HAHS and the Hayward Public Library are partnering to host Dr. ShiPu Wang, Coats Family Chair in the Arts and Professor of Art History at the University of California, Merced, as he discusses the exhibition and book Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo. Dr. Wang, curator of this forthcoming nationally touring exhibition, will talk about the artwork, stories, and connections of these three exceptional Japanese American women, one of whom, Hisako Hibi, called Hayward home prior to World War II.

Registration requested. Free parking available in the garage adjacent to the library. Refreshments provided courtesy of the Eden Township JACL.

Join us for a talk with filmmaker Mimi Chakarova and producer Aisha Knowles as they discuss the making of The Apology.

In 1963, officials in Alameda County began hearings to discuss the forced removal of Russell City, an unincorporated area home to predominantly Black and Latino residents. Sixty years later, the City of Hayward formally recognized the impact of the forced removal and issued a formal apology to Russell City residents.

Award-winning filmmaker Mimi Chakarova's feature-length documentary The Apology follows the stories of two dozen Russell City residents and their descendants while exploring the significance of making amends for a past that shouldn't be forgotten.

RocQuel Johnson, Vice President of the Hayward/South County Black Women Organized for Political Action, will speak about Black Resistance and Political Enfranchisement.

African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression in all forms, and resistance has achieved triumphs, successes, and progress. Black people have sought ways to nurture and protect Black lives and the autonomy of their physical and intellectual bodies through many avenues such as education, media, and legislation/politics. Black-led institutions and affiliations have lobbied, litigated, legislated, protested, and succeeded. Black resistance strategies have served as a model for every other social movement in the country; thus, the legacy and importance of these actions cannot be understated.

HAHS is proud to present RocQuel Johnson, Vice President of the Hayward/ South County Black Women Organized for Political Action, who will speak about Black Resistance and BWOPA as they work towards their mission to activate, motivate, promote, support, and educate African-American women about the political process, encourage involvement, and to affirm the commitment to solving problems affecting the African-American community.

RocQuel Johnson has over 23 years of extensive experience facilitating early community engagement work centered around difficult conversations. She has successfully developed direct partnerships, award-winning brand communications, negotiations, and collaborations with communities, government, and elected officials. As Vice President for the Hayward/South County chapter of BWOPA, she helped establish a Covid-19 vaccination education and awareness campaign in unincorporated Alameda County. RocQuel is also a board member of the Black Maternal Health Innovation Lab and has supported new policies centered around equitable Black maternal health for the women of Fresno County and has facilitated several Black maternal forums, including with BWOPA during Black Maternal Wellness Week. She is currently a Communication Specialist with Blue Shield of California Foundation.

Troubled by climate change and an understanding of the long-term effects of our sea levels rising, Jennifer Koney was inspired to create a series of paintings. Her process of pouring and protecting images of glaciers and icebergs reflects the subject matter itself: inundation and sea-level rise. Each painting has a horizon line at 55 inches from the floor for the viewer to experience just how much the San Francisco Bay is expected to rise by the year 2100 as a direct and tangible mark made physical.

Join us for a talk about climate change and the art of Jennifer Koney.

Online program via Zoom. Registration for this program is now closed. A recording will be uploaded to our YouTube channel soon.

Save the date for this online presentation with Prof. Sherman Lewis! Dr. Lewis will speak about his newest book The Rise and Fall of Hayward’s Route 238 Bypass, which details the story of how Hayward’s Route 238 bypass ultimately never came to fruition. The book is available through Amazon, or an eBook version is available on the Google Play Store.

Registration for this program is now closed. A recording will be available at our YouTube channel in the near future.

Join us for a discussion on Black Health and Wellness during the pandemic. Dr. Michael LeNoir will ground the program with a talk concerning the history and culture of Black medicine, followed by a panel discussion covering the Black COVID experience led by Hayward City Councilmember Angela Andrews. Panelists include Fremont City Councilmember Teresa Cox, Mental Health Professional Dr. William Spivey, and Alameda County Superintendent of Schools L.K. Monroe.

Registration for this event has concluded. Please check back for a link to view the recording on YouTube.

Presented in partnership with the Women’s Ministry of Palma Ceia Baptist Church and the Eden Rose (CA) Chapter of The Links Incorporated.

