Abstract
This project aims to nominate the former Oak Park School of Afro-American Thought at 3639 4th Avenue in Sacramento to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The school is locally significant under Criterion A of the National Register for its significance in the emergence of Black Studies and Ethnic Studies curriculum in Sacramento, its strong ties to Sacramento’s Civil Rights, Black Power, and Black Campus Movements, and its role as a major community organization in the Oak Park neighborhood from 1970 to 1977. The property maintains sufficient historic integrity to convey its significance. This nomination identifies Black Sacramentans’ contributions to the national struggle for civil rights and educational equality and supports the City of Sacramento’s African American Experience Project’s goal to recognize the contribution of African Americans to Sacramento’s historic landscape. The sources used in this project include building permits, city planning documents, newspaper articles, historic photographs, institutional reports, ephemera, an oral history account, secondary sources related to local, state, and national African American history, National Register Bulletins, and architectural reference books.