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Berkeley Architectural Heritage Society Oral History Project
ELLA (BARROWS) HAGAR
'Mediterranean~Stvle'in'fheeBerkelevHills
245 Stonewall Road Berkeley, California 94705
Architect: WILLIAEi IURSTER Completed in 1928 in
Holabird Garber Park and other subdivisions
JOHN GARBER ESTATE
Kellersberger's Plot No. 77
Interviewer
Rosemary Levenson 261 Stonewall Road Berkeley, CA 94705
Regional Oral History Office Berkeley Architectural The Bancroft Library Heritage Society University of California P.O. Box 7066 Berkeley, California 94720 Landscape Station
Berkeley, California 94707
TABLE OF CONTENTS--Ella (Barrows) Hagar Medi te r ranean S t y l e i n t h e Berkeley H i l l s
FRONTISPIECE
INTERVIEW HISTORY i
AGENDA iii
SAMPLE CONTRACT i v
BERKELEY ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE ASSOCIATION QUESTIONNAIRE v
Choosing a Lot
A r c h i t e c t s and A r c h i t e c t u r a l S t y l e s
E a r l y Houses on Upper S tonewal l Road
Berkeley Address and Oakland Taxes
The Garber Family
John Garber P a r k and t h e C i t y of Berkeley Quarry
Cars and S teep S t r e e t s
The S tonewal l Community
Annual Chris tmas Pageant
A Closed Right of Way and Old F i s h Ranch Road
The John R o o s e v e l t s on S tonewal l Road
Levensons Move Next Door
INDEX
INTERVIEW HISTORY
E l l a Hagar ' s r e c o l l e c t i o n s o f t h e development of t h e upper p a r t of Stone-w a l l Road were recorded a s a p i l o t o r a l h i s t o r y p r o j e c t f o r t h e Berkeley A r c h i t e c t u r a l H e r i t a g e A s s o c i a t i o n . The impetus w a s t h e i n t e r v i e w e r ' s c u r i o s i t y abou t t h e h i s t o r y of h e r own neighborhood. B.A.H.A.'s encouragement l e d t o t h e complet ion o f t h e p r o j e c t . W e hope t h a t o t h e r s w i l l a l s o b e encouraged t o r e c o r d t h e remin i scences of t h e i r knowledgeable n e i g h b o r s and f r i e n d s and t h u s p r e s e r v e memories of t h e e a r l y h i s t o r y o f B e r k e l e y ' s b u i l d i n g s and neighborhoods t h a t would o t h e r w i s e b e l o s t .
The p r o j e c t s t a r t e d w i t h t h e d i s c o v e r y i n my house o f a crumpled o z a l i d copy of t h e 1927 t r a c t map of "Holabird Garber Park and o t h e r Subdivis ions" . It was hard t o r e a d s i n c e t h e b l a c k t i s s u e paper r e p r o d u c t i o n w a s r e v e r s e d , and a l l t h r e e f e e t of i t had t o b e t aped t o a window. A pho tograph ic p o s i t i v e r e d u c t i o n was made, which is e a s i l y l e g i b l e , and is reproduced as f r o n t i s p i e c e t o t h i s volume. Wanting t o f i n d o u t more, I asked E l l a Hagar i f I cou ld i n t e r - view h e r . S i n c e newly-married Gerald and E l l a Hagar were t h e f i r s t t o b u i l d i n t h e new s u b d i v i s i o n i n 1928, s h e was t h e obv ious pe rson t o t u r n t o as memoir is t . '..
Having gone s o f a r , p r i m a r i l y t o inform myself and my c h i l d r e n about t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e neighborhood where t h e y grew up, I c o n s u l t e d w i t h my Department Head i n t h e Regional O r a l H i s t o r y O f f i c e , Willa Baum. Mrs. Baum f e l t t h a t t h e complet ion of a s m a l l - s c a l e o r a l h i s t o r y memoir might b e o f v a l u e t o B.A.H.A. and o t h e r l o c a l h i s t o r y groups w i t h l i m i t e d funds and a c t i v e v o l u n t e e r s . Mrs. Hagar generous ly donated t h e money needed f o r t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f s i x c o p i e s of t h e memoir. I n t e r v i e w i n g , e d i t i n g , and f i n a l t y p i n g were v o l u n t e e r e d . Tran-s c r i b i n g , volume assembly, and o t h e r s e c r e t a r i a l c h o r e s were done i n R.O.H.O. ' s o f f i c e .
E l l a c h e e r f u l l y agreed t o f i t y e t a n o t h e r i n t e r v i e w i n t o h e r busy l i f e . S e v e r a l days b e f o r e o u r d a t e , a n i n f o r m a l i n v i t a t i o n - a g e n d a l e t t e r and copy of t h e t r a c t map were d e l i v e r e d . Both a r e inc luded i n t h i s volume. E l l a found t h e s e a i d s v a l u a b l e i n a l e r t i n g h e r t o t h e t o p i c s t o b e covered and i n jogging h e r memory on p r o p e r names. S i n c e E l l a ' s memoirs have a l r e a d y been recorded and t h e volume is r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e t o i n t e r e s t e d r e a d e r s i n The Bancrof t L i b r a r y , t h e s t a n d a r d b i o g r a p h i c a l and demographic q u e s t i o n s were n o t covered.* B.A.H.A.'s o r a l h i s t o r y q u e s t i o n n a i r e which i n c l u d e s such q u e s t i o n s i s inc luded i n t h i s volume.
* E l l a Barrows Hagar, Cont inuing Memoirs: Family, Community, U n i v e r s i t y , an i n t e r v i e w by Suzanne R i e s s , Regional Oral H i s t o r y O f f i c e , The Bancrof t L i b r a r y , U n i v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a , Berke ley , 1974, 272 pp.
It was a p l easu re t o walk t o work on Monday, Apr i l 28, 1978. Down 96 s t e p s , and up "Court S t r e e t " a s i t appears on t h e map, t o E l l a ' s t i l e d l i v i n g room i n t h e Mediterranean house b u i l t f o r t h e Hagars nea r ly f i f t y yea r s ago. A s always, E l l a w a s w e l l prepared wi th notes , and w e l l supplied wi th co f fee f o r our break.
E l l a described howthei r young a r c h i t e c t , William ( B i l l ) Wurster persuaded the Hagars t h a t they d id n o t want an English Tudor house by bu i ld ing an enchanting l i t t l e model. "He brought i t up, and we s a i d , 'We don ' t l i k e i t . ' He s a i d , 'Of course you don ' t l i k e i t . You don ' t put t h a t kind of house on t h i s kind of s lope . We have t o b u i l d a Mediterranean house t h a t c l i n g s t o t h e s i d e . ' Tha t ' s how we came t o b u i l d t h i s . So, we s a i d , ' A l l r i g h t , t h a t ' s fine." ' Mrs. Hagar a l s o t e l l s how some of the South Berkeley s t r e e t s were named. The Garber t r a c t cons is ted of f o r t y a c r e s , and J u l i e t Garber Stringham was given t h e job of naming t h e s t r e e t s . "She named Stonewall Road because of h e r admirat ion f o r Stonewall Jackson; Belrose (Bel le Rose) w a s p a r t of h e r mother 's name; Garber, of course, t h e family name and Tanglewood Road arose from her enthusiasm f o r Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales." E l l a a l s o desc r ibes t h e exc i t e - ment t h e day t h a t t h e P r e s i d e n t ' s wife , Eleanor Roosevelt , came swi r l ing by, i n a red d r e s s wi th s i r e n s going on her c a r when s h e came t o v i s i t her youngest son, John, then a t enan t a t 261 Stonewall Road.
The tapes were t r ansc r ibed i n the Regional Ora l His tory Off ice . A s I mentioned t h e p r o j e c t t o o t h e r f r i e n d s and neighbors, more ques t ions and anecdotes sur faced . I n the e d i t i n g process, these were included i n t h e form of a d d i t i o n a l ques t ions t o which E l l a wrote t h e answers. E l l a approved the e d i t e d t r a n s c r i p t wi th minor r e v i s i o n s and signed the r e l e a s e form, a l s o r e p r o d u c e d i n t h i s volume. The volume w a s f inal- typed and indexed.
Our hope i s t h a t t h i s small p i l o t p r o j e c t w i l l be overtaken by a f l e e t of reminiscences recording the remembered h i s t o r y of our community and preserv- ing i t i n an inexpensive form r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e t o a l l i n t e r e s t e d r eade r s i n both The Bancroft and the Berkeley Arch i t ec tu ra l Heri tage Associat ion l i b r a r i e s .
Rosemary Levenson Interviewer-Editor
5 May 1979 Regional Oral His tory Of f i ce 486 The Bancroft Library Univers i ty of C a l i f o r n i a a t Berkeley
261 S t o n e w a l l Road .;3erkel_.-.;r, CA q4705
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Berkeley A r c h i t e c t u r a l Her i t age Socie ty P.O. Box 7066 Berkeley, C a l i f o r n i a 94707
&
The Regional Oral Hi s to ry Of f i ce The Bancroft L ib ra ry Un ive r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a Berkeley, C a l i f o r n a i 94720
W e , E l l a Barrows Haaar and Rosemarv Levenson 9
Narrator Internrimer do hereby g ive t o t h e D i r e c t o r s of t h e Berkeley A r c h i t e c t u r a l Soc ie ty and
The Bancroft L ibrary f o r such s c h o l a r l y and educa t iona l uses as they s h a l l
determine t h e fo l lowing tape-recorded in t e rv i ew(s ) recorded on 3-28-78 date ( s )
as an u n r e s t r i c t e d g i f t . This g i f t does n o t prec lude any use which w e may
want t o make of t h e informat ion i n t h e record ings ourselves.
a, l3.7&& Signature of Narx#tor
F l l a Barrows Haaar
245 Stonewall Road
Berkeley, C a l i f o r n i a 94705
Name & Address of Narrator
Accepted for the Directors by
/-
'Signature ofVInterviewer
Rosemary Levenson
261 Stonewall Road
Berkeley, C a l i f o r n i a 94705 Name and Address of In terv imer
Mav 3. 1979 Dated
Mediterranean S t y l e i n t he Berkeley H i l l s : Development of Upper Stonewall Road Subject of Interview ( s )
--
?ow Icsc bzve yo2 ? i r c C Fn Bcrkelcy'! -In r ! t l c h n c j g h b o r h o o d s havc you l i v c d ? .. % k.e3?-
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Car. ::ca su??ly i n f 6 , - z z t i o n n b o z t s n y p e r t i c u l a r 5 u i l l l r . q ~i n t k c r e
n c i ~ ~ ~ ~ o ~ h o o d s ? ---Y.'hFch b u i l d i n g s dc ycx c o n s i d e r ou t s t&r :S ing?
