The Building

The Camron-Stanford House

Museum History
The Oakland Museum of California was formed from three small, individually operated museums. In 1910 the Oakland Public Museum opened. It displayed the collection of Californian cultural historian Charles P. Wilcolm in the Camron-Stanford House on the shores of Lake Merritt. At the Oakland Art Gallery founded in 1916, exhibitions of international fine art evolved into an outstanding collection of California art at the Oakland Art Museum. In 1922 the Snow Museum became the showcase for the collection of hunter-explorer Henry A. Snow. It was housed in a residence near Lake Merritt. By the 1950’s, all three museums were seriously suffering from lack of display space and in 1954 the Oakland Museum Association was organized to develop a solution that would ultimately become a unified museum for the city.

The Oakland Museum Association explored all possible options to obtain funds, including door-to-door canvassing and telephone solicitation in many Oakland neighborhoods. In 1961, a $6.6 million bond was passed for the construction of the new museum. Oakland voters selected the site: a four-block, city-owned area located near Lake Merritt between the Alameda County Courthouse and the Oakland Civic Auditorium.

The search began for a suitable architect. Thirty-seven design proposals were submitted by some of the best-known architects and firms of the day: Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, and Eero Saarinen and Associates. Only three firms, including Saarinen’s, were invited to a second round of interviews. Before his interview was scheduled, Saarinen unexpectedly passed away. His firm was asked to remain in the running and to be represented by his associate and the firm's Chief of Design, Kevin Roche. Ultimately Roche was chosen by the Architectural Selection Committee to develop a design with his partner, the late engineer John Dinkeloo. Roche also enlisted Dan Kiley to serve as landscape architect. The landscaping was to be a key aspect of the museum’s design.

In 1964, construction began and was completed in 1968. The cost was an unbelievably low $8 million, equivalent to the cost of a large suburban high school. The Oakland Museum of California opened to rave reviews and has sustained the support of the Bay Area community since that time.