Where in Oakland can you see Black Panther Party history on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon? On most Tuesdays, nowhere indoors unless you book ahead. The Black Panther Party Museum at 1427 Broadway is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., takes Monday and Tuesday visits by appointment only, and is closed Sunday. That adds up to 20 public hours a week for the city where the party started.
Two Merritt College students, Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, founded the party in Oakland in 1966. Sixty years later, the history is held by a handful of small keepers. One is a nonprofit museum. One is a library exhibit with an end date. The rest are a bronze bust, a renamed street, a park and a mural museum inside a private home. From Thursday, Oct. 15, through Sunday, Oct. 18, all of them are active at the same moment and most of the programming is free. After that, seeing this history in Oakland takes some planning.
Four days, two clusters
The anniversary is spearheaded by the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, which Fredricka Newton and David Hilliard co-founded, together with It's About Time BPP, founded by former party member Billy X Jennings. The free events follow a geography. The first three days stay close to downtown and Uptown, and the last day moves to West Oakland, where much of the permanent public art sits.
| Day | Free event | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu., Oct. 15 | Rank & File exhibit reception, with a short-video screening and a panel | 5 p.m. | Oakland Main Library; Oaklandside lists the screening at the Oakland History Center, 125 14th St., 2nd floor |
| Thu., Oct. 15 | Oaktown Thursdays season finale night market | From 5 p.m.; listed as ending at 9 or 10 p.m. | Latham Square, Telegraph Ave. between 17th St. and Broadway |
| Fri., Oct. 16 | Friday Nights at OMCA with MacArthur Maze | 5 to 9 p.m. | Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St. |
| Sat., Oct. 17 | Pop-up gallery of local Black artists, with soul food bites | 8 to 11 p.m. | Akoma Oakland, 1727 Telegraph Ave. |
| Sun., Oct. 18 | Community Day with Panther veterans | Noon to 4 p.m. | Lil' Bobby Hutton Park, 1651 Adeline St. |
On the official schedule, the library reception runs from 5 to 7:30 p.m., and the market runs until 10 p.m. The Oaklandside lists the market as ending at 9. The Thursday market closes out the Oaktown Thursdays season, which runs from June to October. Its finale opens with a ceremony honoring Panther members, followed by sets from Okey McFly, The Vixen and Vallejo's La Russell. The OMCA night is also the last garden party of the museum's year. Loove Moore and DJ Kream are performing, and Oakland native DJ BlackWoman has a set in the amphitheater. The Saturday gallery is a joint project of Trapxart, the Black Panther Party Museum and Akoma Oakland.
Sunday's program carries the most weight for the long term. In the organizers' words, Community Day is "a rare chance to spend time alongside Black Panther Party veterans and hear their stories firsthand," with speakers, live entertainment and food vendors. DeFremery Park, which also goes by Lil' Bobby Hutton Park, hosted multiple Panther protests and events in the 1960s and 1970s. The 1968 photograph of barbecue being served at a Free Huey Rally, now in the Smithsonian's collection, was taken in this park.
The ticketed conference runs on the same downtown map
The paid program follows the same layout. The conference runs Oct. 15 through 17, and instead of one convention hall its sessions are spread across downtown rooms, including the Black Panther Party Museum, Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakstop Broadway, Gaines Gallery Suites, BAM House, Fluid 510, the Alameda County Law Library and OMCA.
According to bpp60.org, passes cost $250 for the conference, $300 for the gala alone, $500 for conference plus gala and $1,000 for VIP. The conference pass covers daytime panels, workshops and a vendor marketplace, and sponsors are covering conference access for 1,000 high school students. The gala is on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Oakland Scottish Rite Center. A few event roundups list it as Saturday, Oct. 16. That date is a Friday this year, and the official schedule says the 17th.
What stays open after Sunday
Once the four days end, the history is still in the same two clusters. Each place just keeps its own hours.
Downtown, around 14th and Broadway
The Black Panther Party Museum opened in January 2024. Its parent foundation has preserved Panther history since 1995, and the largest archival collection on the party, which the foundation holds, is housed at Stanford University Libraries. Since the archive is in Palo Alto, the Broadway storefront is where the history becomes physical in Oakland. Its Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule comes from the foundation's museum page, which carries no update date, so check it before you go.
