Betty Reid Soskin turning 103, shares secret talent with students in new film

EL SOBRANTE, Calif. - Betty Reid Soskin, who found fame as the oldest National Park Service ranger before she retired, arrived at her namesake middle school Friday to a loud welcome of cheers and applause by the students as they celebrated her 103rd birthday.

Soskin, who was born September 22, 1921, has been praised by former President Barack Obama for her service and sharing her stories at the Rosie the Riveter Museum in Richmond.

She shook hands and spoke with the students at the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School, who gathered in the courtyard to cheer for Soskin and sing "Happy Birthday" as she received a cake and flower bouquet.

One surprise at the party was a special preview of a new documentary film about Soskin. It showcases the history of hardships and racism she has faced, living through more than a century of American history.

In the school library, she was asked how she felt turning 103.

"I've never been 103, so I don't really know," she said with a laugh.

On the library's wall, her lifetime was laid out in a timeline. It is a lesson in history.

The film also captures her journey from her Louisiana roots in a Creole/Black family, to the migration of southern Blacks to the Bay Area where she and her husband had a record store in Berkeley, to her time as a park service ranger after raising her family.

It is co-produced by her granddaughter Alyana Reid.

"Since her stroke in 2019, a lot of memories have become foggy, and it's great to review footage with her and see her light up and start remembering," Alyana Reid said.

The film "Sign My Name to Freedom," shows Soskin remembering a part of her life that was a secret for decades.

"For her 90th birthday my grandma performed some of her songs for an intimate gathering," Reid says, remembering how a cousin found Soskin's recordings and compiled them in digital form.

"Parts of her history that this film communicates, grew out of some of the most painful times in her life. After she and her family crossed the color line into what at the time was a Jim Crow segregated Walnut Creek," said Bryan Gibel, the co-producer and director of the film.

In the film, Soskin recounts an incident when her oldest son experienced a racist attack.

"The full realization of what I had done to my kids by moving into the suburbs and trusting the world with my children hit me," Soskin recounts.

"She faced such backlash and bigotry that it caused a profound identity crises, and she became suicidal," Gibel said.

Soskin said she turned to her singing and poured her pain into songs.

"I think that that was what saved me," Soskin said. "When I wrote most of those songs, I thought I was remembering what other people had written. I really didn't know that they were coming from me...I finally realized I was writing music."

That music has moved her family and closest friends.

"I grew up in the south, so I know about racism and segregation and basically I grew up in segregated schools," said her friend Shirley Butt, who has known Soskin for 40 years.

Now Soskin and her friend, having lived through that segregation, were sitting together, hand-in-hand as they listened to her singing with the Oakland Symphony in the film.

That song "Your Hand in Mine," she wrote as a call for community.

Student speakers Daisy Nguyen, Berkeley Taylor and Brian Munoz Macias got up and addressed the audience as they celebrated Soskin.

Her life, a lesson in hope, that somehow, despite the discrimination and worst parts of our nation's past, we might all be able to find community, turn a page, and build bridges for others to follow.

Soskin says, when asked about what has kept her going through those darkest times, it has been a focus on the present moment.

"I think I have lived every single day individually. I've never planned tomorrow. I've never had anything to do with yesterday. I've always been absolutely immediate in this time," Soskin said. "And I really think that is what counts."

Reid and Gibel of Focal Point Films say they were thrilled to share the preview with Soskin, and are hoping to continue fundraising and complete the film by 2025.