To: The University of California, Berkeley Administration
From: Friends of the Anna Head School
Re: Saving the Anna Head School
We have recently become aware and are concerned that much of the former Anna Head School
complex, now part of UC Berkeley, is in great disrepair and in danger of being replaced.
According to a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the buildings are “falling apart”
and restoration would “run to the tens of millions of dollars.” We believe the Anna Head School
holds a significant place in the history of UC Berkeley and that all the buildings need to be
saved.
Built over three decades from 1892 to 1927, the Anna Head School is an architectural
masterpiece. One of the buildings still to be restored is Channing Hall, the first brown-shingled
building in Berkeley, a structure that launched the Arts and Crafts movement in American
architecture. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a Berkeley
Landmark. The school’s founder, Anna Head, one of the first women to graduate from UC
Berkeley in 1879, was a national leader in the Progressive Education Movement. The
University’s recent celebration of 150 Years of Women at Berkeley highlighted Anna Head for
her significant role in the history of American education.
Please do all you can to ensure that the rest of the Anna Head School complex is restored so that
it can continue to help meet the needs of the University community. We believe that this is a
time to invest in saving an important place in Berkeley’s heritage. We ask that the University
administration include the restoration of the buildings in the University’s Master Plan. Thank
you for your leadership in saving the Anna Head School.