People’s Park
About this property
People's Park in Berkeley, California is a parcel of land owned by the University of California, Berkeley. Located east of Telegraph Avenue and bound by Haste and Bowditch Streets and Dwight Way, People's Park was a symbol during the radical political activism of the late 1960s. Formerly a park, the site is now under construction for new university student housing and homeless supportive housing. While the land is owned by the University of California, People's Park was de facto established as a public park on April 20, 1969, by local activists. On May 13, University Chancellor Roger W. Heyns announced plans to construct a soccer field on the site, leading to a confrontation two days later between protesters and police on May 15. On a day known as "Bloody Thursday", police used tear gas and fired shotguns at the protesters to quell the riot, resulting notably in the death of James Rector. In 1984, the city of Berkeley declared it a historical and cultural landmark. In 2018, the university published a plan to build 1,100 new units of student housing and 125 units of supportive housing for homeless people on the site, but a small contingent of activists delayed those plans through opposition including protests, lawsuits, sabotage of construction equipment, and trespassing on the site. The housing plans were backed by the Berkeley City Council, Mayor Jesse Arreguin, Berkeley's California Assembly representative Buffy Wicks and California Governor Gavin Newsom, and a majority of UC Berkeley students. Pending a judgment in a legal challenge to the university's housing plan, the park was closed off in early January 2024, when construction workers and police surrounded the park with a 17-foot high wall of shipping containers to prevent trespassing. On June 6, the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the university's favor, allowing construction to proceed. Consequently, construction officially started on July 22.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about People’s Park
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Questions about this property
When was People’s Park listed on the National Register?
People’s Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 2022.
What type of historic resource is People’s Park?
People’s Park is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for People’s Park?
The period of significance for People’s Park is recorded as the listed era.
Can I research the history near People’s Park?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near People’s Park will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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