Xone has your n e i ~ h b c r h o c Pc h z s ~ e do v e r t h e y e ~ r s ?
What :;as y c u r z e s o c i a t i c j n uri th t h i s i r : d i v i ~ u s l ? -
Can you rezcnbcr f a c t s ond a n e c d o t e s a b o u t h i s c z r c e r ?
Can you s c p p l y f ~ f o r z a t i o n a b o u t e a j h u i l d i c ~ ow i t h a h i c b he ):as
bcen e s c o c i a t c ~ ' ?
Cat yo.; s a p p l y i n i ' o r c a t i o n a b o u t thc d c : - ~ l o y i e n t o f E e r k e l c y i s a city?
Do you r c m c r b e r anecdotes about a n y of t h e fo lLowing s u b j c ~ t s :
- Tt.c c o r t s t r u c t i o r . o f ptzkl ic b u i l d i n g s ? -The grzivth of c o s ~ e t c i . a l a r e e s ?
T h c d c v c l o p z c c t of t r a r , c v o r t e t i o n p z t t e r n s ?
Thc p l a s c i c q parks , calks,
Phc g:aJth of t h c U a i v e r s i t y ?
Do gcu rcrrcii;bcr facts o r anecdotes irtout 2r.y of t h e folloi-;in;: evezts?
T h c earthquake of 1906? T h c firc o f 1$.23?
E c r k e l c y c x p c r i c n e e d u r i n z World Y;ar I? Viorld Kar 117-B e r k a l c y ir. t h e D c p r e s a i o n o f . t h e l ? j O ' s ' ? -
after Korlc! \%zrII? .-.-. F i t h r k . c t S e r k e l c y orr ,cf . izat ionc; have you bcen a s s o c i n f cd?
.*. -i , o c l l gou like t o tic intcrricwed for thc Ordl History t ~ r o j c s t ?
INTERVIEW WITH ELLA HAGAR (STONEWALL ROAD)
Date of in te rv iew: 28 March 1978
;-Beginning Casse t t e 1, S ide A ]
Choosing a Lot
Levenson: I t ' s very n i c e of you t o do t h i s , E l l a , t o d i s c u s s Stonewall Road where you've l i v e d f o r s o long and where I moved i n a s your neighbor over twenty yea r s ago. For r e f e r e n c e we have h e r e a map of t h e "Holabird-Garber Park and o t h e r subd iv i s ions of John Garber Es t a t e , " 1927, and perhaps we want. *
can s t a r t by your t a l k i n g about whatever you
Hagar: My husband :~ e r a l d ! and I were marr ied i n 1924, November. \Je must have s t a r t e d looking f o r a l o t i n Berkeley about '25 o r '26, and a cous in of ou r s , Luther Nichols , was a l s o looking f o r p roper ty . He c a l l e d one day and s a i d he'd found a new a r e a t h a t hadn ' t been subdivided because t h e road stopped a t t h e ( A. A . - Browns'. You know, t h a t i s t h a t b i g Engl i sh house s t r a i g h t down the re . Stonewall Road ]
, 191
Levenson: Oh, yes .
Hagar: This [upper a r ea ] had been subdivided and a map was a v a i l a b l e and they w e r e going t o soon put a road up he re ,
There were two l o t s t h a t w e were i n t e r e s t e d i n , !I3 and !I4, and we s a i d , "You choose whichever you want because you discovered t h i s p lace ,"
*See f r o n t i s p i e c e .
Levenson: Yes.
Hagar : And s o t h e Nichols chose, f o r t u n a t e l y , iI3. [ ~ a u ~ h t e r . ? I ' v e been so glad a l l t h e s e yea r s , because I ' d r a t h e r be up he re than t o have somebody looking down a t us. We chose iI4. L 245j
The subd iv i s ion was arranged i n 1927 and we , I th ink , were t h e f i r s t t o s t a r t bu i ld ing here. The road came t o here. [ P o i n t s t o map.] /I23 was, t h e l a s t house where t h e Browns l i v e d ,
and t h e r e were two o t h e r houses on Stonewall lower down.
Levenson: Y e s .
Hagar: The road was put i n , wi th two a l l e y s , those two a l l e y s . That 's what we always c a l l e d them--- [chuckles] . The lower one i s j u s t c a l l e d "Alley," and ou r s i s c a l l e d "Court S t r e e t " on t h e map, which I was never aware of before.
I th ink w e were t h e f i r s t t o bui ld . We s t a r t e d i n 1927 and moved i n e a r l y i n '28. Then t h e s e o t h e r houses must have been s t a r t e d , some of them ve ry s h o r t l y a f t e r t h a t .
Arch i t ec t s and A r c h i t e c t u r a l S ty l e s : G7urster and Gutterson
Levenson: Well, excuse m e . Le t ' s j u s t g e t t h i s s t r a i g h t . Your a r c h i t e c t was--
Hagar: William Wurster. B i l l Wurster.
Levenson: And d i d he a t t h a t t i m e s t i l l l i v e on Stonewall, o r had he moved?
Hagar : He never l i v e d on Stonewall.
Levenson: Oh, I was misinformed then. I was t o l d once t h a t t h e Hessings' house was t h e house he'd b u i l t f o r himself . [ l o ]
Hagar : No, no. He may'have, bu t he never t o l d me. But he n e a r l y always l i v e d i n San Francisco, and then he bought t h e Gregory house, where he l i v e d f o r years .*
*He bought t h e land bu t t h e Gregorys gave him t h e house because i t was "worthless." See William Wilson Wurster, College of Environ-mental Design, U.C., Campus Planning, and A r c h i t e c t u r a l P r a c t i c e , Regional Cu l tu ra l His tory P r o j e c t , Un ive r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a , Berkeley, 1964, i n The Bancroft L ibrary pp. 252-257.
Levenson: 1459 Greenwoood Terrace.
Ha gar : Yes, yes. house.
No, he never lived here. He did build the Hessing
Levenson: How did you come to choose this Mediterranean style?
Hagar: Well, I said, "Bill, we want an English house with dormer windows." Not dormer, but the kind of windows that go around this way [ gestures]. What are they?
Levenson: Bay windows?
Hagar: Bay windows. Bill, who was alone in his office at that time, no partners, nobody helping him, I guess no other job at the moment ---I guess we were about the third of his clients, the third house to build---created an enchanting little model, the way architects do, with papier-mache and little trees and bushes all to scale with an English house. He brought it up, and we said, "We don't like it." He said, "Of course you don't like it. You don't put that kind of a house on this kind of a slope. You have to build a Mediterranean house that clings to the side." That's how we came to build this. So, we said, "All right, that's fine."
Levenson: IIow did you come to choose Mr. Wurster as your architect?
Hagar: Oh, well, we were talking to Mrs. [ Warren] Gregory, of whom I was very fond. We adored her and the whole Gregory family. And he had just built for her the farm. I don't know whether you know anything about that?
Levenson: No, I don't.
Hagar: It became very famous because it won a national award. They had some beautiful acreage in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and they wanted to use it as a family summer and weekend place. Bill had been in love with Beth Gregory [chuckles 1 , one of her many loves, and I guess they knew him that way. But, anyway, she said, IIIf you want a young architect--" And I remember particularly her saying, "He has a universality about him, and what he'll build today will be good tomorrow and later." And this is the way I feel about him.
So we met Bill and, of course, fell for him immediately. He didn't marry until many years later, you know, and he had already built two or three things that were successful--a little water tower for the water company somewhere, a home in Sacramento that he'd built for a great friend, and he'd built for the Wrights in Oakland, and then I guess ours--and the Gregory place.
Hagar.
Levenson :
Hagar:
Levenson :
Hagar:
Levenson:
Hagar :
Levenson :
Hagar:
Levenson :
Hagar:
Anyway, we brought him up he re , of course, and he thought i t was a good l o t wi th a view and i n s u l a t e d , and t h e l i k e d t h e i d e a of t h e end of t h e s t r e e t . And a f t e r he had b u i l t i t , he s a i d , "Now you should be happy. You're on t h e edge of r e s p e c t a b i l i t y , " [ l a u g h t e r ] , which I always t h i n k of . The Claremont a r ea .
We're on t h e edge of r e s p e c t a b i l i t y , you and I-- just barely!
Of course, he was a g r e a t dear . He was fun t o work with. And, ev iden t ly , you s e e , t h e s e two houses [ po in t ing t o map] , your house, t h i s house--they a r e a l l t h a t Mediterranean s t y l e , a r e n ' t they?
Oh yes.
Is t h a t what you t h i n k of your house?
Yes.
