see www.PeraltaHacienda.org.