H68.217.1

Painting(Shorey family). Blue, white, and black ink watercolor, colors are washed out in appearance but close resemblance is obvious, painted on cloth, done in Japan while on whaling voyage. Family members l. to r. Zenobia Shorey, William T. Shorey, Victoria Shorey, and Julian Ann Shelton Shorey. Zeboia became ill on the whaling Bark Gay Head in the Hawaiian Islands and died later in Oakland. A Japanese artist painted this from the Shorey family photography in Japan according to Mrs. Victoria Francis. It hung in her home until 1968. Oakland resident William T. Shorey was a master sailor and the only Black captain of Pacific Coast sailing ships from 1887 until his retirement in 1909. Born in Barbadoes, Shorey became an active member of several moasonic organization and a member of the advisory board of the Home for Ages and Infirm Colored People. This Shorey family portrait includes Captain Shorey, Zenobia, Victoria and Julia Ann. From "A Walk Along the Water", Oakland Museum of California History Special Gallery, 1996. Captain Shorey, Master Mariner A ship's captain and important early leader of Oakland's African American community, William T. Shorey was bron in 1859 in Barbados. After studying navigation in Boston, he embarked on a three-year voyage aboard a whaling ship where he was promoted to first officer. Captain Shorey spent most of his careet aboard ships in the Pacific whaling fleet, much of it in Alaskan waters. During a distinguished life at sea, he earned the coveted "Masters License," which permitted him to pilot ships of any size, anywhere in the world. Captain Shorey settled on the waterfront in West Oakland in the 1880s. Shorey St. in Oakland was named for the Captain. Currently, and effort is being made to preserve his house which was in the path of the new Cypress Freeway. Contact the Oakland Heritage Alliance for further information. Deborah Cooper, Oakland Museum of California From The Oakland Heritage Alliance News, Winter-Spring 1890, pg. 17 There is a photograph of the Shorey house which was damaged in the 1989 earthquake. "The Shorey House, 1782 8th St., came off it's foundation but is now being repaired."