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History of Berkeley, California:
The History Of The City Is Inextricably Linked To Its University. According To The Centennial Record Of The University Of California, "In 1866...at Founders' Rock, A Group Of College Of California Men Were Watching Two Ships Standing Out To Sea Through The Golden Gate. One Of Them, Frederick Billings, Was Reminded Of The Lines Of Bishop Berkeley, 'westward The Course Of Empire Takes Its Way,' And Suggested That The Town And College Site Be Named For The Eighteenth-century British Philosopher And Poet." In 1873, Governor Newton Booth Declared Berkeley To Be The "Athens Of The West".
The University Of California First Operated In Berkeley In 1872. Much Of Berkeley's Economy, Status, And Reputation Has Long Derived From Its Relationship With The Institution. PSR, The Pacific School Of Religion, Was Founded By Congregationalists In 1866 As An Ecumenical Theological School— The First Graduate Seminary West Of The Mississippi, And One Of The Two Largest Religious Schools In The World (the Other Is In Louvain, Belgium). As A Result, Berkeley Is Reputed To Have The Most Churches Per Capita Of Any City In The US.
The 1910 "First Church Of Christ, Scientist", Designed By Bernard Maybeck, Is A Mix Of Craftsman, Gothic, And Romanesque Styles. It Is A National Historic Landmark.
Both City And University Have Long Been Famed As A Center Of Activist Politics And Radical Social Ideas. Early In The Twentieth Century, West Berkeley Became A Center For Finnish Immigrants, Many Of Whom Were Socialists, And Who Contributed To The Growing Labor Movement In The 1920s And 30s. The Finnish Hall (Toveri Tupa) In The 1800 Block Of Tenth Street Is A Now-landmarked Community Meeting Place Built By These Finnish Activists In 1908. In 1911, Berkeley Had A Socialist Mayor, J. Stitt Wilson. The Movement For Women's Suffrage Was Strong In Berkeley. In 1911, When It Became Law, California Became The Sixth State In The US To Allow Women To Vote. While Surrounding Alameda County As A Whole Voted Against The Female Right To Vote, It Won Easily In Berkeley. In The Late 1920s Several Large Women's Organizations Combined To Form The Berkeley Women's City Club. Its Beautiful Italianate Building On Durant Avenue, Designed By Renowned Hearst Castle Architect Julia Morgan And Completed In 1930, Is A Berkeley Landmark. Today Berkeley Has One Of The Still Relatively Few Female Fire Chiefs In The US, Deborah Pryor, An African-American.
The Free Speech Movement Began On The Berkeley Campus, Arguing For Free Speech On Campus, Despite Its Ownership By The Regents. Many Student Demonstrations Against The Vietnam War Occurred There In The 1960s, Which American News Organizations Dramatically Televised.
People's Park With High-rise Student Housing In The BackgroundAnother Notable Series Of Events That Helped To Solidify This Popular Conception Of Berkeley Is The Repeated Takeover By Populists Of An Open Lot Owned By The University Of California. The University Has Long Sought To Build On The Lot, But The Populists Have Demanded That The Lot Remain Undeveloped And Open As A Public Park. Today This Lot Is Called People's Park And 1960s Era Culture And Spirit Still Lives On Telegraph Avenue.
Due To The Generally Liberal To Radical Views Of The Berkeley Public, The City Is Sometimes Mockingly Referred To As The People's Republic Of Berkeley (and Have Led Some To Deride It As "Berzerkley"). This Reputation—along With Its Generally Temperate Weather, High Rates Of Tourism, And Large Student Population—have Attracted Large Populations Of Transient People, Many Of Whom Are Homeless. As A Result From This Large Homeless Population, And Proximity To High-poverty Areas Of Oakland, California, Had Resulted In Crime Rates Which Per Capita Are Often Among The Top In The State. Berkeley's Police Department, Under August Vollmer, The First Chief, Was The First In The US To Require That Officers Have A College Degree, Early In The 20th Century. This Department Developed The Lie Detector Test, And Was One Of The First To Use Fingerprints And Radios.
In 1986 Berkeley Officially Became A Nuclear Free Zone After A Local Vote, Disallowing The Operation Of Nuclear Reactors Within City Limits And Preventing Work From Being Done On Nuclear Weapons Within Its Borders. While This Can Be Seen As A Logical Extension Of Its Radicalism, It Also Is An Ironic Play With Berkeley's Past: The University Of California, Berkeley Played A Major Role In The Development Of Nuclear Weapons During World War II, A DOE National Laboratory (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Still Sits In The Expensive Hill-side Real Estate Above The City. The University Of California, As Of This Writing, Still Has A Contract With The U.S. Government To Manage LBNL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, And Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (the Latter Of Which Designed All Nuclear Warheads In The U.S. Arsenal, And Still Maintain The Programs Of Stockpile Stewardship). Street Signs Posted At The City Borders Declaring Its Nuclear Free Zone Status Are The Most Noticeable Effect Of The Measure. (The University Also Once Housed A Small Research Reactor Which Would Have Been In Noncompliance With The Nuclear Free Berkeley Act. This Was Replaced In The 1990s With A Computer Laboratory, Though The University Denies That This Had Anything To Do With The Act).
The City Of Berkeley Is Home To A Number Of Well-known Artists, Architects, Composers, Writers And Thinkers: Fritjof Capra, Susan Griffin, Christopher Alexander, John Adams, Rita Moreno, Michael Parenti, Michael Lerner, Michael Chabon, And Others. The City Also Has More Independent Publishers Per Capita Than Any Other City In The Country, And More Bookstores Per Capita.
More Recently, Berkeley Has Become Known As A Gourmet Food Center. Even By The Standards Of The Bay Area It Has An Exceptional Number Of Specialist Food Shops And Restaurants, The Berkeley Bowl Supermarket (http://www.berkeleybowl.com/), And A Berkeley Restaurant, Chez Panisse, Is Regarded As The Birthplace Of California Cuisine. Its Proprietor, Alice Waters, Has Been Called "the Mother Of American Cooking."
Since The 1970s, The Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART), A Metro Train System, Has Linked Berkeley To San Francisco And The Other Cities Of The Bay Area. Berkeley Has Nevertheless Maintained Its Own Character. Originally The Planners Of BART Proposed An Above-ground Route Through Berkeley, But Berkeley Residents Voted For A Below-ground Tunnel Route Instead, Whose Extra Cost Was Funded By A Bond Issue. Consequently, BART Runs Entirely In A Subway Through Berkeley, But Not In The Neighboring City Of Albany.
Humorous Saying: "Three Things Have Come Out Of Berkeley: LSD, BSD, And The SCA. This Is No Coincidence."
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