Berkeley, a Look Back: Civil War vets march in 1923 Memorial Day parade
A century ago, on May 30, 1923, Berkeley had a large Memorial Day parade down Shattuck Avenue that combined “living veterans of past wars, widows of those who passed away and Berkeley youth who will be the country’s protectors in the future,” the Berkeley Daily Gazette reported on May 31 of that year.
The parade ran north from Dwight Way to University Avenue, then individual units of marchers went on to Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito for a ceremony. The marchers included 18 surviving Union veterans of the Civil War who lived in Berkeley. At one time there had been 103 Civil War veterans altogether in local groups; four had died since Memorial Day 1922.
Disloyal shoppers: On May 31, 1923, Berkeley car dealer Nelson Scotchler gave an interview to the Gazette in which he condemned “the light voting at most local elections, the absence of real enthusiasm about serving on public committees” as “symptoms of an indifference injurious to community progress” in Berkeley. His main criticism, though, was reserved for Berkeley people who didn’t shop primarily in Berkeley. They were not patriotic, he said.
“If the Berkeley public buy their Fords in Oakland or in San Francisco, I inevitably suffer but in proportion to my lack of prosperity, the community of which I am a part also suffers.”
Great performances: Famed actress Margaret Anglin made a seventh appearance in Berkeley’s Greek Theatre on June 2, 1923, performing in “The Hippolytus” by Euripides. A few days before that event, James K. Fisk, who had been involved in the committee that managed the Greek, had a long reminiscence in the Gazette.
He talked about the earliest performances. The theater had first hosted an event two decades earlier, in 1903, when President Theodore Roosevelt spoke to UC Berkeley’s graduating class at commencement.
In 1905 the theater had its first nighttime event, the Class of 1905 Extravaganza, although “we were told it was impossible; the theater was never intended for night productions.”
Summer camps: June 23, 1923, was the announced date for the opening of Berkeley’s new Echo Lake summer camp near Lake Tahoe. On June 2 of that year, Berkeley parks staff and commissioners drove up to the site to “lay out the buildings, inspect the entire campsite and complete all plans for the opening.”
The paper noted that 25 campers, “many of them university students and faculty members” were already sojourning at Berkeley’s new Tuolumne camp near Yosemite, which also opened in 1923. “A capacity crowd is expected there June 9,” the Gazette reported.
Zoning disputes: On June 1, 1923, the Berkeley City Council finalized new zoning rules that would allow for the construction of churches in residential neighborhoods. The vote was 3-2. As I’ve written in past columns, there were ongoing disputes between neighbors and three proposed churches in North Berkeley.
Another zoning dispute was resolved by the council that week, involving attempts by neighbor to have commercially zoned property near Claremont and Ashby rezoned for residential use only. The Planning Commission had reviewed the status of the properties and concluded that some were already in commercial use and should remain so.
Owners of the disputed land urged the council to leave their property in mixed use, while many nearby residents appeared before the council meeting to ask for the residential restriction. Ultimately, the council voted to uphold the Planning Commission recommendations.
Telegraph paved: The Gazette noted on May 31, 1923, that paving of Telegraph Avenue had been completed “and the street is now open on both sides (of) its entire length.” The paper added that the street was the natural connection between Oakland and Berkeley but had been “avoided by many travelers because of the condition of its pavement.”
Bay Area native and Berkeley community historian Steven Finacom holds this column’s copyright.