Posted by Melinda McCrary 07/17/2020 Museum News No Comments

RMHC is Hiring!!

Richmond Museum of History & Culture

Position Announcement

Part Time Museum Educator

The mission of the Richmond Museum of History & Culture (RMHC) is to interpret, preserve and educate about local history in the greater Richmond, CA area. The Museum is housed in a Carnegie Library and owns a significant collection of historical material and documents related to local history. The permanent collection was established in 1950 and is comprised of a variety of materials including textiles, fine art, archaeological collections, historical artifacts, documents, photographs.

The RMHC was awarded funds through the Economic and Community Investment Agreement program to support the museum education program focused on local K-12 classrooms. In response to the COVID 19 epidemic the museum will develop a distance learning program with educational films and virtual tours of the museum exhibits.

Responsibilities

The Museum Educator(s) will be responsible for several tasks related to the distance education program including: collaborate with staff and videographer to create short educational films, refining the existing teachers guide, coordinating and implementing virtual field trips, conducting evaluations for students and teachers. The Community Engagement Manager is the lead on this project and the educator position reports directly to them.

Desired Qualifications

Bachelor?s Degree in history, art, anthropology or related field
Teaching or Museum Experience desired
Interest California History
Local candidates preferred
BIPOC candidates strongly encouraged to apply

The position pays $15-$18 hourly and is 10-20 hours per week depending on teacher demand. The position lasts through the end of school year in June 2021. Successful candidate must pass a background check.

To apply please send a letter of interest, resume and three references in pdf format to Evelyn Santos Community Engagement Manager at Evelyn@richmondmuseum.org. Applications will be accepted until 5:00 PM on Friday August 7, 2020.

Posted by Melinda McCrary 04/17/2020 Museum News, Richmond History No Comments

Dr. Charles R. Blake & the Spanish Flu

Richmond & the Spanish Flu

Dr. Charles Robert Blake (September 9, 1869 – December 27, 1944) was the public health officer in charge when the Spanish Flu swept through the City of Richmond in 1918-1919. The museum archives holds the secrets about how our community emerged stronger from past epidemics.

Charles Robert Blake was born September 9, 1869 in Visalia California. He attended public schools throughout his life and attended University of California for Medical School graduating in 1891.

Charles is listed as residing at 1844 Geary Street in San Francisco but the historical buildings there have since been demolished. OpenSFHistory.org allows us a peek of his neighborhood with a photograph of the intersection of Geary and Steiner on October 18, 1916.

Geary & Steiner (1916) — Charles Blake’s residence at Geary & Steiner while a medical student at then University of California. Courtesy of OpenSFHistory.org

Charles worked for several years in Hawaii after graduating from medical school. He married Lilian Hoog of Oakland in 1898 and they had one son Herbert in 1900. The 1900 census lists Charles, Lilian and baby Herbert living in the City of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. Charles came to Richmond in 1903 and was elected to the City Council as early as 1907.?

Dr. Blake enacted many important changes to improve public health in the City of Richmond, aspects of life that many of us take for granted today. In 1914 he set out on a mosquito abatement campaign while also managing outbreaks of diptheria and measles.?

In 1916, Dr. Blake began requiring all milk sold in local markets to be pasteurized when the State board of health did not require pasteurization of milk tested with tuberculin.

Pacific Municipalities, vol. 30 1916 Courtesy of Google Books

In 1917, Dr. Blake crusaded for improvements in the outdoor Municipal Market, complaining that dirty water, unsanitary food storage and nearby open latrines were a threat to public health.?

Dr. Blake worked as a public health official until 1943 and navigated the changes brought with the influx of people that came here to work in the Kaiser Shipyards. He voiced his concerns for overall public health in the City of Richmond warning the health of the City would explode from unsanitary conditions. Widespread vaccinations of over 10,000 children was celebrated as one of the successes attributed to Dr. Blake during his tenure as a public health officer.

Dr. Blake died in 1944 having served as Health Commissioner up until the previous year. His last days as a public health official were spent managing the boomtown conditions of Richmond during World War II.

Stay tuned for more coverage on Dr. Blake and the Spanish Flu in the City of Richmond.

Posted by Melinda McCrary 12/21/2019 No Comments

January 2020 – RMA Board Meeting

Posted by Melinda McCrary 07/10/2019 Museum News, Richmond History No Comments

No Controversy About This Once Missing Arnautoff Mural

While controversy continues about one famous artist?s mural at a San Francisco high school, an East Bay museum is determined to restore another valuable work by the same person.

The Richmond Museum of History unearthed the mural, ?Richmond an Industrial City? by artist Victor Arnautoff in 2014.? It had hung in the Richmond Post office from 1941 until 1976 when mural was taken down due to remodeling. ?Decades passed, the crate went missing, and mural was eventually declared lost.

Now the Museum has scheduled a gala for September 12 with a silent auction at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. at the Rockefeller Lodge, 2650 Market Ave. in San Pablo. Proceeds from the fundraiser will be used to restore the mural.

?This is a compelling work that captures the diversity of Richmond, a blue collar community,? says Melinda McCrary, the Museum?s Executive Director. ?A wide range of occupations, ethnicities and scenery demonstrate what life was like in those days. Richmond was working class American community.?

When Arnautoff painted the mural, he was one of the most prominent and influential members of San Francisco?s ?arts community. Between 1932 and 1942, he completed 11public murals, the best known of which is City Life (1934) at Coit Tower in San Francisco. The Richmond Post Office mural was Arnautoff’s last mural of this size and the first time since Coit Tower that he chose to depict a mix of city people going about their daily tasks.. His mural presents life in Richmond as of 1941?when war was on the horizon.? An image of the mural is on the Museum?s website.

?We are looking at this event not only as a way to raise funds to restore the mural but also a celebration of a work of art that was created especially for Richmond.? It is an extraordinary honor and we hope the community will help,? says McCrary.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at https://richmondmuseum.org/event/2019dinner/

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Posted by Melinda McCrary 02/28/2019 Museum News, Richmond History No Comments

Bubbe Reads Story Time with a Jewish Granny (2/18/19)

Fun was had by all at the story time with a Jewish granny event!

This special out of school time event took place on President’s Day as part of the Pioneers to the Present: Jews of Richmond and Contra Costa County exhibit series.

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