About
The Berkeley Historical Plaque Project belongs to all of us who live in Berkeley. We invite you to participate by making a contribution, e-mailing us current or historical photos that will add to this website, or writing and sending us your own e-Plaque texts with photos.
Special thanks to Anthony Bruce, Executive Director of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA), for assisting us in researching at the BAHA Archives and for generously allowing us to use images from his own personal collection. Anthony deserves a plaque in his honor for his perseverance and devotion, over so many years, to preserving and archiving our city’s past. He is a unique City of Berkeley resource.
We’d also like to thank our apprentice, U.C. Berkeley History Department graduate Milton Zerman, for his assistance in helping organize the Plaque Project’s archives for the University’s Bancroft Library.
Very special thanks also to Sarah Wikander whose passion for collecting historic postcards of Berkeley has produced a remarkable portrait of Berkeley’s past. Her generosity in sharing these images with us is much appreciated. Anybody interested in a broad view of Berkeley’s past through postcards should buy a copy of Picturing Berkeley: A Postcard History edited by Burl Willes (2002). Published jointly by the Berkeley Historical Society (BHS) and the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) the book is a delight from start to finish.
Thanks also to Tim Perry for his legal assistance, to Diana Kehlmann for her editorial help, to John Aronovici and Allen Stross of the Berkeley Historical Society and to Councilmembers Lauri Capitelli and Susan Wengraf. We are deeply grateful to our anonymous donor and our other donors who make this website possible.
Special thanks also to Daniella Thompson of BAHA for her invaluable assistance in researching and drafting plaque texts.
Join Us
The Berkeley Historical Plaque Project is looking for volunteers who would like to draft e-texts and/or join us at our regular tasks. Kindly send us an e-mail telling us about yourself and your interests. 
Past Project Members
- Robert Kehlmann Artist, art critic; founder, chair and website editor, Berkeley Historical Plaque Project; former chair, Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission; author, Twentieth Century Stained Glass: A New Definition (1992), The Inner Light: Sculpture of Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová (2002).
- David Snippen (1943–2023) Design consultant; secretary and treasurer, Berkeley Historical Plaque Project; former chair, Berkeley Civic Arts Commission; former vice chair, Berkeley Design Review Committee; former president, Berkeley Design Advocates; member, Berkeley Art Center Association Board.
- Susan Dinkelspiel Cerny (1940–2016) Artist, preservationist, and architectural historian; author of Berkeley Landmarks (1994); founding member, Berkeley Historical Plaque Project; .
- Michael Corbett Architectural historian based in San Francisco and Berkeley since 1973; author, Splendid Survivors: San Francisco’s Downtown Architectural Heritage (1979), Port City: The History and Transformation of the Port of San Francisco, 1848–2010.
- Tom Dalzell Slang lexicographer; material popular culture blogger at quirkyberkeley.com; walk leader for Berkeley Path Wanderers.
- Sharon Entwistle Member ex officio, Landmark Heritage Foundation Board; former member, Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association Board; founding member, Berkeley Historical Plaque Project.
- Steven Finacom Community historian, writer; past president, Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association; past president, Berkeley Historical Society; commissioner, Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission; co-founder, Chronicle of the University of California; founding member, Berkeley Historical Plaque Project.
- Sarah Gill Art historian; author of Julia Morgan’s Berkeley City Club: The Story of a Building (2016) and The Critic Sees: A Guide to Art Criticism (1994).
- Mary Hardy Conservation consultant, Siegel & Strain Architects; ICOMOS/ISCEAH executive committee; member, Western Chapter, Association for Preservation Technology (WCAPT) Board; former senior project specialist, Getty Conservation Institute.
- Trish Hawthorne Local historian; founding board member, Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.
- Diana Kehlmann Music editor, Berkeley Historical Plaque Project; Jin Shin Jyutsu bodywork practitioner and homeopathic consultant; pianist; member, Berkeley Piano Club.
- Gail Keleman (1940–2004) Environmental activist; editor; commissioner, Berkeley Parks and Recreation Commission.
- Linda Perry Jewelry artist; founding member, Berkeley Historical Plaque Project
- James Samuels Architect; architecture editor, Berkeley Historical Plaque Project; chair, Berkeley Planning Commission; commissioner, Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission; principal in the firm of E. Paul Kelly AIA.
- Christopher Wagstaff Independent editor, author, curator; former lecturer UC Davis, UC Berkeley; editor, A Poet’s Mind: Collected Interviews with Robert Duncan, 1960–1985 (2013); co-curator, An Opening of the Field: Jess, Robert Duncan, and their Circle (2013–2014).
- Helena Szostkiewicz Wills Jagiellonian University graduate with Master’s in social sciences, University of Provence international exchange program recipient, assistant to the finance minister of Poland (2007-2013), author of Dzień Dobry USA blog.
- Carl Wikander (1944–2024) Writer; editor, The Early Life of Frank Spenger Sr.; Kenneth Harvey Cardwell: An Oral History; former president, Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association; former president, Berkeley Historical Society.
Honorary Member and Adviser
- Anthony Bruce Executive director, Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.