5 Reconstructing Russell City, California's Past: “The City May Be Gone, But the Memories Live On”

Abstract

Russell City, California was once a small farming settlement located near San Francisco Bay. Its population increased and demographics changed during the 1940s, when African American and Latinx families migrated to the area and became the town's majority. The hamlet was never incorporated and lacked basic utilities, yet Russell Cityans self-governed, provided civic safety services, established churches and businesses, and sealed financial deals between neighbors. In the 1950s, however, surrounding areas began considering Russell City a blight. Newspaper articles reinforced this idea, while simultaneously detailing governmental attempts to impede Russell City's improvement efforts. In 1963, Alameda County began the forced relocation of Russell's tenants via a redevelopment project. Residents protested to no avail, and by 1968 the town was destroyed. The area is now an industrial park.

Contemporary archaeology methods like archival research, oral history, material analysis, photography, and mapping are essential to understand Russell City's past. Using these approaches also enables former residents to cognitively bridge past and present, contributes to forming individual identities, fortifies community solidarity, and exposes the paradox of how living in Russell City was experienced by townspeople compared to how it was viewed by those outside its perimeters. Lastly, documenting Russell Cityans’ experiences and mapping the town are acts that confront the race and class-based systems that not only shaped their lives as well as others in similar communities across the United States, but continue to affect marginalized peoples today.