Arts and Culture

Paula Fass Comes Out of Retirement to Become The Magnes’ New Faculty Director

Published

7 years ago

June 13, 2019

When the powers that be came to Paula Fass to ask her to take over as the faculty director at UC Berkeley’s The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art, it was a bit of a tough sell.

She’d retired in 2010 after 36 years teaching history at UC Berkeley, and while helping to steer the course at the campus’s Jewish archive, library and museum was tempting for the daughter of Holocaust survivors, she was looking forward to writing more books and spending much more time seeing her daughter and son and their families, all on the East Coast.

“Being retired, it was much easier to find the time to see my kids more, so that was a consideration,” Fass says. “And if I took the job, it was likely I wouldn’t be able to write any books for a while. I thought about it very hard.”

And Fass, who has published three books since retiring, thought maybe the job at The Magnes would be better off in someone else’s hands.

“That (outgoing faculty director) George Breslauer even approached me was a bit of a surprise. I thought there were others more qualified,” she says, “But after I was approached, the job seemed more and more appetizing. I wouldn’t have come out of retirement to do this if I didn’t think it was so important.”

Since taking over on May 3, she’s wound her way through a major conference — In Global Transit: Forced Migration of Jews and Other Refugees (1940s-1960s) — while learning the inner workings of the place from the curatorial staff. She’s met with donors and viewed the collection’s photos, paintings, writings, music and more.

“I won’t say I’m overwhelmed, but this is a very different experience from the retirement I had been experiencing,” Fass says. “This is a lush and spectacular collection, and trying to take it in all at once has been breathtaking.”

In taking over for Breslauer, Fass is facing some new challenges. Much of the job is about fundraising. She’s never done that, “But I’m ready to learn on the job,” she says.

“Paula has a great personal story to tell and a passion for our story,” Breslauer says. “I think she has a devotion to the mission. I have great confidence in her. I’m passing the reins, but I’m still here as an advisor if she needs that.”

Fass is the daughter of Holocaust survivors Bluma and Harry Fass. Both entered concentration camps with families; both emerged as sole survivors. Born in West Germany in a displaced person’s camp, Fass grew up in New York and taught at Rutgers before making her way to Berkeley four decades ago. Her 2009 book, Inheriting the Holocaust: a Second-Generation Memoir, is an exploration of how the daughter of concentration camp survivors came to understand her world.

She hasn’t spent her entire career in Judaica, however. She’s written about education, immigration and globalization and spent much of her career working on children’s history and children’s policy.

“Being the daughter of Holocaust survivors is a part of me, but not in any overt way,” Fass says. “Coming to The Magnes now gives me the opportunity to join in at a very important moment, when the resurgence of overt anti-Semitic voices is out there.

“The Magnes can become a very important instrument of counteraction to give a better, fuller picture of Jewish life. Judaism is a multiethnic community. There are Jews in India, South America and North Africa. There is a multiculturalism about the Jewish population that the U.S. should know more about. I’d like to give the public a better sense of Jewish life, the vitality and the continuity. Jews have been highly successful in the United States, but wrongfully have been seen as a symbol of colonialism.”

Francesco Spagnolo, curator at The Magnes, says “the time is right” for Fass to be making this move.

“Paula has a fantastic profile as a scholar and as a member of the UC Berkeley community,” Spagnolo, who collaborated with Fass on a lecture at The Magnes in 2017, says. “Because of her passions and her interest, she has a formidable record as a scholar, and her expectations are very good.”

“I’m genuinely looking forward to working with Francesco and with George,” Fass says. “I’m expecting to put a lot of effort and time into learning the ropes, and I know I’ll be able to depend on both of them a lot.”

And she expects to work closely with Chancellor Carol Christ, who was one of the first people Fass met at Berkeley in the mid-1970s.

Fass, with her history in children’s education, says she’d like to see The Magnes become “a spearhead for education.”

“I’d like to take The Magnes out into the schools,” Fass says. “When my son (Charles) was in second grade, he brought me and my family menorah in to (class for me to) explain what it meant in my life. Kids are fascinated with objects. When I passed it around, they were rapt.

