Gertrude Stein is known as the inventor of modernism, yet she receives little attention in the City where she grew up. She is mostly remembered for the remark "There is no there there”. Together we will explore a complex story behind the line, taking a close look at her cultural milieu and personal history. There is a lot more to there than you may have thought. This lecture will be presented by OHA Board member, Kathryn (Kitty) Hughes.

Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUodOyvrTgiEtGcbrvfGJk390sqBiNtEirP

Bio: Kitty has lived in Oakland for most of her life, and three generations of her family make this city their home. She has served as an OHA board member since 2006. Kitty received her master’s degree in English from UC Berkeley, with a focus on women’s novels of the Victorian era. Turning her attention to local Victorian culture, she researched ethnic cultures in late nineteenth century Oakland with grants from the California Council for the Humanities and the Barbro Osher Foundation. By an odd twist of fate, she became the City of Oakland's first Bicycle Program Manager, retiring in 2006. In retirement, she has turned her attention  back to her academic interests, researching Gertrude Stein's  life growing up in Oakland in the 1880s and 90s. An essay “Here and There: A Tale of Two Cities” was published in the 2013 anthology Wandering in Paris; the essay explored the ways in which Stein is remembered in her adopted city of Paris but forgotten in the city of her youth. She published a follow up article: "Excavating There: Gertrude Stein's Forgotten Oakland" in Women's Studies in 2020. She also published an article on Aurelia Reinhardt, another barely remembered Oakland woman of note, in 2022.   

Gertrude and Alice portrayed in a mural of local Jewish history at 17th & Franklin, Oakland ; Artists: Keith Sklar, with Brooke Fancher and Dan Fontes.