Marin City History, Chronicled

BY KASIA PAWLOWSKA

Felecia Gaston, founder of the Marin City Historical and Preservation Society, has published a new book about Marin City titled A Brand New Start . . . This Is Home, that documents the city’s origins as a shipbuilding community during WWII to the present day. Gaston’s book focuses mainly on the workers who migrated from the American South and Midwest to create Marin’s only Black enclave, and the housing and social challenges they have faced — highlighting the community’s strength and resilience throughout. In 2022, to celebrate Marin City’s 80-year history, Gaston created the Marin City Historical and Preservation Society and started the Marin City 80 project to tell the story of African-American perseverance in the county. The book, filled with dozens of historical photos and documents, is available at Sausalito Books by the Bay and Book Passage, where she recently had an in-store conversation with owner Elaine Petrocelli. bookpassage.com