“Holding it and hearing the personal stories and seeing the artifacts opened these kids’ eyes. I believe we can reach out and work with others at local museums. I’d like to see a joint effort with the Oakland Museum, say for Black History Month, because there are black Jews.”

John Hickey

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COMMENTARY: The National Protest Must Be Accompanied with Our Votes

Just as Trump is gathering election data like having the FBI take all the election data in Georgia from the 2020 election, so must we organize in preparation for the coming primary season to have the right people on ballots in each Republican district, so that we can regain control of the House of Representatives and by doing so, restore the separation of powers and balance that our democracy is being deprived of.

Published

2 months ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper. File photo..

By Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper

As thousands of Americans march every week in cities across this great nation, it must be remembered that the protest without the vote is of no concern to Donald Trump and his administration.

In every city, there is a personal connection to the U.S. Congress. In too many cases, the member of Congress representing the people of that city and the congressional district in which it sits, is a Republican. It is the Republicans who are giving silent support to the destructive actions of those persons like the U.S. Attorney General, the Director of Homeland Security, and the National Intelligence Director, who are carrying out the revenge campaign of the President rather than upholding the oath of office each of them took “to Defend The Constitution of the United States.”

In California, the primary comes in June 2026. The congressional races must be a priority just as much as the local election of people has been so important in keeping ICE from acquiring facilities to build more prisons around the country.

“We the People” are winning this battle, even though it might not look like it. Each of us must get involved now, right where we are.

In this Black History month, it is important to remember that all we have accomplished in this nation has been “in spite of” and not “because of.” Frederick Douglas said, “Power concedes nothing without a struggle.”

Today, the struggle is to maintain our very institutions and history. Our strength in this struggle rests in our “collectiveness.” Our newspapers and journalists are at the greatest risk. We must not personally add to the attack by ignoring those who have been our very foundation, our Black press.

Are you spending your dollars this Black History Month with those who salute and honor contributions by supporting those who tell our stories? Remember that silence is the same as consent and support for the opposition. Where do you stand and where will your dollars go?

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Dorothy Lee Bolden: Uniting Domestic Workers

Domestic work followed Bolden beyond high school. According to sources from the New York Times, Bolden said she would wake “at 4 a.m. to leave home by 6 a.m., and be on the job by 8 a.m., perform all those duties necessary to the proper management of a household for eight hours, leave there by 4 p.m. to be home by 6 p.m. where I would do the same things I’ve done all over again for my own family.”

Published

2 months ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

Dorothy Lee Bolden. File photo.

By Tamara Shiloh

Her first experience with domestic work was at the age of nine. For $1.25 per week, Alabama-born Dorothy Lee Bolden (1923–2005), alongside her mother, washed soiled diapers for a White employer. Little did anyone know that this profession would spur Bolden to spearhead the movement for basic dignity and respect for generations of domestic workers.

Domestic work followed Bolden beyond high school. According to sources from the New York Times, Bolden said she would wake “at 4 a.m. to leave home by 6 a.m., and be on the job by 8 a.m., perform all those duties necessary to the proper management of a household for eight hours, leave there by 4 p.m. to be home by 6 p.m. where I would do the same things I’ve done all over again for my own family.”

It was Bolden’s experiences working as a domestic in 1940’s Atlanta that inspired her civil rights activism. A White female employer demanded that Bolden remain beyond her shift and wash dishes. Bolden refused. She was arrested and held in a county jail because “she was crazy.” There was no other reason for disobeying an order from a White person.

Bolden was never sentenced or institutionalized, but this event was the seed that grew into organization that would protect domestic workers across the United States: the National Domestic Workers Union of America.

Rosa Parks had made public transportation a major breeding ground for civil rights activism, so Bolden began organizing during the long bus rides her peers made to the wealthy neighborhoods. Many were fed up, working long hours for little pay, with little to no worker protections.

This organization of women would go on to fight for worker’s rights, create training programs, and teach workers to advocate for themselves. It was also important to Bolden to teach communication skills.

