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AA LEAD:SET JUNE 23

FOR JULY 3

THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH/LB

OAKLAND, CALIF. - Exactly one hundred and fifty years after James Marshall's

discovery of gold in California, the Oakland Museum of California is

presenting the largest and most comprehensive exhibition and investigation of

this complex period in America's history, "GOLD FEVER! The Lure and Legacy of

the California Gold Rush."

"GOLD FEVER!" immerses visitors in the sights, sounds and aura of a remarkable

era noted for both its greed and its glory - and the stampede of fortune

seekers that poured into California. This multi-disciplinary exhibition,

occupying 10,000 square feet, presents the event's explosive impact on

California's economy, population, environment and cultural diversity through

interactive exhibitions, more than 1,000 artifacts, a theatrical audio guide,

film footage, a reconstructed archaeological dig, conversations with museum

docents, and much more.

Many of the stories told in "GOLD FEVER!" will be new to those who learned

about the Gold Rush only from elementary school textbooks or a casual tour of

Sutter's Mill. Applying new research, the exhibition seeks to inform the

visitor by exposing stereotypes, revealing untold stories, illuminating new

truths and calculating the event's lasting impact. Authentic objects, papers,

and photographs document the simultaneous triggering of extraordinary fortunes

for some and utter catastrophies for many others, including California's

Native Americans and Californios. The displays, natural specimens and

photographs also vividly present the staggering effect of mining techniques on

California's natural resources and the consequent birth of the conservation

movement.

"The Gold Rush lured the world to California in a frenzy. What happened to

California and to the people who were thrown together here by this accident of

fate is the story of this exhibition," said L. Thomas Frye, "GOLD FEVER!"

project director.

Visitors begin their tour with a look at nuggets, ingots, coins, jewelry and

other artifacts from around the world that represent the compelling symbolism

of gold in human history. They then enter an archaeological "dig" filled with

an array of 1850s goods, many found in partially burned ships, piers and

buildings below San Francisco, including remarkably preserved jars of Gold

Rush olives.

A second area presents those who were living in California on the eve of the

Gold Rush - native peoples, Californios, Russians and others. Visitors are

able to immerse themselves in the events surrounding the moment of discovery

of gold by James Marshall in the mill race at Sutter's Mill in 1848, and pick

up newspaper accounts of the extraordinary riches of the first finds.

Tableaux of miners' lives and those who arrived to exploit other opportunities

vividly depict the experiences of the men, women and children - Anglo

Americans, African Americans, Chinese, Europeans, Mexicans, Chileans,

Hawaiians, and more - who made the difficult journey and took up residence in

the gold fields and burgeoning cities under arduous living conditions. "Our

cultural diversity did not happen yesterday," Frye says. "It goes back 150

years in its greatest dimension. It has enabled California to grow and prosper

as no other state in the union has."

A personal audio guide, developed by Antenna Theater, uses an innovative

theatrical approach, with actors presenting first-person accounts taken from

journals and correspondence of the Gold Rush era to provide visitors with a

sense of being present on the scene.

The staggering impact of mining on California's environment is dealt with

through objects related to mining techniques, from panning in streams to the

massive destruction of entire hillsides with enormous hydraulic nozzles that

blasted away mountains, silting up California's rivers for miles downstream

and flooding prime agriculture land and towns.

Finally, the exhibition examines the continuing legacy of the Gold Rush. "If

we open our eyes, we can enjoy the wonderful metaphor of a golden California,

and identify with the bold entrepreneurs who struck it rich in mines or in

capital endeavors," Frye says. "But we also need to look at the Gold Rush in a

new light. The real challenge is to examine both the winners and losers, and

to look inward at ourselves and think of California's future, our own cultural

value systems and our need to preserve the golden land that sustains us."

On view through July 26, "GOLD FEVER!" is accompanied by an illustrated,

300-page companion book of the same name. The book, published by the

University of California Press, was written by American historian J.S.

Holiday, author of the best-selling book on the Gold Rush, The World Rushed

In: The California Gold Rush Experience .

"GOLD FEVER!" will travel to the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los

Angeles (September 19, 1998 to January 24, 1999) and to the Sacramento

Memorial Auditorium (July 7 to October 31, 1999.)

The "GOLD FEVER!" exhibition is part of "GOLD RUSH! California's Untold

Stories," a six-month commemoration at the Oakland Museum of California of the

rich history and enduring legacy of the California Gold Rush.

Museum hours for "GOLD RUSH! California's Untold Stories" are Tuesday to

Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm; Friday, 10 am to 9 pm. The museum is closed on Mondays.

Telephone 510/238-2200.