Remembering Betty Reid Soskin, the iconic National Park Service ranger

Born Betty Charbonnet was born in Detroit in 1921. She grew up in a Cajun-Creole, African American family that relocated to New Orleans and then Oakland after the devastating Great Flood of 1927. Her family’s migration followed the path of Black railroad workers who moved west seeking opportunity, and freedom from the crushing racism of the Jim Crow South.

Her memories stretched across nearly every chapter of modern American history. She remembered ferry boats crossing the Bay before bridges existed, Oakland’s airport as little more than two hangars, Amelia Earhart’s final flight, and the devastating Port Chicago explosion of 1944.

During World War II, Soskin worked as a file clerk in a segregated union hall. In 1945, she and her husband founded Reid’s Records, one of the first Black-owned music stores in the country, a cultural cornerstone that remained open for more than 70 years.

Her commitment to public service never wavered. She went on to work in local and state government, serving as a staff member to a Berkeley city council member and as a field representative for California legislators, always advocating for equity, inclusion, and truth.