Join SCAS for a presentation by Samantha Schell on: “How the I-880 Cypress Street Viaduct Archaeological Excavation Revealed Oakland’s 7th Street History as the Cultural Center of the Oakland’s Black Community.”
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 2025
TIME: 7:30 – 8:30 PM (Pacific)
This is a hybrid event! We invite you to join us in-person at the Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, or via Zoom (see below for Zoom registration form)!
ZOOM REGISTRATION FORM: SCAS Zoom Registration Form
***RSVP for Zoom by 6:30 PM on Thursday, February 13, 2025 *** Or show up to the Resource Center for Nonviolence by 7:30 to join us in-person!
The City of Oakland is an often-maligned city by those that don’t live there. However, Oakland is a rich multi-cultural city just short of half a million residents. The 1950s construction of the Cypress Viaduct split the neighborhood of West Oakland and ripped the fabric of that community. The archaeological investigations conducted after the collapse of the Cypress Viaduct revealed a long-standing multi-cultural neighborhood of people who lived and worked side by side. One of the highlights of that community was the 7th Street Corridor, a bustling jazz and blues center, and the heart of Oakland’s Black Community.
In the late 1980s, Ms. Schell worked for Congressman Leon Panetta, who represented Santa Cruz as part of what is now the 19th Congressional District. She became very familiar with the regional issues, the constituency, and the geography of our area. After Washington D.C., she returned to California to attend college, and studied hominid evolution at UC Berkeley under Tim White and Clarke Howell. While at Berkeley, she attended a field school in Hawaii under the supervision of California archaeologist, Kent Lightfoot, and Pacific archaeologist, Pat Kirch. Hired by Sonoma State’s Archaeological Studies Center to work on the Cypress Project, she was recognized for her skills in bone identification and analysis and was made the manager of the faunal lab, with training and oversight by Sherri Gust and Dwight Simons. After many years as a staff archaeologist, Samantha is now a Principal and owner of Pacific Legacy, a woman owned business with offices in California and Hawaii.
