Ray Raineri 2000

Description:
Portrait of Ray Raineri (1938-2015), Oakland native, local history activist, writer, and collector.

Date of Document:
circa 2000

Document Author:
Jeff Norman

Geographic Location:
41st Street and Lusk Street, Oakland, Calif

Context:
Oakland native Raymond Ray Raineri grew up in the heavily Italian American Temescal district of North Oakland. Graduating in 1957 from Oakland Technical High School (an Oakland landmark, listed in the National Register of Historic Places), he went on to study at San Francisco State, where he earned a BA in sociology. Ray then worked for the next 30 years for the Alameda County probation department. After retiring in the 1990s, Ray devoted himself to his love of local history -- with a special focus on North Oakland and the richness of the East Bay Italian American community for which it was known. For decades, Ray s enthusiasm for North Oakland history found a wide range of forms and outlets. He curated or co-curated numerous local history exhibits at the Oakland Main Library s Oakland History Room and elsewhere. For several years he led the popular Oakland Heritage Alliance (OHA)-sponsored summer walking tours of Temescal. His articles appeared in local newspapers, and he co-authored the publication, A Walk Through Temescal, the walking tour guide co-published by OHA and Shared Ground in 1997. He gave numerous presentations on North Oakland s history, including for students at Oakland Tech, for the Colombo Club, and as part of OHA s lecture series. Ray amassed perhaps the largest collection anywhere of historical photographs of Temescal, and he generously shared his collection and knowledge with just about anyone who asked, including organizations such as the OaklandNorth news website, Temescal-based Shared Ground, the East Bay Hills Project, the Oakland History Room, and the Oakland Tech PTSA. Also benefiting from Ray s generosity were several Temescal restaurants whose walls have been decorated with historical photos copied from his collection. Ray s expertise ranged from the East Bay s Key System of streetcars and early public transit in Oakland; to North Oakland s once-vibrant amusement park, Idora Park; to the Oakland Oaks baseball team; to the