Alameda County Historical Society

Scavengers, Oakland

County Landmarks Historical Societies & Museums

ACHS Board Meeting

Board of Directors

The ACHS Board of Directors consists of up to thirty members of the Historical Society elected annually at the membership meeting held each January. Directors serve three-year terms, and one-third of the directors are elected at each membership meeting. In addition to the January meeting, the Board meets quarterly to conduct the business of the Society.

Officers

President. The Honorable Winton "Mac" McKibben is officially retired from the Alameda County Superior Court, although he continues to sit on this bench. He has been active with the Regional Park Association and the Oakland Museum of California locally, and with Earth Watch and Global Volunteers around the world.

First Vice-President. Ralph Anderson is an Oakland native, graduate of Oakland High School and UC Berkeley, and retired proprietor of the family painting business. He is a member of the Prometheus Community Orchestra and a past board member of the Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation.

Second Vice-President. Jane Sandstrom, who retired after over thirty years of teaching in the Oakland schools, is a member and former president of the Hillside Gardeners in Montclair and a docent at the Botanical Gardens at UC Berkeley.

Recording Secretary. Susan Miner, a third-generation Californian and staff attorney for the California Court of Appeals, is a member of the Oakland Heritage Alliance, the Sierra Club, the ACLU, and the Great Books CouncilSan Francisco.

Treasurer. Anne Woodell has served on the Oakland Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission and on the boards of Children's Fairyland and the Dunsmuir Historic Estate.

Board Members

Annalee Allen is coordinator of the Oakland Tours Program, a member of the Alameda County Parks, Recreation, and Historical Commission, the author of the weekly Landmarks column in the Oakland Tribune, a former member of the Oakland Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board, and co-founder and past president of the Oakland Heritage Alliance.

Dr. John Bernard recently retired after more than 28 years in California public education after serving as Superintendent of Schools for three school districts, most recently in Newark. He earned his BA and MA from San Francisco State and his doctorate from the University of San Francisco. He is a native of Oakland. Dr. Bernard now teaches graduate courses at California universities.

May Blaisdell is an Oakland native who has volunteered at the Oakland Museum of California since its opening in 1969 and who has earned the rare status of being a "triple" docent in the ecology, history, and fine arts galleries.

Ernest Chann, former ACHS vice-president, is a veteran docent at the Oakland Museum of California and the Oakland Zoo as well as a former president of the Chinese Historical Society of America.

Ed Clausen, ACHS past president, is an Oakland native, retiree from the Oakland Fire Department, former president of the board at the Dunsmuir Historic Estate, and a renowned collector of historic postcards.

Robin Johnson was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon and moved to the Bay Area at age four. She graduated from Albany High School and UC Berkeley. She has resided in Oakland for 44 years and was an elementary school teacher in Oakland for 25 years. She has volunteered at the UC Botanical Garden, Hillside Gardeners of Montclair, the Oakland Museum Art Council, and American Decorative Arts Forum of San Francisco.

Betty Kennedy, a retiree from the Oakland Parks and Recreation Department, has served as chair of the natural history docents at the Oakland Museum of California.

The Honorable Kenneth Kingbury was born in Santa Cruz. After graduating from San Jose State, he worked as a Deputy Probation Officer for Alameda County. Having studied law at San Francisco Law School, he worked as Alameda County Deputy District Attorney from 1977 until 1992, when he was appointed to the Municipal Court. He recently retired from the Superior Court, and makes his home in Oakland.

Marie Lothrop is a veteran member and former treasurer of ACHS and has served on the boards of the Alta Mira Club and San Leandro Historical Society. She has also been active in supporting the library and arts in San Leandro.

Al Minard, a retiree from the NUMMI plant in Fremont, is secretary of the Mission Peak Heritage Foundation, a member of the Patterson House Advisory Board and Fremont's Historical Architectural Review Board, and treasurer of the Conference of California Historical Societies.

Jeff Norman is a community artist whose projects have explored the cultural and natural history of North Oakland, where he lives. His exhibits, publications, videos, and permanent public art projects have earned him awards from the Oakland Heritage Alliance, the City of Oakland, and the Metropolitan Oakland Chamber of Commerce.

Roberta O'Grady, who earned advanced degrees in Maternal and Child Health at Johns Hopkins University, retired from UC Berkeley's School of Public Health in 1996 and from the State of California Department of Public Health in 2000. Her volunteer activities currently include serving as a docent in Natural Sciences at the Oakland Museum. She makes her home in Alameda.

Harry Peshon is a San Francisco native and graduate of UC Berkeley, who worked as an engineer and construction manager for Alameda County for many years before his retirement.

Robert Stinnett, a staff photographer for the Oakland Tribune for almost forty years, has written two works on World War II history during his retirement: George Bush: His World War II Years and Day of Deceit. He received the James Madison Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for his work with previously classified documents on Pearl Harbor while researching Day of Deceit.

Mary Strohmaier, a San Francisco native who has lived in Oakland for over fifty years, she has for many years been active in the Sierra Club, the Contra Costa Hills Club, and Save-the-Bay.

Betty Thomas is a retired social worker for Alameda County who has served as a docent at the Camron-Stanford House and on walking tours sponsored by the Oakland Heritage Alliance.

Bettie Violich is a native, and life-long resident, of Piedmont. She attended UC Berkeley, then Holy Names College where she earned a BA in Education. She taught at all levels of education, retiring as a principal in the Oakland School District. She has served on the board of directors of the Matilda Brown Home, Bellevue Club, Cameron-Stanford House, and Collectors of De Young Museum.

Kathleen Walsh is an Oakland native, retiree from the Oakland's Parks and Recreation Department, and former president of ACHS.

Ellen Wyrick-Parkinson is a resident and long-time activist in West Oakland, where she has recently worked to have the Oak Center neighborhood declared a historic district by the city. She is also a member of the League of Women Voters and the Alameda County Parks, Recreation, and Historical Commission.