African Americans and the Price of Manifest Destiny

In observance of the sesquicentennial of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, Dorothy Lazard, head librarian of the Oakland History Room, examines the largely unheralded role of African Americans in the creation and advancement of the railroad. She will present stories of how their involvement impacted the Civil War, national demographics, Oakland’s socioeconomic profile, and African American self-determination. This talk will feature photographs from the Oakland History Room collection.