Oral History Center University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Dorothy Walker Interviews conducted by Shanna Farrell in 2014 and 2015 Copyright © 2015 by The Regents of the University of California ii Since 1954 the Oral History Center of the Bancroft Library, formerly the Regional Oral History Office, has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and June 4, 2015. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/cite.html It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Dorothy Walker “Dorothy Walker: An Oral History” conducted by Shanna Farrell in 2014 and 2015, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2014. iii Dorothy Walker iv Dorothy Walker was born in 1930 in Stockton, California and raised in Angels Camp, California, where her family moved when she was five years old. She went to grade school in Angels Camp and was an active singer and pianist in several musical groups. She attended UC Berkeley from 1948 until 1950, when she left after getting married. She moved to Chicago in 1953 and returned to Berkeley in 1960 and subsequently completed her Bachelor’s degree. From there, she worked for the city of Berkeley and UC Berkeley until she retired in 1992. In her work for the City of Berkeley Ms. Walker helped desegregate Berkeley public schools, limited high- speed car traffic in residential neighborhoods, and was involved in three downtown plans. As a UC Berkeley employee she radically transformed parking on campus, helped acquire the Clark Kerr Campus, and with her appointment as Assistant Vice Chancellor of Property Development in 1989 she was the first woman administrator "chancellor" on campus. She has been active in her retirement, serving on many local committees. v Table of Contents—Dorothy Walker Interview 1: October 7, 2014 Audio File 1 1 Birth in Stockton, CA in 1930 — high school language teacher mother and peach farmer father, their marriage in 1927 and birth of first child in 1928 — onset of the Depression, loss of farm — 1935 loan and move to Calaveras County, opening a gasoline distribution business in Angels Camp — schooling in a one- room school — more about parents Grace Ross and Elsworth Alford — regional adaptations in pronunciation of Alford — mother’s Canadian roots, family’s Salvation Army membership, moves in California as a child, attendance at UC Berkeley — father’s Amador County farm roots, WWI service, rural mail delivery work — parents’ meeting — childhood memories: measles and severe complications at age 4, being nursed by father — mother’s harsh upbringing and resulting parenting anxieties — happy times spent with paternal grandmother — life-long closeness with older brother Robert Ross Alford, much younger siblings David and Wendy Lou — “My older brother and I were really the children of my parents’ poverty and my younger brother and sister were children of my parents’ affluence.” — paternal grandmother Lucy Chamberlain — both parents working: mother teaching high school Spanish and French, father running the gasoline business — Angels Camp in 1935: still an old Gold Rush town — homes, downtown, oddities of construction to accommodate steep valley location — the formative impact of the vibrant downtown, the importance of the post office — later suburbanization of Angels Camp, political aspects of zoning changes — one- room school with basic equipment but good teachers — early music education, family music culture, singing, playing piano — voice lessons, passion for singing, becoming the town pianist after brother Bob left for college — joining a dance band in high school — traveling with the band, music from the American Songbook — musical heroes and influences Audio File 2 13 Six weeks at music summer camp at the college of Pacific in Stockton as a teenager — later singing with Treble Clef at UC Berkeley — music curriculum in high school — choral performance under Robert Shaw — 1949 or 1950 college sophomore summer in Houston with uncle Robert Ross — 54 hours on the train from Berkeley to Houston, encountering segregated drinking fountains — amazement at the extravagant life provided by oil money — filling in as a sound technician — observing life in the South, theater life, and getting better acquainted with uncle Robert Ross and his wife Margelo Gilmore — childhood learning to be independent and confident by exploring the natural surroundings in Angels Camp — special bond with brother Bob: “He was the most important family member until he died. Losing him was a huge loss for me.” — Bob’s college years at UC Berkeley and emerging political radicalization — Bob’s Japanese American roommate Joe Kamiya — Joe and his family’s internment vi during WWII — America in 1945: hopeful and searching for a new normal after 15 years of hardship and war — summer job at Pinecrest during high school — family camping at Strawberry Lake (later Pinecrest Lake) to escape summer heat in Angels Camp — job at Karl’s Place in the soda fountain — community at the lake camp — first serious boyfriend Henry Lopez from Tracy — the importance of gathering places — parents’ discomfort over Mexican American boyfriend — mother’s ambitions for Children fostered a skepticism of the status quo — the psychological impact of feeling like an outsider Interview 2: October 13, 2014 Audio File 3 25 Starting as a student at UC Berkeley in 1948 — Cal was in the family blood — residence in Stern Hall with its elegant furnishings and stifling rules — house mother Mrs. Blumberg’s efforts to educate her charges in the “niceties of a finer life” — the Depression era roots of Berkeley’s co-op system — sophomore year move to co-op Stebbins Hall on Ridge Road — the comparatively liberal co-op atmosphere — working the kitchen — diversity of residents, impressive co-op residents Brunetta Reid and Zoe Borowski — learning about the thriving local lesbian community — the co-op experience: “It was remarkable and I feel privileged to have known so many of these woman who helped me grow from being a small-town girl to having a much more cosmopolitan outlook.” — following Bob’s lead, studying social sciences at Cal — dating Joe Kamiya — Joe’s background: educated parents left Japan to farm in Turlock in the Central Valley — father’s and sister’s early deaths from tuberculosis — widowed mother ran almond and grape farm with three sons — family interned in Colorado in 1942 — Joe’s high school education in the camp, college at Cal — being part of an interracial couple in the late 1940s in Berkeley — redlining, housing restrictions — 1950 marriage to Joe — casual racism of the times, parents’ displeasure at a Japanese son in law — beginning interest in social, economic, and racial justice: “I was aware intellectually…what the realities of our culture were, but I was now dealing with it in a small way myself in terms of where I could live.” — early married years: Joe’s graduate study in psychology, birth of son Tad, work stresses and the Loyalty Oath — part time job at Kaiser Permanente scoring psychological tests — more on the Loyalty Oath: “All the talk was one of despair that people were being forced to do this. The economic pressire was more than people could withstand.” — 1950s UC Berkeley and unfree speech, listening to Paul Robeson speak from the public sidewalk at Oxford Way and Center Street — more on work at Kaiser’s psych research institute under Mervin Freedman and Timothy Leary — birth of second child, Gary, 1953 move to Chicago for Joe’s assistant professorship at the University of Chicago — seven years in Chicago — watching urban renewal in and near Hyde Park vii Audio File 4 37 Chicago geography and neighborhoods divided by race — the university’s role in urban renewal and racial cleansing — racism encountered by young son Tad while living