Oakland is holding a massive fair devoted to Bay Area history

Here's your chance to buy groovy wall maps of Long Lost Oakland, take selfies with lace collars and ruffs, chat with Winchester Mystery House mavens and discuss Apollo Moon landings -- all in one place.

It’s no secret that Oakland’s Lake Merritt is human-made. What’s less known is why.

Samuel Merritt donated money to create the nation’s first protected wildlife refuge and also, coincidentally, some prime waterfront property for him to develop. “The wildlife refuge meant that the wealthy people who purchased homes from him wouldn’t have strangers shooting birds and impacting the tranquil, lakeside community he was trying to establish,” says Iliana Morton, executive director of Oakland’s Camron-Stanford House.

Fans of such lore will have an opportunity to bathe in it on Sept. 10, when the Camron-Stanford House will hold a history fair with more than 20 museums and historical organizations from around the Bay. The fair features a smorgasbord of unique exhibits and take-home activities, ranging from artifacts from a World War II aircraft carrier to Carpenter Gothic architecture to a lace-based tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Old-timey beverages will be served, rare books will be available to purchase. Best of all it’s only five bucks – free if you have an Oakland Public Library card.

“Camron-Stanford House has a long tradition of bringing history do-ers together. In the 1970s, we held Preservation Fairs, both to celebrate the work that went into fully restoring the Camron-Stanford House, as well as to help the community learn about preservation and its link to community sustainability,” says Morton. “It’s been decades since we’ve had anything like this on site, but I am thrilled to be able to welcome the community back with an event in that same spirit.”

Here’s the current list of participants with details (where available) of what they’re planning:

Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles

Berkeley’s small-but-mighty lace museum honors textile artist and local vendor Kaethe Kliot, as well as the history of textile handicraft with items from pre-Columbian Peru and 17th-century European courts. For the fair, it’s giving textile demos and posting a selfie station where people can dress up in lace collars and ruffs. But wait, lace aficionados, that’s not all. “A lacy tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsberg! Fun with doilies! Come join us!” says the museum’s Kij Greenwood.

Emeryville Historical Society

The municipality so small and pleasant people often mistake it for an upper-class Oakland neighborhood was once called “The Rottenest City on the Pacific Coast.” Earl Warren, the Alameda County district attorney who went on to become U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, coined that epithet due to civic corruption surrounding bootlegging, bordellos and gambling parlors – one of which still remains, the Oaks Card Club on San Pablo Avenue. (Not to say it’s corrupt nowadays; it’s fun and has a well-stocked buffet.) The Emeryville Historical Society will hand out issues of its quarterly journal, present rare photos and hold trivia and history games with prizes.

USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum

The aircraft carrier that today serves as an educational center in Alameda has a long history going back to WWII combat and the Space Race, having served as a recovery ship for ocean-landing astronauts on Apollo Moon missions. Its museum educators will be bringing warship artifacts that people can touch. The Walking Ghosts of Black History, a nonprofit that focuses on the preservation of stories of Black veterans, is also previewing its upcoming exhibit on the USS Hornet about famous historical firsts for African Americans in the military.

Haas-Lilienthal House

This elaborate structure in San Francisco is a prime example of late-1800s Victorian architecture (in particular, Queen Anne style). It also serves as offices for the SF Heritage preservation group. Stop by the group’s booth for samples of sarsaparilla. That’s not only a cowboy reference in the The Big Lebowski, but a “popular beverage in the late 19th century that was marketed at the time as a cure for all kinds of ailments,” says Pam Larson, the SF Heritage/Haas-Lilienthal House museum and tour manager. “We will also share some physical examples of architectural elements typically found in Victorian homes.”

East Bay Yesterday

Since starting his intriguing history podcast six years ago, Liam O’Donoghue has received a flood of story ideas and tips about local lore from fans. “However, especially since the pandemic, most of those messages have come through email or social media,” he says. “One of the reasons I started East Bay Yesterday was to have a more personal connection with the people in my community, so I’m thrilled that the history fair will be an in-person event where folks who are fascinated by local history will be able to have real conversations.”

O’Donoghue will present various relics, books, photos and ephemera from his ever-growing archive, as well as sell copies of his “Long Lost Oakland” poster, a map of buildings and local features that no longer exist.

Friends of the Oakland Public Library/Bookmark Bookstore

The Friends of the Oakland Public Library is a nonprofit that, as its name implies, provides support in the form of substantial grants to the Oakland Public Library — grants funded in part by selling donated books and AV media at the Bookmark Bookstore in Old Oakland, a trove of fun and unusual titles. These folks are plucking through their collection with an eye toward offering the most uncommon and engaging regional-history books out there – perhaps a good gift opportunity for that one friend who’d love to know an Oakland guy invented the Popsicle.

Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Now a spot where people camp or watch Blue Angel airshows, Angel Island between 1910 and 1940 took in about a half-million immigrants for processing, interrogation or detainment. Its namesake foundation preserves this legacy as well as the thorny facts of immigration in America. Staff members will talk about Angel Island’s history and share interesting things to do at the National Historic Landmark today.

They’ll also solicit personal stories for the Immigrant Voices Project, an archive of Pacific-crossing accounts dating from the 1900s to the present.

Peralta Hacienda Historical Park

The community park and museum in Oakland’s Fruitvale district tells the history of the Peralta family, who lived through various periods of California history from the Spanish, Mexican and U.S. eras. The hacienda will be celebrating these overlapping histories through activities like making personalized corn-husk dolls and learning how Californio systems of labor and food impacted life throughout predominantly Lisjan and Muwekma Ohlone territories.

Oakland Heritage Alliance

The alliance will be sharing hits from its four-decade crusade to preserve local landmarks, including the J. Mora Moss House in Oakland’s Mosswood Park. This is a “boldly romantic Carpenter Gothic style Victorian home,” to quote Wikipedia, that once was called one of the “finest, if not the finest, existing examples of Gothic architecture of French and English influence as adapted to wood-frame domestic architecture to be found in the East Bay Area, and possibly in Northern California.”

Here/Hear Community Billboard truck

The HEAR/HERE truck drives around local neighborhoods collecting and sharing personal histories with a digital display screen and sound system, among other things. At the fair it will be on-site for interactive community-archiving projects.

California Genealogical Society

Didn’t receive your last California Nugget? The genealogical society will be delighted to hand you one of its journal issues at the fair. It will also have family-tree forms for children to fill out.

More participants: African American Museum and Library at Oakland / West Oakland Mural Project/Women of the Black Panther Party / The Winchester Mystery House / Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum / Art Deco Society / Berkeley Historical Society and Museum / Black Panther Party Alumni Legacy Network / Cohen-Bray House / West Oakland Cultural Action Network / Oakland History Center (at Oakland Public Library) / Patterson House

Details: Saturday, Sept. 10 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Camron-Stanford House on 1418 Lakeside Drive, Oakland; $5 or free with an Oakland Public Library card, cshouse.org/events/historyfair2022