I s a i d something once about an I t a l i a n house, and he s a i d , "Well, an I t a l i a n house i s n ' t r e a l l y an I t a l i a n house un le s s i t ' s i n I t a ly . " He s a i d , "I th ink I ' d j u s t c a l l i t 14editerranean. That ' s a l l r i g h t wi th me."
Yes. Tha t ' s t h e way I t h i n k of them.
Now t h e Henry Gut te rsons who bought t h e l o t between Powell and Stanton--Mr. Gutterson was an a r c h i t e c t , very respec ted . Have you ever been i n t h e i r house on Avalon?
No.
Well, they had one of t hose o l d sh ingled houses on Avalon, on t h e south s i d e t h a t you walk up, a s t e e p s o r t of approach. They had no ch i ld ren . He was a b i t l i k e John Galen Howard. He was t h a t r a t h e r s o p h i s t i c a t e d , reserved , g a l l a n t kind of a gentlemen, you know. He and Walter b t c l i f f e (he was an a r c h i t e c t , you know, an o l d Berkeley fami ly) . I l i k e d h i s w i fe very much. She was a member of t h e [ ~ l a r e m o n t j Book Club too , I remember. I loved t h e i r house because i t had so much charm; you know an o l d house always does.
Yes. Had he designed i t ?
I don ' t know t h a t . He might have. But we used t o go t h e r e f o r t h e book c lub meetings, and I remember t h a t t h e i r Pe r s i an rugs were very f rayed . I he ld t h e Gut te rsons i n g r e a t r e spec t . I loved t h e charm of t h e i r house, and I used t o t h ink , "It doesn ' t make any d i f f e r e n c e i f your Pe r s i an rugs a r e frayed." And of course, mine a r e a l l d i lap ida ted! [Laugh te r . ]
Hagar : I remember t h a t B i l l [ William ] Wurster bought a woman t o s e e us whom we a l l had g r e a t r e spec t f o r , a l o v e l y person, who b u i l t a f a s c i n a t i n g house on Russe l l S t r e e t . She was a p ro fe s s iona l i n t e r i o r decora tor . Her name was M r s . Vernon Smith--he brought he r up one day very s h o r t l y a f t e r we'd moved i n , and I remember h e r saying, " I ' m s o r r y , i t ' s s o new now, b u t i n another twenty- f i v e yea r s i t w i l l look -much be t te r !" [ ~ a u g h t e r . ] You know, t h e r e i s something t o i t , i s n ' t t h e r e , a f t e r you've l i v e d i n a house?
Levenson: Oh, yes.
Hagar : Well, t h a t ' s t h e way t h e Gutterson house was. And he b u i l t s e v e r a l houses, which I c a n ' t t h ink o f , bu t maybe you know. But he d id b u i l t t h e [ ~ r e d e r i c kP.! Hendersons' house. '1261'
Levenson: Which is now mine.
Hagar : Yes. I s n ' t i t love ly? It has so much charm. I do l i k e i t .
Early Houses on Upper Stonewall Road
Hagar : Do you want me t o speak about t hese people who o r i g i n a l l y b u i l t t h e i r houses?
Levenson: Yes p lease .
Hagar : /I1 and /I2 on t h e lower p a r t of Stonewall a t t h e curve, were bought by two s i s t e r s and t h e i r husbands, t h e Nordykes and t h e Granichers. The Nordykes had !f l [ 201 ] , t h e Granichers /I2 [ 2211 , and they b u i l t about t h e t ime we were bui ld ing , They
had boys, l i t t l e boys, and i n '29 when Ju l i anne [ Hagar 2 was born, they must have been a l i t t l e b i t o lde r . So, t h e s e two l i t t l e boys and J u l i e were r a i s e d toge ther . Those were t h e only ch i ld ren up he re a t t h e time.
Then I th ink t h e Blairs, who owned t h i s proper ty [ po in t ing t o map 1 - - i t ha sn ' t any number, has i t ? [280 '
Levenson: No.
Hagar : They b u i l t perhaps t h e next yea r , s ay ' 28--started bu i ld ing i n '28. And h e r mother, M r s . Campbell, bought t h e l o t next door, which i s //lo. 1250 ]
The i n t e r e s t i n g t h i n g t o me is t h e o t h e r day, as you know, when--I don ' t know t h e name of t h e people who've b u i l t
Hagar: t h e new house, o r who've Schulzes. [ 260 1
bought t h e new house r i g h t next t o t h e
Levenson: Oh yes. [ Tryinlg t o t h ink of name.] The Heldmans.
Hagar : Well, a t any r a t e , Eleanor B l a i r (we'd grown up toge the r i n high school and c o l l e g e ) came by t o look a t i t out of c u r i o s i t y , having s o l d t h e i r home t o t h e Schulzes. She o r he r mother had never owned t h a t l o t . We n e i t h e r of us knew who had owned t h a t vacant l o t over a l l t h e s e years .
So then s h o r t l y a f t e r t h a t on iI7 and i I8 . [ 261 1
t h e Hendersons s t a r t e d t o b u i l d
I might say t h a t we bought' /I4 and i I5.
Levenson: Do you s t i l l own them?
Hagar: -
Yes. And t h e Vandervoorts bought i13 next t o us , t h i s l o t : p o i n t i n g t o map 1. Our cousin d id not wish t o bu i ld , and s o he s o l d i t t o t h e Vandervoorts. And a few yea r s l a t e r t h e Vandervoorts and our-s e l v e s bought---the water company agreed t o s e l l us--ten f e e t a long t h e n o r t h boundaries of our l o t s , and we put our fences up, and then t h e water company, of course, owns t h a t proper ty . [ N of "Court S t r e e t " 1
So, t h e Hendersons bought 87 and i I8. And a f t e r M r . Gut terson, t h e i r a r c h i t e c t , s t a r t e d bu i ld ing h igh up wi th a l l t hose s t e p s l ead ing t o i t , they s a i d t o us , "We've had t o buy t h e next l o t t o put i n t h e driveway." You probably knew t h a t .
Levenson: [Laughter.] i t was t rue .
Well, I ' d heard t h a t a s a s t o r y . I was never s u r e
Hagar: Yes. Oh, i t i s t r u e , because they found they couldn ' t ge t up t h e r e e a s i l y a t a l l , t o t h e house, un le s s they bought t h e o the r l o t and put i n t h e driveway s o they could d r i v e d i r e c t l y t o t h e house, i n s t e a d of p u t t i n g t h e garage on t h e s t r e e t .
Levenson: So, t h a t is the reason everybody comes i n through my k i tchen?
[ Laughter .I Hagar: It 's love ly . Don't you t h i n k so?
Levenson: Yes.
Hagar : I o f t e n come i n your f r o n t door, which I t h i n k i s very imposing, bu t I a l s o o f t e n come in--yes, t h a t ' s t h e way i t happened.
Hagar : Now, t h a t l e f t #6, and chronologica l ly I ' m pushing forward, because h e r e was t h i s vacant l o t when our ch i ld ren grew up toge ther . The
' ~ e n d e r s o n ch i ld ren ( t h e r e were t h r e e ) and my t h r e e used t h a t a s t h e i r pathway ac ros s t o each o t h e r ' s homes. And when they were about-- oh, I guess they had t h e i r f o u r t h c h i l d when Carolyn, t h e o l d e s t , was a t S tanford , so t h a t Jimmy came along much l a t e r , you see . And i t was when he was beginning t o go t o school and she was f a c i n g going up and down t h i s h i l l wi th another c h i l d a f t e r t h e o t h e r s had be- come independent t h a t I saw someone on t h i s s t e e p l i t t l e l o t h e r e i po in t ing t o map] .
W e had a l r eady bought about f i v e f e e t of t h i s #7, so t h a t we could c o n t r o l , you see , t h e a l l e y .
Levenson: Y e s .
Hagar : From t h i s l i t t l e spo t he re [ po in t ing a t map] . It 's not being very c l e a r . I ' m no t making i t very c l e a r .
So, I c a l l e d Mr. Henderson and s a i d , "Look, somebody is th ink ing about t h i s extremely s t e e p lo t . " (And i t ' s very smal l , anyway; i t must be f o r t y f e e t now.) I s a i d t o him, " ~ e t ' s you and m e buy i t and j u s t keep ou r se lves pro tec ted ."
And t h a t was j u s t when they were contemplating moving t o Piedmont, because she couldn ' t f a c e aga in t h e t r a n s p o r t a t i o n f o r h e r c h i l d , he r f o u r t h c h i l d . So, he s a i d , "IJell, we j u s t a r e n ' t going t o do anything about it." He d idn ' t t e l l m e a t t h a t moment t h a t he w a s contemplating s e l l i n g .
So, then t h e [ ~ o b e r tW. ] Campbells bought t h e l o t , and, of course, ex t r ao rd ina ry man t h a t he is , t o t a l l y b l i n d s i n c e a c h i l d , he and David, h i s e igh teen year-old son a t t h a t t ime, b u i l t t h a t house almost completely, completely by themselves. They had t o have a few inspec to r s . [ 2531
So, t h a t takes c a r e of l o t s 5, 6 , 7, 8, 9 , and t h i s love ly piece. When d id you buy t h a t ? [ A s e c t i o n on t h e n o r t h p a r t of Williams' l o t ]
Levenson: I n 1961, from Miss F u l l e r ' s e s t a t e . And what happened was t h a t a r e a l t o r c a l l e d up up one evening and asked us i f we were aware t h a t t h i s p i ece of land w a s coming up f o r s a l e , and we s a i d "No." She s a i d , "I th ink i t ' s going t o go very cheaply indeed, because i t has no access t o t h e road o r u t i l i t i e s , and t h e bottom p r i c e i s $400, and I th ink you can g e t i t f o r tha t . "
Hagar: [Astonished . ] You don' t mean i t !
Levenson: Yes. ; ~au~hter.1
Hagar: Oh, how marvelous!
