Cal State East Bay to Confer Honorary Doctorate to Retired National Park Service Ranger Betty Reid Soskin

Cal State East Bay will confer an honorary Doctor of Humane Lettersto Betty Reid Soskin during the May 11 commencement ceremony for the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences at 1 p.m.

A resident of the East Bay for 90 years, Soskin retired at the age of 101, holding the distinction of serving as the oldest active U.S. National Park Ranger.

Soskin is a distinguished civic leader whose contributions have enriched Cal State East Bay, the broader East Bay region, California and our nation.

A graduate of Oakland High School, Soskin was a file clerk during World War II at the Richmond shipyards in a segregated union hall. One of the few Black Americans hired, Ms. Soskin later observed that her office position was akin to attending college, given the options available at that time.

Soskin and her husband, Mel Reid, went on to found Reid's Records in Berkeley, CA. This gospel music specialty store thrived for over 70 years as California's oldest record store and one of the few long-sustaining Black-owned businesses. Soskin became actively engaged in the civil rights movement and served as a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

In 1995, Soskin was named a "Woman of the Year" by the California State Legislature and awarded the Silver Service Medallion by the National WWII Museum in recognition of her work and connection to World War II. Invited to attend President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009, she carried a photo of her great-grandmother, who had been born into slavery.

Most famously, in 2000, Soskin joined the U.S. National Park Service, stationed at the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front Park in Richmond, CA. From its inception, Soskin was deeply involved in the direction and creation of this distinctive urban national park, including bringing to light stories about working in a time of segregation and racism.