Tours & Points of Interest

Guided Repository Tours

University of California, Berkeley, Thursday, April 11, 1-5pm

All tours in this package take place at various archives on the University of California, Berkeley campus.

Please note that some tours take place concurrently and plan accordingly. Additionally, when registering for the University of California, Berkeley tours, please register for each archive you intend to visit so that we may get an accurate head count. Space is limited.

To get to the University of California, Berkeley campus: The DoubleTree Hotel offers a complimentary shuttle service that stops two blocks from the campus at Bancroft Way and Shattuck. Alternately, an AC Transit route runs near the hotel. It is a short walk to the bus stop at Seawall and University Avenue from the DoubleTree Hotel. Take the 51 B bus towards College Avenue, and exit at Durant Avenue and Telegraph Avenue.

University of California, Berkeley campus map

NOTE: The UC Berkeley campus is a pleasant 20 minute walk away from the Opening Reception venue. Consider heading over straight from the repository tours for the 5:30 reception.

Historical Tour of UC Berkeley Campus

10:00 am - 11:30 am (limited to 20 participants)

Join former University Archivist, William Roberts for a historical walking tour of the Berkeley campus. The tour may include some steep uphills but is wheelchair accessible.

Location: tbd

Pacific Film Archive Library and Film Study Center

1:00 pm -2:00 pm FULL

The PFA Library collections include more than 8,000 books, 150 journal titles, 7,500 posters, 35,000 stills, and 1,500 audiotapes of filmmakers who have appeared at the Pacific Film Archive, as well as screenplays, international film festival programs, and distributors’ catalogs. The library’s largest and most heavily used collection comprises some 95,000 documentation files containing film reviews, press kits, and articles on filmmakers, performers, national cinemas, genres, and other topics.

Location: Meet for the tour in the lobby of the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum’s Durant Avenue entrance.

Website: http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/pfalibrary/

The Bancroft Library

2:30 pm - 4:00 pm FULL

The Bancroft Library is the primary special collections library at the University of California, Berkeley. One of the largest and most heavily used libraries of manuscripts, rare books, and unique materials in the United States, Bancroft supports major research and instructional activities and plays a leading role in the development of the University's research collections.

Bancroft's holdings include:

• more than 600,000 volumes
• 60,000,000 manuscript items
• 8,000,000 photographs/pictorial materials
• 43,000 microforms
• 23,000 maps

In addition to highlights from the collection, participants will have the opportunity to explore behind the scenes of the recently (2009) renovated building.

Location: The entrance to The Bancroft Library is on the east side of the Main Library, facing the Sather Tower, more commonly known as the Campanile on the University of California, Berkeley campus.

Website: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu

Environmental Design Archive

The Environmental Design Archive holds nearly 100 collections documenting the built and landscaped environment. These records span a century, 1890-1990, and contain primary source materials such as correspondence, reports, specifications, drawings, photographs, and artifacts.

In addition to the tour of the archives, participants will get the opportunity to view the archive’s current exhibit, Infrastructure: Designed Necessities.

Location: 280 Wurster Hall, University of California, Berkeley

Website: http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/index.html

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology Archives

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm (limited to 15 participants)

The MVZ houses an extensive archive of field notebooks, photographs, annotated maps, and personal papers that date to the Museum's founding in 1908 and are connected to specimens. These historical and present-day materials provide records of environmental conditions during the 20th and 21st century, and are used by scientists and historians to examine environmental and societal change.

Please note - this tour includes ornithology, herpetology and mammalogy specimen collections.

In addition to the tour of the archives, participants will get the opportunity to view the archive’s current exhibit, Infrastructure: Designed Necessities.

Location: Valley Life Sciences Building, 3rd floor. Attendees should meet at the front lobby on the third floor of the VLSB building, at the top of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Website: http://mvz.berkeley.edu/archives_index.php

Travel by BART

DoubleTree Hotel provides complimentary shuttle service to BART, and stations are located throughout the East Bay and in San Francisco.  BART station exits can be found below the address of each location on the walking tour.

Travel by car

Directions from the East Bay

Take Interstate 80 West across Bay Bridge: Exit at Fremont Street Exit (on right). Make an immediate left from Fremont onto Howard Street. Drive one block to Second Street and you’ve reached the edge of the neighborhood.

OR

Exit at Fifth Street Exit (on left). Travel north on Fifth Street and you’ve arrived in the neighborhood.

Parking

Fifth & Mission Parking Garage, Fifth and Mission Sts.

Museum Parc Garage, 300 Third Street

Moscone Center Garage, 225 Third Street

Hearst Parking Center, 45 Third Street

55 Hawthorne Garage, 55 Hawthorne Street

St. Francis Place Garage, 1 St. Francis and Third Sts.

Jessie Square Parking Garage, 3rd Street at Stevenson

GLBT Historical Society Archives

657 Mission Street (between 3rd and New Montgomery), suite 300
9:30 am - 12 :00 pm; Free admission

BART: Exit at Market Street, use Montgomery Street Station.

The archives of the GLBT Historical Society consist primarily of unpublished material, including letters, diaries, manuscripts, photographs, costumes and artifacts. These collections document the lives of both average people and community leaders. They also include the records of many community organizations, businesses and political campaigns

Website: http://www.glbthistory.org

BART: Exit at Powell Street Station.

Established in 1850, The Society of California Pioneers is a not-for-profit museum, library, and cultural organization dedicated to advancing the knowledge and appreciation of early California history for the benefit of present and future audiences of all ages. We offer researchers access to our library, photographic and artifact collections, and mount exhibitions utilizing our collections on varied topics such as the Gold Rush and California Missions as well as panoramic photographs and the history of baseball in the Bay Area. Currently our two exhibits – Singing the Golden State– exploring the history of the state through sheet music and music from our Sherman Music Collection and a private collection and; To Collect and Preserve: The Society of California Pioneers – exploring the history of the Society of California Pioneers since 1850 through today – both utilize a wide variety of items from our collections.
We also offer tours to school and adult groups, as well as programming and lectures in conjunction with our exhibitions.

Please feel free to come to the 3^rd floor and visit the library, a small exhibit on illustrated bindings related to California is currently on view.

Website:http://www.californiapioneers.org

California Historical Society

678 Mission Street (between 3rd and New Montgomery
12:00 pm - 5:00 pm; suggested donation of $5 per person

BART: Exit at Market Street, use Montgomery Street Station.

The CHS Collection represents the environmental, economic, social, political, and cultural heritage of the entire state, including materials from outside California that contribute to a greater understanding of the state and its people. The CHS Collection comprises a diverse body of materials documenting the history of California, including:

•       50,000 volumes of books and pamphlets;
•       4,000 manuscript collections;
•       500,000 photographs;
•       Printed ephemera, periodicals, posters, broadsides, maps, and newspapers;
•       The Kemble Collection on Western Printing and Publishing;
•       5,000 works of art, including paintings, drawings, and lithographs; and
•       Artifacts and costumes.

Website: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org

Wells Fargo Museum

420 Montgomery Street, San Francisco
9:00 am - 5:00 pm; Free admission

BART Exit at Market Street, use Montgomery Street Station.
On the site where Wells Fargo first opened for business in 1852, this museum features a Wells Fargo stagecoach that carried passengers and gold across the western plains, an impressive display of gold dust and ore from California’s Gold Country, and a special collection of Gold Rush letters carried by hundreds of express companies.

Website: http://www.wellsfargohistory.com/museums/museum_sanFrancisco.html