Levenson: So, we asked her to act for us, and I think that the whole thing, with the fees and everything, came to less than $500.
Hagar: Think of that! And you have a piece of property that extends over here [ pointing to map] .
Levenson: No, not that far. To here [ pointing to map] . Hagar: To here.
Levenson: Yes. It's more than half an acre.
Hagar: Well, that's just marvelous! [ Laughter.]
No wonder you looked a little smug.
Levenson: Oh, no, no!
Hagar: Well, you should, you should!
Now, this Williams, you see, was a great friend, Margie - Margaret Everts 1 Williams. We grew up together. She went to 1 Anna ] Head's and I went to Berkeley High, but it was in junior
high that I met them. Eleanor Blair (Eleanor Campbell) and Margie Everts and I were just very close all those years. Margie Everts married a Williams. I remember when she bought that piece.
Berkeley Address and Oakland Taxes
Levenson: Let me ask you a basic question. Berkeley or Oakland?
When you built, were you in
Hagar: I didn't know this was Oakland till after we'd bought it. My husband knew, but he didn't tell me! He didn't want me to know because I wanted to live in Berkeley. So, it was Oakland. And I was trying to think when it became Oakland. You know why it did? Perhaps you want me just to say--
Levenson: Yes, I'd like you to say.
Hagar: --that when the Claremont Hotel was built--and have you that date? I don't have it.
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I th ink i t was about 1906.
I thought '06-'07.
They wanted t o sel l l i q u o r t h e r e and have a b a r , and they found a f t e r they s t a r t e d t h a t they couldn ' t w i th in a mi l e of t h e Univer- s i t y . . They thought i t was over a mi le , I guess. So, f i nd ing t h a t i t was wi th in a m i l e of t h e Univers i ty , a t l e a s t p a r t of i t , they then got t h e c i t y f a t h e r s t o declare-- this i s t h e s t o r y I ' v e always been t o l d ; i t sounds h ighly unreasonable--to d e c l a r e t h i s a r ea Oakland, so t h a t ha l f t h e h o t e l would be i n Oakland and ha l f i n Berkeley, and thereupon they could sell l i q u o r . Is t h a t t h e s t o r y you've heard?
Yes. But I may have heard i t from you, E l l a . i Laughter.]
You may have. But I ' v e always understood t h a t ' s why. So t h a t t h i s h i l l was made Oakland, and we're almost completely surrounded by Berkeley. They decided a t t h e same time t h a t they would a l low us t o have a Berkeley mail ing address , which makes i t much e a s i e r , doesn ' t it? We say we l i v e i n Berkeley.
Yes.
Well, i t ' s e a s i e r t o f i n d us , because i t ' s Berkeley a l l around us , f o r one th ing .
Y e s . Do you know i f t h a t was p a r t of t h e d e a l t h a t extended Oakland t o t h e top of Panoramic and t h e top of Dwight?
No. I don' t t h i n k so.
Because i f you look a t t h e l i n e , it goes way nor th .
Yes, i t does. The top--is i t Alameda o r Contra Costa County?
Alameda. J u s t t h e u p p e r ' p a r t of Dwight, where i t branches o f f from Panoramic, and t h e upper p a r t of Panoramic--those people a r e a l l Oakland.
I don ' t know why. I s n ' t t h a t i n t e r e s t i n g ? Couldn't have anyth ing t o do wi th t h e Claremont Hotel , and my l i q u o r s t o r y .
And then t h e l i n e runs a c r o s s and b i s e c t s Alvarado Road.
Yes.
And t h e r e ' s one house on Alvarado where t h e house i s i n Oakland and t h e garage i s i n Berkeley, and a f r i e n d of mine looked a t i t and decided not t o buy i t because t h e firemen might f i g h t over
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whose f i r e i t was. [ Laughter. ]
Well, who comes t o you f o r a f i r e , Oakland o r Berkeley?
Oakland.
Yes. And p o l i c e too.
Yes.
But I understand t h a t a t t h e bad f i r e down h e r e a t t h e Jobs ' t h e o t h e r n i g h t both of them came. [ ? 7 Stonewall Road]
That ' s good t o hear .
Yes, I ' m t o l d t h a t they w i l l do t h a t .
Of course, l a t e r - - the re w a s a time, and when was i t ? It must have been i n t h e '40s t h a t s e v e r a l people on the h i l l decided they wanted t o secede from Oakland, and so they got toge ther . I t h i n k i t w a s mostly Henry Colby and Robert Lipman, both of them a t t o r n e y s i n San Francisco, who drew up a p e t i t i o n and had us a l 1 , s i g n i t , except J e r r y [ Hagar ] . You know, he didn' t f e e l he could s i g n i t because he made h i s l i v i n g i n Oakland and, anyway, he d i d n ' t want t o ; he d i d n ' t c a r e t h a t much, I guess. But, though we presented t h i s t o t h e Planning Commission and so f o r t h , they weren ' t ready t o honor t h a t . They d i d n ' t want t o l o s e us , I guess , o u r v o t e s and our taxes .
Laughter.] When you a c t u a l l y came t o b u i l d , do you remember how many requirements you had t o meet?
No, no. I ' m so r ry . I w a s ev iden t ly very busy wi th a number of t h ings , and J e r r y d id i t a l l , and I don' t remember. We must have d e a l t wi th Oakland and had our permi ts from the re .
The Garber Family
A s f a r as Mr. Holabird i s concerned, I remember him w e l l , but don ' t know anything about him, and I don' t remember t h e o t h e r name, Kel le rsberger .
Do you want me t o say something about t h e Garbers?
Oh, yes , p lease .
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We're slipping around, aren't we? I'm being fragmented.
That's all right.
The Garbers owned, evidently, this property plus the land on Tanglewood and the great, big, old house in which 1,liss Lida Garber lived when we moved here. She was the sister of Juliette, who married Prank Stringham, from an old Berkeley family, the Stringhams, and we knew many of them way back, some of them even from my father's and mother's college days in,southern California.
I've learned recently that the Garber tract was forty acres, extending down to College Avenue.
Juliette Garber who married Frank Stringham was given the job of naming the streets. The story (or it may be history) is that she named Stonewall Road because of her admiration for Stonewall Jackson; Belrose (Belle Rose) was part of her mother's name; Garber, of course, the family name and Tanglewood Road arose from her enthusiasm for Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales.
Anyway, they had this great big house in a very large garden.
I remember it.
You remember the house?
It looked a little bit like a chateau.
Yes. Like Charles Addams'--strange cartoons.
Yes. [ Laughter. ]
Well, Miss Garber--do you remember her?
No. I didn' t know her.
She lived there as a spinster for many years. Her sister Juliette married and they built the house in the southern part of the garden, which has lots of charm, a shingled, Berkeley tepee, but I don't know who the architect was. But Miss Garber lived stonily on there for years.
I happened to come in touch with her just once or twice. She was interested in nurses, and I was involved in something or other at Alta Bates Hospital, and she offered her house once a week for nurses who wanted some evening recreation. It was the nicest thing to do, and though just a few woulg go, they enjoyed it immensely. She'd serve genteel refreshments ! chuckles] , and, as I remember,
Hagar : t h e r e were d i scuss ions . Maybe a s u b j e c t would come up occas iona l ly t h a t was r a t h e r s t imu la t ing . And t h e s e c u t e nu r ses who worked, you s e e , a l l day a t A l t a Bates , and n i g h t too , would have t h i s glimpse i n t o another kind of l i f e . [ ~ a u ~ h t e r . 1
Miss Garber, who was shaped l i k e a Charles Addams f i g u r e was s l i g h t and always dressed i n b lack , and he r s k i r t came prac- t i c a l l y t o t h e s idewalk t r a i l i n g around her . I ' d seen he r walking up Stonewall i n t h e e a r l y days and now I wish I had had some conversa t ions wi th her . I was shy and only waved.
But she l i v e d t h e r e u n t i l she d i ed , and then t h e a r e a was subdivided and t h e house demolished. But J u l i e t t e and Prank Stringham l i v e d t h e r e very happi ly i n t h e i r house f o r many yea r s , and t h a t ' s t h e one t h e [ Adolphus E. ] Graupners Jr. have bought and redone b e a u t i f u l l y . And, of course , t h e r e a r e s e v e r a l o t h e r houses now on t h a t e s t a t e .
John Garber Park and t h e C i t y of Berkeley quarry
Hagar : But t h e John Garber Park--John Garber must have been t h e i r f a t h e r , wouldn't you th ink?
Levenson: I suppose so.
Hagar : O r t h e i r b ro ther . I don' t know. I never knew him. When we moved up he re t h a t whole h i l l s i d e a c r o s s t h e road from us had only one house on i t , and now look a t i t !
Levenson: Oh t h e a r e a t h a t we're looking at--the whole a r e a wi th Alvarado and a l l of i t s s u b s i d i a r i e s j u s t had one house, d id i t , south of F i sh Ranch Road?
Hagar : Yes. That whole h i l l , a l l t h e way t o t he top , had one house. It 's s t i l l the re . It 's t h e English house wi th t h e brown boards. It belonged t o Miss Wilson, who owned X i s s Head's, and i t s s t i l l l i v e d i n . But i n t h e f i f t y yea r s we've l i v e d he re , over f i f t y yea r s , a l l those houses have gone up.
But f o r many years Garber Park, which was t h e wooded h i l l s i d e s t r a i g h t ac ros s from us, was held by t h e Ci ty Recreat ion Department, I ' m su re , because I was t o l d t h a t i f G i r l Scouts o r anyone wanted t o use i t f o r a barbecue o r an evening pa r ty , they 'd have t o g e t a permit from t h e c i t y . And very o f t e n we could hear t h e songs and l augh te r and vo ices come waf t ing ac ros s . There were t r a i l s , and I only went over t h e r e once o r twice, but i t seems t o me t h e r e were
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tables and benches, so that it was a city facility--then what happens to a thing like that? Then the city gives it or sells it to developers and they put in the roads and homes.
