Cohen-Bray House

Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland
1440 29th Ave. Oakland

Board of Directors

President 
Lois Roach

Vice-President
Karin Sidwell

Treasurer 
Patty Reidenbach
 
Recording Secretary
Dorothy Mason 

Patty Donald
Hank Dunlop 
Chris Gilliland 
Paul Roberts
Lorie Shay

Emeriti
Barbara Donald
Mike Reidenbach 

The Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland (VPCO) and The Cohen-Bray House Membership information.
  How you can get involved and why!

What the VPCO does:  The organization has two stated goals (one dealing with saving history, the other with the educational study of that history), namely: The mission of the Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland is to  interpret the history of the East Bay in the later nineteenth century. The Center seeks to accomplish this goal by promoting the study of material culture of the era and the social and economic life of Oakland, the East Bay and the San Francisco Bay Area as represented by the Cohen Bray house.   The house thus serves as focal point for the study of the culture and development of the Bay Area during the Victorian period and early 20^th Century.  It provides students from this area and from across the country an opportunity to study the decorative arts and material collections of The Cohen-Bray House. 
Scholars participate actively in conservation, interpretation, and analysis of the period and in the study of the Fruitvale District of Oakland and of the Cohen and Bray families in a hands-on setting, using the artifacts available in the house and the resources of the community.  

How others may use and assist the VPCO:  The educational efforts described above allow use of a unique site by students of historic decorative design, restoration and preservation.  These efforts by scholars and others require broad-based support, financial and otherwise, from public and private sources within and beyond the immediate community.  The VPCO needs others to join with them as they offer this remarkable residence for the study and preservation of the past.  The organization needs contributions of time, ideas, materials, and money.  For those looking for first hand experience in historic preservation, keep in mind that the professional skills of architects, contractors, roofers, painters, carpenters, restoration specialists, conservators, curators, antiquarians, librarians, gardeners, landscapers are all currently needed at The Cohen-Bray House.  Whether you have these skills or would like to learn them in an historical context you can help the VPCO enormously in many ways:        
The Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland (non-profit organization tax id  #94-3156522) 

We are updating our mailing list and ask you to help us by registering below and becoming a member for this year.  We have no paid staff, no paid officers, nor do we receive funding from any public source. Our entire effort comes from volunteers.   Funds from your membership are used to repair and maintain the house and garden, both acutely in need of care at the ripe old age of almost 122! We need your help to keep out the rain, shore up the foundation, and revitalize the landscape.  Membership is open to all those who support the goals of restoration and preservation of America�s vanishing treasures.There is no other house quite like it in all of California or perhaps anywhere in the United States!   Join us!

Regular events for the public each year at the house include:

• The Mother�s Day Tea and Tour (May)
• The Post-Christmas Tea and Tour (December)
• The Twelfth Night Dinner (January)
• Monthly Tour (4^th Sunday of each month)
  
  For your membership you will receive:
  
  �    Our newsletter
  �    Discount on admission to above events
  �    A set of 6 postcards, interior and exterior views of the house  
  �    Invitation to a specified members-only event
  �    Most important, the satisfaction that you are helping to save and keep this astonishing repository of our Bay Area past!

-   Becoming a Member  

• Yes!  I would like to join the Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland.  
  My check for $__________ is enclosed.  
  
• I have already paid my dues for this year.  My extra gift of $___________is enclosed.

Annual membership covers July 2005 through June 2006.

___Individual Member    $25      ___Household Member   $35 
___Supporting Member   $50     ___ Sustaining Member    $150
___Benefactor Member   $500   ___Angel     $1000        

Name_______________________________________________  Address_____________________________________________ City__________________________State_____ZIP___________ Telephone___________________________________________
E-mail______________________________________________

Please mail to: The Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland,  
 5245 College Ave., Suite 145, Oakland, CA 94618.                                 
Memberships and gifts are fully tax deductible.                                             

                                                           Thank-you   and   Welcome!

Cohen-Bray House

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Date Last Modified: 12/1/05