Russell City: A Self-Governed African American Town

NB Commentary: 
They should make a movie about Russel City. So much we don't know about our history in this country. Finding out about Black Wall Street at this stage in my life was mind blowing. What about the Harlem Renaissance? Or after the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era where many blacks were elected into office in the South. And we know what a rucus that caused and shortly thereafter the Jim Crow Laws. But Africans were kidnapped and MADE INTO SLAVES. Funny thing, because they did all the work, or a majority of the work, they learned a lot about how to sustain themselves, till the land, build houses, clothe themselves, run businesses which was why they were so successful. They had the skills because they had to work from "can" to "can't". Not to mention the many inventions that Africans developed to make their work just a little easier. Think about it.

Russell City: A Self-Governed African American Town

By niccolo caldararo  

Sunday Apr 21, 2013 · 2:57 PM EDT

A book by Megan Wilkinson describes the foundation of an African American community along the shores of San Francisco Bay in the mid 19th century.  This book, What Ever Happened to Russell City is a remarkable work of scholarship, anthropological fieldwork and archaeology.  Russell City is no more, but now only an industrial site where a few foundations of homes that once graced the streets of this once colorful and democratically run town of mainly African Americans.

   Russell City, in California, began as a small  farming community in the mid-1800s. It was founded by a Danish immigrant who gave sanctuary to African

Americans before and after the Civil War. The demographics of Russell City changed over time, and by the late 1930s African American and Latino American families joined the European settlers’ descendents. It was never an incorporated entity, yet Russell City provided some of its own civic services and enjoyed a strong community spirit including an important Blues scene.

      In its latter years, Russell City was considered a blight to the surrounding towns and in 1963 Alameda County began the forced relocation of its tenants, bulldozed the entire community, and rezoned the land into industrial use only. No comprehensive history of Russell City existed at the time of this research by Megan Wilkinson. To chronicle the events leading up to the town’s demise, she conducted interviews of ex-residents and built an archive of newspaper accounts relating to the city. She also created two maps, one of land ownership circa 1963-1968 and another representing renter and business information with street layouts and a plot map of buildings. These were produced entirely using a variety of surviving materials and from documents preserved by original families who lived in Russell City.  She produced a basic archaeological survey of the site of the city as a means of establishing its history of development.  This project is essential to reconstruct Russell City’s past and is meant to provide the background data for additional projects that will help secure Russell City’s place in history as well as self-managed communities.

  I recommend this book highly to anyone studying African American history, the history of California and the Bay Area and African American culture, music and self-government.  It can be purchased at: http://www.amazon.com/....