Here it's deeded to the City of Berkeley for a quarry, it says on the map.
Well, I think it was a quarry. But, you see, the part we're talking about is up here [ pointing to map ] , south of Fish Ranch Road.
Yes. North of Fish Ranch there was an area deeded for a quarry, and then south it's all called John Garber Park.
And now developed all the way out.
Yes.
The Biedenbachs' land was next to the quarry. Carl Biedenbach's father was principal of Berkeley High for many, many years, and was principal when I went to Berkeley High. I graduated in 1915, so it was the period before that. Then young Carl inherited it, or else he was the one to whom this was sold; I guess that was it. But he or his daughter, Jane Koll, developed all this. i 2626 Claremont Avenue ]
Yes.
Jane married Mike, and they own Carl Biedenbach's old house here, and then I guess they developed all these little cliff-hanging apartments on Claremont Avenue.
And cottages.
Yes. And that's where Elle i~offna~el] lives, in one of those.
Right.
And remind me to ask you about Elle before you go. I'm so excited k about her engagement] ,
Sure. Yes.
So that those were all Biedenbach property. Carl put in our little rock wall out here. After a while he ceased his developments and building and just did odd jobs for people.
So where do we come now?
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L e t ' s see. We've gone t o t h e Guttersons. Powell i s t h e next one. A l l t h e s e t h r e e l o t s a t t h e top.
The Powells , I t h i n k , l ived--I d i d n ' t know them w e l l - - I t h ink they l i v e d i n a house r i g h t t h e r e on t h e corner of Stonewall and Tanglewood, t h e one on t h e corner . Yes, t h a t was t h e o l d Powell house. But I don ' t know much about them. And I don' t know any- t h i n g about t h e Stantons.
Now, t o go back, w e w e r e t a l k i n g a l i t t l e b i t about t h e B l a i r s , and you s a i d you d i d n ' t have anyth ing t o do wi th t h e permissions and s o on. It came t o my a t t e n t i o n t h a t t h e B l a i r s b u i l t t h e i r garage and h a l f of t h e i r k i t c h e n s t e p s on t h e c i t y r i g h t of way. [ Laughter. ]
Oh, how f r u s t r a t i n g . How d i d t h a t happen?
I don' t know.
What happened a f t e r t h a t ?
Well, t h e y ' r e s t i l l the re . [ ~ a u g h t e r .]
So, t h e r i g h t of way would be t h i s . [ Gestures . . ] Oh, i t would s t and out .
I t ' s twenty f e e t from my proper ty l i n e . There 's supposed t o be a twenty-foot b u f f e r between my proper ty l i n e and t h e B l a i r s ' . [ Schulz ]
But i t ' s t h e i r garage.
Y e s . [Laughter.]
And Diane Schulz knows t h a t , probably.
Y e s . Oh, yes . I was t e l l i n g h e r I was t r y i n g t o f i n d where my proper ty ended and was i n some confusion, and s h e s t a r t e d t o laugh and showed m e t h e surveying s t a k e s t h a t t h e c i t y had put i n i n t h e l a s t y e a r , s t a k i n g t h e c i t y ' s c la im t o t h e Schulzs ' garage and h a l f of t h e i r k i t chen s t e p s . [ Laughter. 1
Oh! So i t ' s j u s t a f a i t accompli.
Yes.
I have some cof fee . I need some.
Oh, f i n e .
Hagar : Would you t u r n t h a t o f f ? [ Tape o f f b r i e f l y . ]
Levenson: A s we're looking a t t h e map I ' d l i k e t o a s k you why these l o t s were cu t up i n t o such funny shapes?
Hagar : They -a r e odd. But I t h i n k one reason long i s because they were s o s teep .
t h a t t h e upper ones were
Cars and Steeu S t r e e t s
Levenson:' A s t h e s t r e e t got b u i l t up, can you t e l l me of any amusing th ings or--I remember once when we had t h a t young g i r l wi th t h e c a r ha l f s tuck i n your i vy and th rea t en ing t o r o l l down, you t o l d me a t e r r i b l e s t o r y about a c a r running away and k i l l i n g t h e mailman,
Hagar : Ah, yes. It d id , and none of us eve r got over t h a t . parked i n f r o n t of t h e Granichers ' , /I2 [ 221 1 , you
It was see .
Levenson: Yes.
Hagar : Obviously t h e brake wasn't t i g h t and i t s t a r t e d t o . r o l 1 backwards. The postman ran and got i n bu t couldn ' t s t o p it--crashed down i n t o t h e Andrews' garden and was i n s t a n t l y k i l l e d . Now t h e Andrews were --he was an a t t o r n e y , and she was a very b r i l l i a n t mathematician, a s I r e c a l l , and taught a t t h e Univers i ty . They had two c h i l d r e n , B i l l Andrews and Dale, who married t h e doc tor and bought her mother 's house?
Levenson: Oh, s o t h a t ' s Dale Kaiser L William F. 1 ?
Hagar : That ' s Dale Kaiser , and she was Dale Andrews. She and B i l l were r a i s e d on the h i l l and f o r , oh, q u i t e a number of summers B i l l would come up and feed our chickens, because during t h e war we r a i s e d chickens out here and l o t s of vegetables . He would feed them when we went out of town, you see. And now he ' s a very succes s fu l f a t h e r and husband, and they l i v e i n Sacramento. I met h i s wi fe and c h i l d r e n t h e o t h e r day. I t ' s such fun t o s e e them growing up. So, they, you see , l i v e d next t o Nrs. Brown.
I must say t h a t we had a s i m i l a r experience wi th a c a r , bu t i t d i d n ' t t u r n out so t r a g i c a l l y . One day my s i s t e r , Nan, my wonderful o lde r s i s t e r , came up and parked h e r c a r o u t s i d e t h e f r o n t door and d i d n ' t pu t t h e brakes on. It was Sunday morning,
Hagar : and I had gues t s he re , and George was a l i t t l e f e l l ow of t h r e e o r so. I went out and t h e c a r was gone. It had gone down t h e h i l l l i k e t h i s [ g e s t u r e s ] and i n t o one of t h e s e houses, where f o r t u n a t e l y t h e man ( t h e one I c a n ' t remember--I t h i n k i t ' s #l2--who b u i l t t h a t house) u s u a l l y worked i n t h e garden, bu t he wasn't i n t h e garden t h a t day. But t h e ho r ro r of s ee ing t h e c a r gone, and where was George? Once he had go t t en i n t o a c a r and had been punished f o r i t a s a l i t t l e two year-old, you know, s o we d idn ' t know whether he was i n i t o r no t . But he wasn't!
14y s i s t e r always took th ings wi th g r e a t po i se and e c l a t , and w e never spoke of i t again. She had i t p u l l e d o u t , and renovated. I guess she made her peace wi th t h e bushes. [ Sof t laughter . ] But t h a t i s a p o t e n t i a l , l i v i n g on a h i l l .
The Stonewall Community
Hagar: I would l i k e t o say something about , l e t ' s s e e , t h e s e o t h e r f a m i l i e s .
Levenson : Yes.
Hagar : Suppose I go down t h e l i n e . On t h e south s i d e : the. B l a i r s , M r s . Campbell, and Rose Bel l .
Levenson: Oh, yes.
Hagar : Did you ever know Rose Be l l ?
Levenson: Yes. A wonderful person.
Hagar : A b e a u t i f u l person. I had known h e r when I was i n high school , and she was i n t h e Un ive r s i t y , I worshipping, i n a way, from a f a r . She married t h e p re s iden t of t h e s tuden t body, George Bel l . They w e r e both t a l l and handsome and dramatic and prominent on t h e campus. They married, had a boy and a g i r l and l i v e d i n t h e East .
But a f t e r some yea r s , a f t e r q u i t e a number of y e a r s , they separa ted . And she b u i l t t h e house on t h e corner , t h e Swift house, on t h a t U-turn.
Levenson: The f i r s t bend.
Hagar : Yes. I th ink t h a t was t h e f i r s t house she b u i l t , and then she b u i l t t h i s smal l house. [ #11].Her daughter has never married. She went t o San Francisco and was head buyer f o r somebody, has a wonderful job, p ro fe s s iona l , and had become s o p ro fe s s iona l t h a t
Hagar : nobody, you know, could q u i t e keep up wi th her . [ Chuckles.1 I ' v e always thought t h a t was one reason she never married. She "asn't t e r r i b l y c l o s e t o h e r mother.
But he r son, Rose B e l l ' s son, was very c lose . He went i n t o t h e a i r s e r v i c e (a p i l o t ) , and he was l o s t i n t h e P a c i f i c i n an a i r - p lane by himself near Taiwan, a s I remember. She never got over t h a t . He was a very handsome, d e l i g h t f u l person. \ h e n we were i n t h e Ph i l i pp ines , we found h i s name on t h e amazing s t r u c t u r e Gardner Daly d id f o r t h e cemetery ou t of Manila where hundreds of American servicemen a r e bur ied and where t h e Bruton g i r l s made t h e memorial bu i ld ing , which i s a l s o out of t h i s world. But on these colonnades
[ g e s t u r e s ] t h a t run wi th p i l l a r s between them through t h e s e b e a u t i f u l h i l l s , on e i t h e r s i d e of t h e colonnades a r e p r i n t e d hundreds of names of everyone i n every s e r v i c e who d i ed i n t h e P a c i f i c . We found h i s name and took a p i c t u r e of i t and brought i t t o Rose. But I o f t e n t h i n k of t h e t r a g e d i e s t h a t came i n t o h e r l i f e .