Join us for a live online presentation by Professor Erika Walker, exploring the complex and continuing struggle for fully-realized African-American voting rights.

What are the historical pivot-points that have led us to this moment? What are aspects of “Active Citizenship”? How else can we use our power? And where do we go from here?

Registration for this webinar is available at bit.ly/HAHS-AfricanAmericansandtheVote

This program is presented in partnership with the Women’s Ministry of Palma Ceia Baptist Church and Eden Rose (CA) Chapter, of The Links Incorporated.

Between 1883 and 1929, Andrew Carnegie funded the building of over 2,000 public libraries. Some of those historic structures stood in San Leandro and Hayward. Join Annalee Allen, noted local historian, Oakland Tribune columnist, and former board member of the Oakland Heritage Alliance, as she shares the lasting legacy of the local Carnegie libraries.

$5 program fee, Free for HAHS Members

Join acclaimed author and speaker Regina Mason as she shares the story of her search for her great-great-great-grandfather, William Grimes, and her startling discovery that he had written the first American autobiography of a runaway slave. His story ignited an essential American literary genre, but is largely forgotten today. His story, and her search to uncover it, are retold in a new film, Gina’s Journey: The Search for William Grimes. In this reenactment documentary that bridges two centuries, both Mason and her forebear Grimes defy the odds of their times to tell their stories.

Program Schedule

1:00 - 1:30: Introductions & Film Background

1:30 - 3:00: Film Screening: Gina’s Journey: The Search for William Grimes

3:00 - 3:30: Q&A, Book Signing

Admission to the museum is free, but there is a $5 suggested donation for the program.

This program is presented in partnership with the Women’s Ministry of Palma Ceia Baptist Church. Program sponsored by KMS Unique Angels & Gifts.

Japanese Americans experienced tremendous violations of civil liberties during World War II and their experiences continue to resonate today.

Join us for a screening of the pivotal documentary And Then They Came for Us (2017), followed by a round-table discussion. Sponsored by the Eden Township JACL.

Speaker Biographies

Don Tamaki is a celebrated local lawyer who helped clear Fred Korematsu’s conviction for resisting detention during WWII, and recently filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in the Travel Ban case (Trump v. Hawaii).

Satsuki Ina, born in the Tule Lake maximum security prison during WWII, is a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of trauma, and the producer of two award-winning documentary films about Japanese American incarceration (Children of the Camps and From A Silk Cocoon).

Benita Jain, from the Immigrant Family Defense Fund, has worked with multiple national organizations focused on defending the civil rights of immigrant communities. She monitors and analyzes legislative proposals, and helps to provide legal resources to fight the targeting of immigrants with criminal arrests and convictions. The Immigrant Family Defense Fund is doing local, concrete work on a daily basis to provide legal representation and support to California families facing separation, detention and deportation. 

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed and issued Executive Order 9066, changing the lives of tens of thousands of Japanese Americans forever. In the following months, approximately 110,000 people of Japanese Ancestry were instructed to gather their belongings and report to the Civil Control Station where they were then taken from the West Coast. These men, women, and children were brought to American Concentration Camps and stayed there for the duration of World War II. Join us to hear the Stories from Camps from family members of internees as well as those who experienced the Camps first hand.

The Hayward Area Historical Society will be hosting a number of programs in conjunction with the Special Gallery Exhibition Loyal Americans: Japanese American Imprisonment During World War II. For the first of these programs we will invite the whole family down to the Museum to learn about traditional Japanese forms of arts and crafts. Looking at and experiencing art often provides important insights into past and existing cultures, helping us better understand how others have lived and what they value. Join us to further explore Japanese culture through Origami and Taiko drumming.

Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper into decorative shapes and figures. Ancient Japanese legend says that anyone who takes the time and completes 1,000 paper origami cranes will be granted a wish from the gods. In commemoration of this tradition, join us between the hours of 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM in making 1,000 cranes to be hung and displayed in the lobby for the remainder of the Loyal Americans exhibition. 

In Japanese, the word taiko translates to a barrel-shaped drum. In recent decades the art-form of ensemble taiko drumming has become extremely popular with many groups performing at concerts or during festivals. Starting at 11:00 AM, the Eden Aoba Taiko group will put on a demonstration of their drumming and show their art.  

