Telegraph Berkeley Historical Walking Tour

This is to provide a "heads-up" for what to expect from the Telegraph Berkeley Historical Walking Tour. This is also to supplement the Walking Tour, in case some of the more interesting points were missed. I doubt if this Walking Tour includes any of the really important things about Berkeley, such as Melvin Calvin's discovery of the Calvin Cycle, or the discoveries relating to vitamin B12 by Horace Barker, or the discovery by Gilbert Lewis of the covalent bond and his concept of electron pairs. Instead, the Walking Tour is more likely to disclose: (1) Anti-war demonstrations and riots; (2) Free Speech Movement; and (3) Curiosities, such as People's Park, Holy Hubert (evangelist), Pink Cloud (Berkeley Barb salesman), Pravda, the Hate Man, Stoney Burke (performs political comedy), and the successful and famous poet, Julia "Bubble Lady" Vinograd. And so, to prepare yourself for the Walking Tour, I suggest buying a copy of BLESS YOUR DIRTY HEART by Hubert Lindsey, a.k.a., Holy Hubert, and by buying two or three poetry books by Julia Vinograd. I suggest, CANNIBAL CASSEROLE to start out with.MY PHOTOGRAPHS. I took these photographs in the years 1969 to 1971. During the time I was taking freshman chemistry in Latimer Hall, us students were faced with a tough decision. Should we open the windows and let the stinky smell of our chemicals go out the window, or should we keep the windows shut to keep out the stinky smell of the tear gas that the Berkeley police were shooting at the rioters. The day after the riots, I would go out and collect spent tear gas bombs. I have a tear gas bomb that was a rubber ball with a valve on top, and another tear gas bomb that was a blue-painted can made of thick metal, with holes in the can to let the gas come out. I washed the residual tear gas out of the bombs by flushing water over the spent tear gas bombs in the bathroom sink in PRIESTLY HALL dormitory. My photographs show:(1) Bluegrass trio in Sproul Plaza with a mandolin case where you donate money, and where the mandolin case has a sign reading, "KITTY." The term "Kitty" is sometimes used to refer to a place for putting spare change.(2) Also on Sproul Plaza, people playing trombone and clarinet. (3) Holy Hubert on Sproul Plaza. One of the signs reads, "Jesus Christ is coming again to judge this world, follow Christ here on earth. Be persecuted and go to heaven not hell. Another sign reads, "REPENT-REPENT-REPENT Communist Party USSR Communist Party Red China Communist Party U.S.A. Marx-Lenin-Maotsetung ALL 3 ATHEISTS. Bible says Atheist=Fools. I won't follow fools.(4) Riot police on Telegraph Ave. escorting boy to paddy wagon.(5) Sandwich board on Telegraph Avenue. Sign reads, LEOPOLD'S RECORDS New Stones Album $5.99.(6) Boy gets put into paddy wagon, on Telegraph Avenue.(7) Four rioters on Telegraph. One of them flips bird at me.(8) Protest against Nixon and bombs. I took this photo at entrance to U.C. Berkeley campus. (9) Hippie is glad that LBJ died. See headlines from Berkeley Daily Gazette that reads, "Washington Funeral For LBJ." The sign attached to the wooden post reads, "ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL . . . ALICE STEWART & SNAKE . . . June 23." Please note that Alice Stewart & Snake also performed with Big Brother and the Holding Company, at Bimbo's in 1972.(10) Happy gathering on Telegraph.(11) People's Park with Pravda in the nude, as usual.(12) People's Park with row of four friends.(13) Happy gathering on Telegraph, near La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant. You can see GARDEN SPOT MARKET next to La Fiesta. But me and my roommates called this place the GARBAGE SPOT.

I checked out this tour on a recent rainy Sunday and as a Berkeley native learned so much I never knew about our local history, specific to Telegraph Avenue, Cal as well as Berkeley in general! It's a great tour and I'd recommend it to residents and visitors alike. It's a free app to download and my friend and I each but an earbud in our ear and walked the tour together. Totally recommend!

I found the Telegraph historical walking tour and being a big fan of Rick Steve's walking tour of Europe, i knew my husband and I had to do it. You just pull up the map and click on the stars to read and listen to stories about various points of interest. It was so fascinating to hear stories, sound clips, and oral histories about murals, businesses, buildings that I've just walked by thousands of times and have taken for granted. It was such a fascinating and enthralling way to spend the afternoon.I highly recommend it!

I heard about this through a family friend, and highly recommend it to anyone who spends a decent amount of time in the area. As a student who works here around telegraph, it is easy to take the area for granted, and not understand how historically rich telegraph avenue and the UC Berkeley campus are. This app gives you a quick interactive tour on the history of what makes telegraph such a unique location, and has definitely given me an added layer of appreciation for the area.