Then next came--oh, I c a n ' t bu i l t - - t ha t ' s where the Cooks--
remember t h e name of t h e man who
Levenson: Lot #13? No, #12.
Hagar : 2 I th ink t h a t 'S where t h e [ ~ y l e] Cooks l i v e now. [ 230 ]
Levenson: Yes.
Hagar : And then t h e next one, I c a n ' t remember who b u i l t t h a t , #13. But f r i e n d s of ou r s l i v e d t h e r e i n 1929, because they were l i v i n g t h e r e when J u l i e was born. So, t h a t house must have been b u i l t , you see. These houses were b u i l t very s h o r t l y a f t e r we b u i l t .
A s a mat te r of f a c t , a s soon a s t h e road was opened up, everybody bought t h e l o t s q u i t e speed i ly and began t o b u i l d i n '27, '28, '29.
/I13 i s where t h e [ Albert 1 Rosenbla t t s l i v e now. [ 220:'
And 814. Well, t h e [ Henry ] Colbys. Of course, Henry came from t h e o ld Berkeley fami ly , t h e Colby family,* and she was an Eas te rn g i r l , a Smith g i r l , and they met i n t h e Eas t , I guess, when he was a t Harvard. They had one c h i l d when B i l l Wurster b u i l t t h e i r house, and she came up. I remember one day s i t t i n g
*See William Edward Colby, Reminiscences , Regional Cu l tu ra l His tory P r o j e c t , Univers i ty of C a l i f o r n i a , Berkeley, 1954 i n t h e Bancroft Library.
Hagar : on t h e t e r r a c e . We used our o u t s i d e t e r r a c e t h e r e a g r e a t d e a l f o r c o f f e e , t e a , lunches, you know, c o c k t a i l s . W e were s i t t i n g t h e r e , having t e a and s h e s a i d , "You know, when w e move up--I'm not a ne ighbor ly person a t a l l . I ' m g l ad w e know you, bu t I'm not neighborly." [ Laughter. ]
Well, t h e y e a r s went a long and h e r f o u r c h i l d r e n a r r i v e d . She had a nurse f o r many y e a r s f o r h e r c h i l d r e n , t h e on ly one on t h e h i l l who's ever indulged i n t h i s fash ion . .But s h e was r a i s e d i n a way s o I suppose i t was ve ry n a t u r a l . She would appear a t t h e f r o n t door and say , two o r t h r e e l i t t l e blondes c l i n g i n g t o h e r hands, "Do you mind i f w e go down and si t on your lawn, go on your swing?" [ Laughter.] And I ' v e o f t e n chided h e r , because s h e has been very , very neighborly.
And, a s a mat te r of f a c t , i n t hose e a r l y yea r s w e were a l l "neighbors," s t a r t i n g w i th Mrs. Brown, who c a l l e d t h e day w e moved i n : we hadn ' t m e t them. She was a l o v e l y person, deeply involved i n t h e P re sby te r i an Church. I remember s h e c a l l e d up and s h e s a i d , "This i s your neighbor , Mrs. A. A. Brown. Flay we come up f o r j u s t a moment and g r e e t you?", which I thought was an ex t r ao rd ina ry and wonderful t h i n g f o r he r t o do.
We were both grimy, t h e f u r n i t u r e was a l l over everywhere, and they came up, and w e s a t , and i t was t h e beginning of a l ove ly f r i e n d s h i p . And t h a t was t h e s p i r i t Ehat enveloped us a l l i n t h e e a r l y days. W e a l l knew each o the r . We had p a r t i e s . Of course , one doesn ' t do neighborhood--well, you have. You're t h e beginning of another genera t ion . But i n t hose days t h e r e were fewer of us. We knew each o t h e r perhaps b e t t e r . I t h i n k t h e p a r t i e s t h a t you and E l l e have given h e r e a r e g r e a t a s s e t s i n a neighborhood; I t h i n k t h e y ' r e j u s t ex t r ao rd ina ry , i n a way, i n t h i s h u r r i e d l i f e . But i n t h o s e days w e weren ' t q u i t e so h u r r i e d and, a s I say , we knew each o t h e r b e t t e r , and w e would have ve ry s imple p a r t i e s .
I remember one Mrs. Brown had. It seems t o m e she had i t i n a f l a t p l a c e i n he r garden. Her garden has very few f l a t p laces . But i t was o u t s i d e w i th long t a b l e s , s o r t of a b u f f e t supper i n t h e e a r l y evening.
So, they l i v e d i n #23, which i s h e r e i p o i n t i n g t o map! . Levenson: Oh, yes .
Hagar : And e v i d e n t l y when t h i s p a r t was developed [ po in t ing t o map 1: --t h i s i s where w e came i n .
Levenson: The w e s t end.
Hagar : Yes. And t h i s house was one of two houses b u i l t on t h e h i l l s when we bought our l o t . This was one of two houses, and t h e o t h e r house was b u i l t by Stringham, t h e nephew of Frank Stringham. Roland, h i s name was. And he l i v e d t h e r e , I th ink , o r i g i n a l l y . It was t h e house t h a t now is occupied by Endy Stark . [ I 6 0 1 Do you know t h e house?
Levenson: No.
Hagar : Endy S t a r k is t h e divorced wi fe of Fortney S ta rk , t h e congressman.
Levenson: Oh, yes , yes.
Hagar : The Nordykes and t h e Granichers were t h e daughters of a f a n t a s t i c family, t h e J u s t i c e family, from t h e deep South. I c a n ' t remember which s t a t e i t was, bu t when you spoke t o them, of course, they had t h e love ly Southern accent , and Paul ine Granicher s t i l l does. Thei r f a t h e r was a judge and was s e n t t o C a l i f o r n i a by t h e United S t a t e s government t o t r y a ca se i n San Francisco. He had s i x daughters , a s I r e c a l l , and so he brought h i s w i fe and s i x daughters , and h e was so crazy about C a l i f o r n i a t h a t he s tayed h e r e and d ied s h o r t l y . Well, he d i d n ' t d i e u n t i l he'd produced a son. The seventh c h i l d was a boy! And Paul ine has t o l d me t h a t t h e news went a l l over t o h i s f r i e n d s ac ros s t h e United S t a t e s t h a t a t l a s t a son. [Laughter.] Much younger than h i s s i s t e r s , some of whom were a l r eady i n co l lege .
But anyway, t h e g i r l s went t o t h e Univers i ty , s e v e r a l of them, and Mama s t ayed h e r e and r a i s e d them, and they 've married and gone p laces . Paul ine was marr ied t o a young army o f f i c e r and l i v e d i n Hawaii. He was k i l l e d g e t t i n g home one n i g h t d r iv ing very f a s t through a storm, t r y i n g t o ge t home t o h e r f o r t h e weekend. He l e f t h e r wi th Cedric, t h e i r l i t t l e boy. Then l a t e r on she marr ied Oz [Oswald] , who was from a German family, Oz Granicher from San Francisco, and Bruce was born a f t e r they moved t o t h e h i l l and b u i l t /I2 on t h e map.
Her s i s t e r , l b r t h a J u s t i c e , and he r husband, Charles Nordyke, b u i l t t h e house t h a t i s t h e r e o n - l o t /I1, and t h e two l i t t l e cous ins grew up toge the r and took J u l i e L Hagar 1 , t agging along. On about h e r t h i r d b i r thday a l l she wanted was a p a i r of suspenders and a new p a i r of j eans , j u s t l i k e t h e boys. [ Laughter. My album is f i l l e d wi th p i c t u r e s of t h e l i t t l e boys a n d t h e i r g i r l companion.
This dea r l a d , Nordyke, a s h e grew up, was j u s t crazy about aeroplanes. I don't know whether he even went t o co l l ege ; maybe he went a yea r o r two. And then he went i n t o t h e s e r v i c e and was a f l i e r and was l o s t over Japan i n t h e Second World War.
Levenson: Oh, dear !
Hagar : I s n ' t t h a t awful. So t h a t t akes ca re of ;counting! one, two,-t h r e e , four .
Annual Christmas Pageant
Hagar : There i s one o t h e r t h i n g t h a t was q u i t e a t r a d i t i o n on t h e h i l l , speaking of f r i e n d l i n e s s . I f you'd l i k e t o have me speak of t h e Christmas pageant every year t h a t took place--
Levenson: Oh, yes.
Hagar : S t a r t e d by t h a t "unneighborly" Ruth Colby. We laughed a t h e r f o r s o many years . Very e a r l y she suggested t h a t t h e ch i ld ren , and t h e r e were a l o t of them on t h e h i l l then , g e t t oge the r f o r a Christmas s to ry . It was always a t h e r house. I 'll show you be fo re you go j u s t a few p i c t u r e s of t h e ch i ld ren . It was always a t ab l eau , and Ruth h e r s e l f got a l l t he costumes toge ther . The one t h i n g every g i r l wanted t o be every yea r , of course , was Mary, but she was chosen by Ruth.
What t h e boys d id not want was t o be Joseph. And I 'll never f o r g e t t h e t ime tha? David Colby was Joseph. Oh, t h e r e were ange l s , of course. L Looking at family album.; There w a s Mary i 8agar] , t h e year she was Ilary. And I guess he was a Wise Plan
o r something, Oh, he re a r e t h e Wise Men. These a r e t h e Lipman boys.
Oh,she got every th ing toge ther . The pa ren t s would go i n t h e a f t e r - noon, and someone would p lay t h e Christmas songs, and t h e t h r e e Wise Men would come i n bear ing c i g a r e t t e boxes of f rankincense and myrrh. Mary would be looking l i k e an angel wi th a d o l l i n h e r arms, and Joseph would be s t and ing h e r [ g e s t u r e s 1 , and then t h e Wise Men and then t h e angels . And then we'd have c a r o l s . Then, a t t h e end, we'd always end wi th "S i l en t Night," you see , which was r a t h e r touching. The pa ren t s were always very sen t imenta l about t h i s .
