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Chronology of People's Park - The Old Days*

*based in part on Alan Copeland's People's Park



Please remember that this is only a beginning of a People's Park Chronology.
We do look forward to some kind user development, here too....

1957 - University of California Regents earmark $1.3 million for purchase of land in the area. South of Campus (more playing fields, faculty offices, parking).

1967 - U.C. report recommends purchase of future People's Park site, claiming area "scene of hippie concentration and rising crime."

1968 - University sends eviction notices to residents; bulldozes their houses; creates muddy lot.

April 13, 1969 - Local merchants and residents meet and propose alternative uses for the vacant site, which has now become an eyesore (childcare clinic, crafts commune, baseball, rock concerts). Mike Delacour proposes a user-developed community park.




Mike Delacour, 1991


April 20, 1969 - People's Park is created. Hundreds of people clear ground, plant trees, grass, flowers, set up playground equipment. Free food is distributed.

May 6, 1969 - Chancellor Heyns meets with members of the People's Park Committee, student politicians, and members of the College of Environmental Design. Gives them three weeks to come up with a plan for the park. Promises no construction will begin without prior warning.

May 15, 1969 - "Bloody Thursday" -- 250 Highway Patrol and Berkeley police offers invade the park at 4:45 a.m. and clear an 8-block area around the site. Construction of perimeter fence begins. After a noontime rally on Sproul Plaza, a crowd of 6000 moves towards the park. Police fire tear gas. Protestors throw rocks and bottles. Sheriff Deputies retaliate with double-0 buckshot, blinding one man (Alan Blanshard), mortally wounding another (James Rector). At least 128 injuries, but no policemen hospitalized. Towards evening, Governor Reagan calls out the National Guard and bans public assembly.

May 16-28, 1969. Protests continue on a daily basis. National Guardsmen block Sather Gate. A helicopter sprays the campus with CS tear gas. Campus referendum massively endorses the Park. People's Park annexes spring up all over Berkeley. 9000 students protest in Sacramento.

May 29, 1969. Chancellor Heyns announces his support for leasing part of the Park to the City.

May 30, 1969. 30,000 people march peacefully past the Park.

June 20, 1969. U.C. Regents vote to turn the Park into a soccer field and parking lot. The Park is surrounded by a chain-link fence and kept under 24-hour guard.
1971. In March there's another riot over the Park. 44 arrests.

1972. In May, after Nixon announces he'll mine North Vietnam's main port, an outraged crowd tears down the fence. In September, the Berkeley City Council votes to lease the site.
What Happened Next

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