Everybody's Autobiography

A blog documenting expeditions into California's social, cultural, and natural histories. Short multimedia essays explore the museum's inner workings along with the author's deepest emotions. Eminent Bay Area writers and artists make frequent guest appearances.

Monday, June 20, 2011
Marie Doezema

Born in France in 1926, photographer Michelle Vignes moved to San Francisco in 1966 and spent the past several decades documenting some of the most influential social movements in North America. Her... more

Wednesday, May 25, 2011
James Greer

If you live in Southern California, it is very difficult to resist waxing lyrical in springtime when the jacaranda trees bloom.

The purple mist that invades almost every street come May and lasts... more

Thursday, May 12, 2011
Andrew Leland

This Friday, a truck will deliver fourteen bales of hay to the Oakland Museum of California. The hay was sourced by the museum's... more

Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Andrew Leland

Artists survive on the interest of collectors. But just as every writer is also a reader, every artist is also a collector. Jason Polan, a New York–based artist and illustrator, is a case in point... more

Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Andrew Leland

For fifty-two years, the Oakland Museum's Women's Board has worked year-round assembling a colossal annual rummage sale in a Fruitvale warehouse, raising millions of dollars for the museum.

... more
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Andrew Leland

The staff of the Oakland museum finally noticed that I've lost the ability to write. Then—I don't know how—they found out that I live in San Francisco, which is death for someone... more