Books on Berkeley

05 December 2001 |

Three new books — chronicling the educational history, architectural beauty and legendary activism of the campus — make perfect gifts for the Berkeley buff in your life.

Educational history
Former Berkeley chancellor Clark Kerr, one of the 20th century's most influential figures in higher education, provides an insider's account of UC's rise to scholarly preeminence in "The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949-1967."

In this first of two volumes, Kerr covers the upheavals of the 1950s Loyalty Oath controversy and 1964 Free Speech Movement, as well as the impact of the GI Bill and the 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education.

Architecture
Former campus planner Harvey Helfand, a Cal alum, combines his photographic skills with his extensive knowledge of campus architecture to produce "The Campus Guide: University of California, Berkeley."
The book includes more than 200 color photographs highlighting the campus's beaux-arts style and classical John Galen Howard architecture. Other featured 20th-century designers include Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan, Joseph Esherick and William Turnbull.

Activisim
Images of some of the campus's most tumultuous and defining times, such as the Free Speech Movement and anti-Vietnam War effort, are found in "The Whole World is Watching: Peace and Social Justice Movements of the 1960s and 1970s."

The work of nearly 30 photographers — including Graduate School of Journalism teaching fellow Ken Light — and text by History Professor Leon Litwack and other scholars and activists, are included.

All three books are available in local bookstores.