The Honoring the Black Panther Party Rank & File Members exhibit at the Main Library opened Oct. 5 and closes Saturday, Jan. 9. Former Panther Billy Jennings curated it from photos, books, newspaper archives and memorabilia. Rather than the party's leaders, it focuses on the members who ran its community programs. It's the one anniversary piece that lasts into the new year.
The Black Panther Party Legacy Educational Walk & Talk also starts downtown. The Black Panther Party Alumni Legacy Network runs it, and original Panther member Dr. Saturu Ned guides it. The Eventbrite listing gives Oakland City Center, 505 14th St., as the meeting point. Tickets are $60 for adults and $30 for youth. A date is tentative until five people book, and groups of five or more can ask for Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday sessions. The network's own site also takes group requests by email. Its weekday wording doesn't quite match the Eventbrite listing, so confirm the day when you book.
West Oakland, around Mandela Parkway and Ninth Street
Of all the permanent sites, the West Oakland pieces need the least planning. In 2021, a stretch of Ninth Street was renamed Dr. Huey P. Newton Way. Dana King's bronze Huey P. Newton bust stands where that street meets Mandela Parkway. Merritt College's 2021 coverage of the unveiling called it Oakland's first permanent public art piece honoring the party. No hours apply to either one.
A few blocks' worth of street grid away, at 831 Center St. at Ninth, is The Women of the Black Panther Party Mural and Museum. Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith painted it, and the homeowner, Jilchristina Vest, conceived and curated the project. It was unveiled Feb. 14, 2021, and finished that June. The National Park Service says the 2,000-square-foot mural and 1,000-square-foot museum joined its African American Civil Rights Network in 2024. The museum occupies the first floor of a private home. Visit Oakland's listing says to text the curator and schedule ahead, even though it also shows daily hours. Plan on arranging a visit rather than walking in.
North Oakland, where the story started
Seale and Newton met at Merritt College's former North Oakland campus at 5714 Grove St., now Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The campus closed after the college moved to the Oakland hills. As of the San Francisco Chronicle's 2023 report, the site houses a research facility for UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland. None of the sources describe public access, so treat it as a place to pass by and not a place to tour.
Why there are so many keepers and no visitor center
A single federal site has been proposed. In September 2023, Rep. Barbara Lee introduced H.R. 5719, the Black Panther Party National Historical Park Act, and the bill was referred to the House Natural Resources Committee. Congress.gov still shows it as "Introduced," with no action after the referral. The bill text records that Lee had asked the Park Service back in March 2021 to start a reconnaissance survey. That year Oakland, Berkeley and Richmond each passed resolutions in support of a national park unit. Without a federal site, the work stays local. A nonprofit runs the museum, a public library hosts a temporary exhibit, a homeowner opens her first floor by appointment, and veterans lead tours once five people sign up.
That setup explains how the free schedule is built. For four days, the museum, the library, OMCA, Akoma Oakland and Lil' Bobby Hutton Park are all part of one program, and Panther veterans are present in person at DeFremery Park. If you want to visit after Oct. 18, here's what to plan around:
- Black Panther Party Museum: Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Monday and Tuesday by appointment
- Rank & File exhibit: at the Main Library through Saturday, Jan. 9
- Women of the Black Panther Party Mural and Museum: text the curator to schedule before you go
- Walk & Talk tour: booked through Eventbrite, confirmed once five people sign up
- Newton bust and Dr. Huey P. Newton Way: outdoors at Mandela Parkway, any time
KQED and The Oaklandside are both keeping track of anniversary programming as the week gets closer.
BloomHomes Team has worked out of Oakland since 2007, and the city's history is part of how we explain its neighborhoods to people. To see how downtown, West Oakland and North Oakland compare day to day, start with our Oakland neighborhood guide or our look at how Oakland neighborhoods feel day to day. If you own a home near one of these sites and want a sense of its value, we can help with that too.
