Former park ranger, 102, given honorary doctorate
Longtime Bay Area resident Betty Reid Soskin, the country’s oldest national park ranger before retiring two years ago, has received an honorary doctorate from Cal State East Bay for her “exceptional accomplishments and contributions,” administrators said.
The university in Hayward honored Soskin, 102, with a doctorate in humane letters during Saturday’s commencement ceremony for its College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, university officials announced. Photos and videos show university administrators putting a doctorate hood over Soskin, who retired from the National Park Service in 2022.
The longtime Richmond resident has held many titles in her life: political activist, mother, artist, entrepreneur and park ranger.
At age 84, Soskin was hired by the National Park Service for a temporary role in which she helped to “uncover untold stories of African Americans on the Home Front during WWII,” according to the agency. She became a permanent employee in 2007 until her retirement at age 100 after years of leading public programs and sharing her personal story with visitors.
Before that, Soskin worked as a file clerk for the segregated union hall for Black shipyard workers, Boilermakers A-36, during World War II, according to the Park Service.
Soskin and her husband, Mel Reid, opened one of the first Black-owned record shops in Berkeley in 1945. The shop closed in 2019.
Born in New Orleans, Soskin moved with her family in 1927 to Oakland, where she graduated from Castlemont High School. She also holds an honorary doctorate of arts and letters from Mills College in Oakland.