Mar 27, 2008

Longtime activists honored

By Angela Hart / Bay Area News Group

Longtime activist Barbara Millican Montgomery is being recognized for her community service and efforts to rehabilitate and energize West Oakland with a place in the Alameda County Women's Hall of Fame.

Montgomery, 71, is one of seven women who will be inducted into the hall at the 15th annual Alameda County Women's Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday in Berkeley.

"Montgomery is an asset to the Hall of Fame," said Lorraine Provost, executive director for the Alameda County Commission on the Status of Women, which oversees the award. "She'll bring greater visibility to West Oakland and the category of community service."

Montgomery, a founding member and former president of the Acorn Housing Tenants Association who has also worked on numerous community boards and commissions, said it's an honor to be inducted.

"I just wanted to bring a good life to all people," she said. "I realize I have an obligation to leave things better for future generations than what I inherited."

Montgomery moved to San Francisco from Zachary, La., in 1964, in the midst of the civil rights movement.

"I came here for a better job, a better life," Montgomery said.

She and her former longshoreman husband had six children before they divorced.

She worked for many years as a nurse at University of California, San Francisco and Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco while helping her fellow community members in West Oakland, where she has lived for more than 40 years.

While she worked on many community boards and committees, one thing stands out for Montgomery: In 1998, she was appointed to the board of the Enhanced Enterprise Community and President Bill Clinton's administration gave $44 million to Oakland. Montgomery was in charge of distributing and monitoring the money, which went to housing and community projects.

"I loved seeing needs being met and dreams being fulfilled," she said. "When we received our funding from city, it was the most important thing to actually see the improvements."

Montgomery helped found the Acorn tenants group to represent interests of residents in the Acorn Housing Development in West Oakland. She was among a small group of resident activists who stood up for residents of the project, an effort that led to a significant rehabilitation of the development that has helped it regain its reputation as a model for urban housing complexes nationwide.

Montgomery also has served as a member of the Oakland Community Policing Taskforce and was a mayoral nominee for grandmother of the year in 2004.

"I'm humbled and excited," Montgomery said of being included in the Women's Hall of Fame. "This is a culmination of my life in community service."

She is deserving of this award, said one of Montgomery's daughters, Arliss Dunn, who lives in Oakland.

"She is very wise and so giving," Dunn said.

Established in 1993, the Women's Hall of Fame recognizes outstanding women for their achievements and contributions to the county and its citizens.



At a glance



WHAT: The 15th annual Alameda County Women's Hall of Fame Awards ceremony

WHEN: 12:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: HS Lordships Restaurant, 199 Seawall Drive, Berkeley

INFO: www.acgov.org/cao/

halloffame/