And t h e yea r t h a t David Colby w a s Joseph--it 's such a bor ing p a r t ; you ju s t , - s t and there . Mary can look ador ingly a t he r baby and s o f o r t h . L Sof t laughter . ] There was a s i l e n c e , and we were a l l a l i t t l e gulpy. And suddenly David s t a r t e d , "Three b l i n d mice, t h r e e b l i n d mice, s e e how they run.. ." L Laughter.] And then he came out and gave t h e f o o t b a l l a g r e a t kick. The Christmas f o o t b a l l was i n t h e middle of t h e f l o o r .
But i t was always a l ove ly a f f a i r , and i t went on year a f t e r
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yea r a s they grew o lde r . I s n ' t t h a t cu t e? [ Shows p i c t u r e of c h i l d r e n . ] The Lipman boys, t h e Granichers , t h e Nordykes, t h e Colbys, a l l t h e Hendersons, t h e Hagars.
Tha t ' s love ly!
A Closed Right of Way 'and 'Old ' F i s h 'Ranch 'Rdad
Now, when I f i r s t came on t h e street , t h e r e was a r i g h t of way pa th down t o Claremont Avenue, o r Old F i s h Ranch Road, and I saw t h e o t h e r day t h a t t h a t was s e a l e d o f f : "Do Not Enter."
Y e s , yes . From t h e top?
Y e s . Now, can you t e l l m e anything about t h a t pa th?
W e l l , i t became more and more p reca r ious , f o r one th ing . It o r i g i n a l l y , I t h i n k , had l i t t l e s t e p s of some s o r t .
Yes.
Did you ever go down i t ?
Oh, yes. Many t i m e s .
Lots of t imes? Oh, r e a l l y ?
Y e s .
W e l l , t h e s t e p s w e r e wood, i t seems t o me. Were they?
Y e s , t h a t ' s r i g h t .
The riser was a wood, and i t became o l d e r and o lde r . My c h i l d r e n used t o dash down the re . It became a l i t t l e p r eca r ious a s t i m e went on, and w e t , and damp. I don't know what happened, except t h a t I t h i n k i t was Ruth Colby who t o l d m e t h a t - - l e t ' s see. E i t h e r Dale [ K a i s e r ] o r Ruth t o l d m e t h a t i t became a s o r t of a bad p l a c e because a l l k inds of t h ings t h a t you couldn ' t put your f i n g e r on w e r e h a ~ p e n i n g there . Now whether i t was between i n d i v i d u a l s o r whether i t was a b i t c r imina l , I don ' t know. But, anyway, I t h i n k i t ' s j u s t a s w e l l they c lo sed t h a t . I don ' t know many of t h e p a r t i c u l a r s .
W e w e r e t a l k i n g o f f t h e t a p e about Old F i sh Ranch Road. Now, can you t e l l m e f i r s t of a l l why i t was eve r c a l l e d F i sh Ranch?
I
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Well, I understand that there used to be a ranch up there that sold fish [ laughter] , but I can't believe it because the fish would be far from the good salt water. You know, you like to have fish right off the wharf, don't you? So, I really don't know. I wonder who could tell you. Why don't you make up a nice story? [ Laughter. 1 I wish I did know. And I think we should stop calling it that. shall always call it that, but ou'd better not. you'd just better stick to Claremont. [ Laughter.
[ Laughter. 1 That's what people understand, Claremont . There was an effort a while back to do something about this area, to preserve it or something. Now, what was that organization? Did you receive material from them? And they had meetings or little trips up there.
Was that the Claremont-Elmwood Neighborhood Association?
I guess that might have been it.
Yes, I think CENA.
Yes. Did you receive something from them? I don't like that organization myself.
Oh, really?
No. I belonged to it for a long time, and I'm sure they've done good things. But 1 think they have two or three real fanatics on the subject of the Berkeley street barriers, you see, within this, and they've used that--this is my explanation of it. They've used that organization to pressure for the barriers. But this hill idea may have been a valid and good thing. I don't know enough about it.
The John Roosevelts on Stonewall Road
I don't know whether you want to say anything about Mrs. Sather. You knew those lovely stories!
Oh, I didn't know her, you know, and I read over what I had said in my oral history," and I really don't know a great deal more than
*Ella (Barrows) Hagar, Continuing Memoirs: Family, Community, University. Regional Oral History Office, University of California Berkeley, 1971. In The Bancroft Library.
Hagar : t h a t . I d i d n ' t know her . Plrs. Rearst d id come i n t o our l i f e a l i t t l e b i t , bu t not M r s . Sather . But through the book and t h e p a r t i e s I th ink I ' v e s a i d everything I know. [ Laughter.!
Levenson: Okay. Oh, I know what I wanted t o ask you. People say t o me from time t o time, "I~lasn't t h e r e a Roosevelt on Stonewall Road?"
Hagar : Oh, yes. I n your house! Oh, 1 'd love t o t e l l you about t h a t !
Levenson: [ Laughter. 1 Please !
Hagar : It was John, t h e youngest, and t h e f i r s t I knew about i t was M r s . Phelps--you see , t h e Hendersons went t o Washington during t h e war. You probably knew t h i s p a r t .
Levenson : Y e s .
Hagar : And Carolyn, t h e o l d e s t , and my George had a s e c r e t cave up t h e r e on t h e h i l l , and they were in sepa rab le a t t h a t period. It must have been i n t h e e a r l y F o r t i e s , and George was born i n '33, so maybe they were e i g h t o r nine.
Anyway, t he Hendersons went away. Fred had some job i n Washington. Af ter they had l e f t , q u i t e suddenly, M r s . Phelps, h e r mother, c a l l e d and s a i d t h a t they had rented t h e house t o John and h i s wife , Anne, and they were going t o move i n , and she j u s t wanted m e t o know.
Well, then, of course t h e r e was q u i t e a f l u r r y i n t h e neigh- borhood! S h a l l we go and c a l l , o r s h a l l we not c a l l ? And we were t o l d , perhaps by M r s . Phelps, t h a t they were not about t o be neighborly wi th t h e neighbors, and I don' t blame them. Why should they? They were probably temporary.
The next th ing , I guess, was when M r s . Roosevelt--Anne, ca l l ed me and s a i d t h a t she was despera te f o r somebody t o clean. Did I know anyone who would come once a week? She s a i d , of course, t h a t they had a s e c r e t s e r v i c e man wi th t h e ch i ld ren ( they had two l i t t l e ch i ld ren ) a l l t h e time, and they had a nurse. But she, Anne Roosevelt , s a i d " I ' m doing t h e cooking and t h e cleaning. But, oh, i t would be such a he lp if--." Well, I s a i d , "Let me see . They're very, very hard t o find." And I s a i d q u i e t l y t o myself [ chuck les ] , 11Even f o r John Roosevelt I am not going t o g ive up my c leaning woman." But I d id t e l l h e r t h a t I knew another very n i c e black woman, whom I guess I had had occas ional ly a s a subst i tute--but mine d i d n ' t want t o make a move. I c a l l e d t h i s o the r one, and she s a i d , "Oh, John Roosevel t ! I w i l l go!" And I s a i d , "If you leave one of your employers t o g ive M r s . Roosevelt a day, p l ease don' t mention my name." i: Chuckles. 1 I s a i d , "This i s e n t i r e l y up t o you. You
Hagar : can do i t i f you want, bu t I don't want t o be respons ib le , " n o t being p a r t i c u l a r l y courageous. She d id l eave , and she d id go t o Anne, which I t h i n k worked ou t n i ce ly .
Sometimes t h e i r ch i ld ren , younger than mine, would come up t h e a l l e y wi th nu r se and s e c r e t s e r v i c e man and t a l k and play a b i t with mine. I f e l t s o r r y f o r t h e i r ch i ld ren who seemed lone ly and bored. I c a l l e d them one n igh t . I s a i d , " Je r ry , I r e a l l y think-- l e t ' s j u s t go up f o r a minute. It seems a l i t t l e n i c e r , a s long a s we've had t h e s e o t h e r connections." So I c a l l e d , and John Roosevelt s a i d , "Please come, and I ' m in--" Idhat's "in mufti"? Is t h a t without uniform? [ Laughter. 1
Levenson. [ Laughter. 1 Yes.
Hagar : But he s a i d , "Please come." So we went up, and w e s a t i n t h e l i t t l e l i b r a r y , and we j u s t s tayed about a ha l f an hour, fo r ty - f ive minutes. A very good-looking young couple. Ile was q u i t e handsome, t a l l . We t a l k e d about a l o t of t h ings , and I was speaking of th,e p re s iden t [ Frank l in Delano Roosevelt 1 . And he ;John Roosevelt ! was a Republican. He s a i d , l ' r e l l , you know, we don't always ag ree p o l i t i c a l l y , " which, of course, being a Republican myself , s o r t of warmed my h e a r t . She was q u i e t and very p r e t t y , a s I r e c a l l .
But t h e most e x c i t i n g th ing happened when Mrs. ,I leano or:! Roosevelt was going t o v i s i t . Perhaps I t o l d you t h i s once. Did I ?
Levenson : No.