Join the Historical Society for our Annual Day of the Dead Program lead by educator, curator, and Día de los Muertos specialist Bea Carrillo Hocker. Hocker’s presentation will address the Pre-Hispanic concept of death as portrayed in the paintings and sculptures of Mexico’s early artists, the impact of Spanish Catholicism on indigenous funerary rites, and offer insights into the present-day pageantry of Día de los Muertos along with the reclamation of these traditions by Mexican Americans.

Following this discussion will be a Mexican Day of the Dead Skeleton Jumping Jack Workshop. Skeleton Jumping Jacks are the traditional toys sold during the Day of the Dead Festival. Come create this traditional toy – accessorize it to give it its own unique personality.

Funding generously provided by Berty Nebenzahl and Ruth Talley.

Following a brief introduction to the history of the dance we invite you to come and learn how to Belly Dance with local artist and instructor Joanne Price. All ages and skill levels welcome. 

Deriving from traditional British forms of dance, Scottish Country Dancing became popular in the mid-18th century as a more relaxed and social dance involving groups or couples of dancers.  All ages and skill levels are welcome to join in on this introductory dance lesson of Scottish Country Dancing instructed by local artist Mary McWilliams. Free with museum admission.

Learn directly from leaders in the paranormal field, and then put your new skills to work with an investigation of Meek Mansion or McConaghy House. 

Speakers include Loyd Auerbach, Parapsychologist & Director of the Office of Paranormal Investigations; Rev. David Deerfeeder, Priest, Author & Medium; Elaine Davison, Paranormal Investigator & Creator of Paranormalsafety.com; Ellen MacFarlane & Devin Sisk, Paranormal Investigators & Napa City Ghosts and Legends Walking Tour; and HAHS’ very own Diane Curry, Curator & Archivist. More speakers to be added. 

Conference is scheduled 9AM - 5PM
Investigation is scheduled 7PM - Midnight
$75 for Workshop OR Investigation
$125 for Workshop AND Investigation

Tickets must be purchased in advance. Space for investigation is limited to 20 people per location. For tickets, purchase below or call (510) 581-0223. Ages 18+

UPDATE: Meek Mansion Investigation SOLD OUT. McConaghy Investigation still available.

Join us for a lecture by Dr. James Lance Taylor, Professor and Director of African-American Studies at University of San Francisco, followed by discussion coinciding with the national theme, “The Crisis in Black Education.” This program is planned in partnership with the Eden Rose Chapter of the Links, Incorporated and the Women’s Ministry at Palma Ceia Baptist Church.

Free admission

How would you paint plants without green paint? Students from the Mary L. Harden School of Botanical Illustration will answer this (and many other watercolor-related questions) during their demonstration. Artists will share how they became interested in painting, show how to mix colors for a broad palette, and help you examine botanical paintings. Following the demonstration audience members will be invited to try their hand at watercolor painting. 

Supplies will be provided. Free with museum admission.

Find out more about the origins of Día de los Muertos with an interactive presentation by artist and cultural educator Anita De Lucio. Visitors will get to experience our Day of the Dead exhibit in new detail and will even get to taste some pan de muerto!

Free with museum admission

Why do we collect documents in archives? Isn’t everything already on the internet and available at the touch of a button? The truth is, there is a lot of information that is not online.  Come and see the valuable resources that are only available in the HAHS archives. Our staff will explain how we use these precious resources and how we make them available to people just like you. We will even take you on a tour of the archival storage rooms. All ages are welcome, join us! Free with museum admission.

Learn to dance Cumbia! Originating in Colombia, this fast paced, fun, and passionate music has taken Latin America and America by storm. Influenced by Indigenous, African, and European music it serves as a fantastic representation of the diversity that exists in Latin America and the Latino community. This event features Cumbia dance instructor Adriana Sanchez from Colombian Soul and DJ Ray Robelo from Jazz Caliente Entertainment. Free Admission

Generously sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.

Hispanic, Chicano, Xicana, Latino - are all words used to describe people of Latin American descent living in America. How does identity affect the "Latino" community? Join San Francisco State Professor and San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejandro Murgía and others in exploring the question of "What is Latinidad?" Free Admission

Generously sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.