Oakland’s Black population nearly quintupled during the 1940s. Tens of thousands of African Americans fled the Jim Crow-era South to work in East Bay shipyards like Moore Dry Dock Company. The backlash to this boom laid the foundation for decades of entrenched inequality and discriminatory housing patterns. This episode explores the rise of one of one of Oakland’s biggest industrial operations ever – and the aftermath of its demise.
Featuring interviews with: -Dorothy Lazard, librarian at Oakland Library History Room -Ron Moore, son of Moore Dry Dock Company co-owner -Marilynn S. Johnson, author of “The Second Gold Rush: Oakland and the East Bay in World War II”
Launch celebration for the SS Thordis, January 6, 1917. [Photo: Gabriel Moulin, “The Story of Moore Dry Dock Company” / Windgate Press]
The superstition of painting eyes on ships for good luck dates back to ancient Egypt. West Oakland’s Moore Dry Dock Company carried on the tradition through World War II. Seen here: SS Bald Eagle, 1942. [Photo: Gabriel Moulin, “The Story of Moore Dry Dock Company” / Windgate Press]
Seen here in 1918, this “dazzle ship” was manufactured at Moore Dry Dock and named the SS Oakland. The paint job was intended to confuse German U-Boat captains. [Photo: Gabriel Moulin, “The Story of Moore Dry Dock Company” / Windgate Press]
Aerial view of Moore Dry Dock, located at the foot of Adeline St. [Photo: “The Story of Moore Dry Dock Company” / Windgate Press]
Seen here in March 1931, this enormous steel girder still supports the Paramount Theater’s main balcony. [Photo: “The Story of Moore Dry Dock Company” / Windgate Press]
Then and now: This is what the corner of 14th and Broadway looked like in 1925 and in 2018. The structural steel was manufactured by Moore Dry Dock. [Left photo: “The Story of Moore Dry Dock Company” / Windgate Press; right photo: Liam O’Donoghue]