Hagar : She was coming t o Berkeley and t h e r e was a g r e a t d e a l of hu l laba loo about it. ?lary ~ a ~ a r lmust have been about twelve, around t h e r e , twelve o r t h i r t e e n , and I remember I was i n t h e k i t chen , and we heard t h e s i r e n s coming up t h e h i l l . .She was coming up t o s e e John and Anne. Mary was hanging out on t h e t e r r a c e . She came t e a r i n g i n t o t h e k i t chen and s a i d , "She's come! She's come! And she had on a red dress!" The c a r went s w i r l i n g by wi th t h e s i r e n s . I couldn ' t have seen h e r i f I went because they went so f a s t i n t h e ca r . But i t was q u i t e an event on t h e h i l l t o have t h e p r e s i d e n t ' s w i fe come. She s tayed a whi le dur ing t h e day and went on,
But John was a t t ached t o t h e naval supply depot. Maybe they were h e r e a year . But we never saw them again. I understood t h a t they had f r i e n d s down on t h e Peninsula and t h a t they d id have some s o c i a l l i f e . I hope they did. They were an a t t r a c t i v e young couple.
S ince then, I understand--oh, d id I read something i n t h e paper some yea r s l a t e r about one of t h e i r ch i ld ren who'd been a t a G i r l Scout Camp? Did you hea r t h i s ?
Levenson : No.
Hagar : And she was overcome wi th something on t h e t r a i l . on t h e t r a i l . My memory i s dim on t h a t .
I t h i n k she d i ed
Levenson: Where d id t h e Secre t Serv ice men l i v e ?
Hagar : I don ' t know. Wouldn't you suppose i n t h e downstairs apartment and t h e nu r se wi th t h e ch i ld ren?
Then a f t e r they l e f t t h e house was taken by a couple, though he was a doc tor i n t h e P a c i f i c on "Hope," t h e h o s p i t a l s h i p , from S e a t t l e , bu t she becamevery -c l o s e t o me, D r . and Mrs. Loe, L-o-e. She came with he r t h r e e c h i l d r e n , and a l l t h e time t h a t she was here , p r a c t i c a l l y a l l t h e t ime, he was away.
She i n v i t e d another doc to r ' s w i fe and c h i l d , whose husband was a l s o i n t h e P a c i f i c , t o come and l i v e wi th her f o r a year . But I f i r s t knew Marion Loe because--her daughter , Mary, was about George's age by then , a b e a u t i f u l g i r l who came down t o our house, t h e f i r s t a f te rnoon they moved i n . The f i r s t t ime I ever saw he r , s h e had on her b r o t h e r ' s boots. She was s i t t i n g out on t h e cement s ta i rway going down i n t o t h e garden t a l k i n g wi th George, and suddenly f e l l o f f and broke h e r arm. I ' d j u s t f i n i s h e d a Red Cross course. [Laughter.] So, of course, I t r e a t e d her f o r shock and c a l l e d t h e doc tor and an ambulance, which I shouldn ' t have done. : ~ a u ~ h t e r . 1 The doctor came and we c a l l e d Mrs. Loe. She s a i d t o t a k e Mary t o M e r r i t t t o a doc tor they knew. Well, t h a t was q u i t e a t a l e . That ' s t h e way we got acquainted. But they l i v e d t h e r e u n t i l t h e end of t h e war.
Then you bought. No.
Levenson: No. Then t h e Hendersons came back.
Hagar : Then t h e Hendersons came back. That 's r i g h t .
Levensons Move Next Door, February, 1956
Hagar : And you bought--what year?
Levenson: February of '56.
Hagar : Yes. Twenty-two years .
Levenson : Yes.
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Did t h e time f l y ?
Yes, indeed.
Do you remember t h e funny s t o r y I t o l d you t h e f i r s t time I ever met you?
Oh, t e l l i t again1
May I ? I ' d love to . It should be immortalized. C ~ a u ~ h t e r . 1 I was pouring t e a a t Ursula Bingham's, and she brought you over , and you k n e l t down bes ide m e and s a i d t h a t you were going t o l i v e next door. I s a i d , "Oh, t h a t ' s love ly . How many c h i l d r e n do you have?" And you s a i d , "Well, I have two." And I s a i d , "Well, y o u ' l l have t o import ch i ldren . There a r e no more l i t t l e ch i ld ren on t h e h i l l becausethey 've a l l been r a i s e d and gone away." And you s a i d , "Oh, t h e neighborhood w i l l change," i q your l ove ly accent [ speaking i n English accent ] . C Laughter .i And I could j u s t s e e myself being c a r r i e d o u t , f e e t f i r s t , and I f e l t l i k e saying, "No, -I ' m going t o f o o l you!" But i t has changed, every-body around us.
W e l l , I f e e l t h e same way t h a t you d id i n 1955! 4[ ~ a u ~ h t e r
[ ~ a u ~ h t e r jAnd you a r e going t o s t a y , I hope.
Thank you. And thank you s o much f o r t e l l i n g me what you remember.
You're very welcome. I ' v e j u s t cha t t e r ed on and c h a t t e r e d on. I have enjoyed i t , a s you can t e l l . I th ink i t ' s love ly t h a t you've made such a b e a u t i f u l home t h e r e and r a i s e d your f o u r ch i ld ren , and t h e l a s t one is about t o f l y t h e coop.
That ' s r i g h t . Thank you again.
Ext raord inary , i s n ' t he?
Yes.
Does he know where he ' s going t o co l l ege?
S h a l l I t u r n i t [ t h e t a p e r eco rde r ] o f f now?
Well, put t h i s i n .
A l l r i g h t .
Where is h'e going?
Well, he ' s only s i x t e e n , a s you know, and s o he ' s going t o t ake
Levenson : a yea r o f f .
Hagar : That 's f i n e . I b e l i e v e i n t h a t .
Levenson : And he ' s going t o work on t h e same kibbutz t h a t Richard worked on.
Hagar : The ' same one !
Levenson: For s i x months. And then he wants t o b i c y c l e through Greece and I t a l y , because he ' s been s tudying L a t i n f o r f o u r years .
Hagar : Good.
Levenson : And h e wants t o s e e t h e a n t i q u i t i e s be fo re he goes t o England t o g e t t o know h i s English family. So he ' s only appl ied t o one p l ace , because he can apply aga in next yea r , and t h a t ' s Harvard.
Hagar : Well, did.
h e ' l l probably j u s t go r i g h t i n t o Harvard t h e way Richard
Levenson: And Tom.
Hagar: And Tom, t h a t ' s r i g h t . Oh, of course they should go the re . P e r f e c t l y love ly . Well, t h a t seems j u s t t h e par f o r t h e course, then , doesn ' t i t , because i n t h a t yea r he grows o l d e r , and I t h i n k i t ' s b e t t e r not t o go i n w i th seventeen and e ighteen year-olds. Don 't you?
Levenson : Yes, I do. I r e a l l y do. Thank you s o much, E l l a .
INDEX - E l l a Hagar
Anna Head School , 8 , 12 a r c h i t e c t , cho ice o f , 2-4 a r c h i t e c t s ' models, 3 a r c h i t e c t u r a l s t y l e s
Berkeley s h i n g l e , 11 cha teau , 11 Engl i sh , 3 I t a l i a n , 4 Medi terranean, 3-4
B e l l , George and Rose, 16-17 Berkeley, c i t y of
Parks and Rec rea t i on Department, 12-13 Berkeley High School , 8 , 13 , 16 Biedenbach, C a r l , 1 3 Bingham, Ursula , 26 Blair, E leanor , 5-6, 8 , 14 , 16 Brown, M r . and Mrs. A. A . , 1-2, 1 8 b u i l d i n g pe rmi t s , 10
Campbell, M r . and Mrs. Robert W . , 7 , 16 c i t y boundar ies , 8-10, 14 Claremont-Elmwood Neighborhood Assoc i a t i on , 22 Claremont Ho te l , 8-9 Colby, Henry, 10 , 17-18, 20-21 Cook, Lyle , 17
Eas t Bay Municipal U t i l i t y D i s t r i c t , 6
Garber, John, 1-2, 12 Garber, L ida , 10-12 Garber Park , 12-13 Gran icher , Oswald and Pau l i ne , 5 , 19 , 21 Graupner, Mrs. and Mrs. Adolphus E., Jr . , 12 Gregory, Warren and E l i z a b e t h , 2-3 Gut te r son , Henry, 2 , 4-6
Hagar, Gerald , 1-4, 10 , 24 Henderson, M r . and Mrs. F rede r i ck P . , 5-7, 23, 25 Hessing, Ernes t and He r t a , 2-3 Hoffnagel , E l l e , 13 , 18 Howard, John Galen, 4
Justice family, 19
Kaiser, William F. and Dale Andrews, 15, 21 Koll, Jane and Michael, 13
Levenson family, 25-27, and passim Lipman, Robert, 10, 17, 21 lot, choice of, 1-2
neighborhood spirit, 18, 20, 23 Nichols, Luther, 1-2 Nordyke, Charles and Martha, 19-21
Oakland, city of Planning Commission, 10
Ratcliffe, Walter, 4 rights of way, 21 Roosevelt, Eleanor, 24 Roosevelt, John and Anne, 22-25 Rosenblatt, Mr. and Mrs. Albert, 17
Schulz, William and Diane, 6, 14 Stark, Endy, 19 street names, choice of, 11, 21-22 Stringham, Frank and Juliette, 10-12, 19 Stringham, Roland, 19
University of California, Berkeley, 9, 16, 19
Vandervoort, Ray, 6
Williams, Margaret Everts, 8 Wurster, William, 2-5, 17
Rosemary Levenson
Grew up in England; B.A. in History from Cambridge University, 1948. Graduate work in History and International Law at Cambridge and Radcliffe. M.A. in Sociology at the University of California Berkeley in 1969.
Moved to Berkeley in 1951 and worked as free-lance editor and anthropological photographer. Volunteer service in groups related to the public schools, religion, and University of California faculty wives.
Travel in Europe and the Far East. Joined the staff of the Regional Oral History Office in 1970.