In the book Household Workers Unite, Bolden is quoted as saying: “You have to teach each maid how to negotiate… And this is the most important thing — communication. I would tell them it was up to them to communicate.”

But respect for Bolden’s activism was not shared by everyone. Although she consulted presidents Ford, Reagan, and Carter, she received several death threats from the Ku Klux Klan.

The New York Times reported that during the makings of an oral history project, Bolden said that “men claiming to be members of the KKK called her house and spoke about “whipping my behind,” but in coarser terms. “I told them any time they wanted to, come on over and grab it,” Bolden said during the interview. “It didn’t scare me, didn’t bother me. It made me angry. It made me determined to do what I had to do.”

Representative John Lewis of Georgia said that Bolden “spoke up, and she spoke out, and when she saw something that wasn’t fair, or just, or right, she would say something.”

The NDWU of America ran until the mid-1990s, but Bolden’s legacy lives on.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Arts and Culture

Book Review: Books on Black History and Black Life for Kids

For the youngest reader, “As You Are: A Hope for Black Sons” by Kimberly A. Gordon Biddle, illustrated by David Wilkerson (Magination Press, $18.99) is a book for young Black boys and for their mothers. It’s a hope inside a prayer that the world treats a child gently, and it could make a great baby shower gift.

Published

2 months ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

Photo of Black History Month book covers by Terri Schlichenmeyer.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Authors: Various, Copyright: c. 2025, 2026, Publishers: Various, SRPs: $17.99-$18.99, Page Counts: Various,

Everybody in your family has stories to share.

Your parents have told you some, no doubt. Your grandparents have offered a few, too, and aunties and uncles have spun some good tales. But there’s so much more to know, so grab one of these great books and learn about Black History and Black life.

For the youngest reader, “As You Are: A Hope for Black Sons” by Kimberly A. Gordon Biddle, illustrated by David Wilkerson (Magination Press, $18.99) is a book for young Black boys and for their mothers. It’s a hope inside a prayer that the world treats a child gently, and it could make a great baby shower gift.

If someone said you couldn’t do something that you were clearly able to do, would you fight to do it anyhow? In the new book, “Remember Her Name! Debbie Allen’s Rise to Fame” by Tami Charles, illustrated by Meredith Lucius (Charlesbridge, $17.99), a young girl in the Jim Crow South is told that she can’t dance because of the color of her skin.

She didn’t listen, though, and neither did her mother, who took her daughter to Mexico, where the girl soared! This is an inspiration for any 5-to-7-year-old; be sure to check out the back-of-the-book information, if you’re an adult fan.

Do you often hear your elders say things that sound like lessons? They might be, so “Where There is Love: A Story of African Proverbs” by Shauntay Grant, illustrated by Leticia Moreno (Penguin Workshop, $18.99) is a book you’ll like. It’s a quick-to-read collection of short proverbs that you can say every day. Kids ages 4-to-6 will easily remember what they find in this book; again, look in the back for more information.

Surely, you love your neighborhood, which is why the tale inside “Main Street: A Community Story about Redlining” by Britt Hawthorne and Tiffany Jewell, illustrated by David Wilkerson (Penguin Kokila, $18.99) is a book for you.

Olivia’s neighborhood is having a block party, but she’s sad when no one shows up. That’s when she learns that “the government” is discriminating against the people and businesses near where she lives. So, what can she and her neighbors do? The answer might inspire 6-to-8-year-old kids to stand up to wrongs they see, and to help make their neighborhoods stronger and safer.

And finally, if a kid wants a book, where can they go to find it? In “I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy” by Mychal Threets, illustrated by Lorraine Nam (Random House, $18.99) is a good introduction to the best of what a library has to offer. The freedom to walk into a library and borrow a book is the theme here, as is the sheer happiness of being welcomed, no matter who you are. This is an easy book for kids as young as two and as old as five to enjoy.

On that note, if you want more, head to that library, or a nearby bookstore. They’ll be glad to see you. They’ve got stories to share.