Interviewed by Camille Antinori and Rob Bermudez, October 4, 2024

David Knott's roots in Berkeley started back to the twenties when an aunt moved from Chicago to Berkeley, with his relations following from East Texas.  Born on Prince Street, he describes a far-flung yet connected community of friends and family, the people who have been here a while and who he calls the Indigenous Berkeley.  Aunt Lillian, now 92, and her husband Uncle Joe, taught David and his brother George to fish, and they came to the Berkeley pier for drop-line fishing.  The interview spans coming up in the Berkeley schools with his friends and cousins, racial integration, the impact of the Jensen-Shockley theory on their drive to succeed, the Free Speech Movement, and the Black Panthers ("we all wanted to be Black Panthers!").  He reflects on memories and impressions of the civil rights movement as seen from living in Berkeley.  As kids, his buddies and he had the "run of the town," and the waterfront was just one end of a vast playground "territory" they would cover on their bikes looking for adventure. His vision of the waterfront's future is to pass on the Berkeley experience to youth as a feeling of access to anything, a feeling that pervaded his growing up and even benefited Vice President Kamala Harris, who entered the Berkeley schools after him.  He discusses the importance of continuing the sense of open space and opportunities the waterfront and pier provide and not having it lost to gentrification and exclusionary development and design.  

Image:  People drop line fishing on Berkeley Pier, with fish cleaning stations in foreground, circa 1977.  Courtesy of Evelin Wozniak

David Knott Clip - MP3 (3.7 MB) 

Image: Screenshot from Suisun City Youth Commission

Topics (in order): 

Moving from Texas

Aunt Lillian the fisherwoman

Learning how to cook shark

The fun of hanging out at the Berkeley marina

His playground territory

Berkeley moms and the Berkeley police: a dilemma

Coming up in the Berkeley schools: Burbank, Franklin, Garfield, Willard*

The Front

Indigenous Berkeleyans

What brought the family out here from East Texas

An auntie "passing"

Brother becomes a big fisherman

How to transmit that Berkeley experience to the kids

Big Mama and the King Street House

Mr. Woolsey and his horse, Prince

Born on Prince Street

The incredible BHS Class of '73

Jensen-Shockley theory on racial inferiority

Free Speech Movement

The Black Panthers instilling a confidence

Between Devils Lake and Fargo, North Dakota

Impressions of civil rights movement in the South as seen on TV

Redlining and displacement: Adeline as demarcation line

Lack of loans to black businesses during redlining period

South Berkeley's own cultural history

Mayor Gus Newport and rent control laws in Berkeley (here and here) 

Lack of migration into Berkeley and decline in diversity

Visions for the future: Berkeley as tribal territory and as place it used to be

The cost of recreation

Youth: give them access

Value of uninterrupted run of the town and kids feeling free to roam

Best Place on the Planet!

*You can find a discussion of Berkeley schools integration here - accessed 11/7/2024. 

Full interview transcript (155.6K)

Citation (APA style):

Knott, D., Antinori, C., and Bermudez R.  Exploring Intergenerational and Community Connections to the Outdoors.  (2024).   Interview with David Knott conducted by Camille Antinori and Rob Bermudez. October 4, 2024. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Berkeley Fishing Memories Oral History Project: