National Park Service website. Soskin was originally born in Detroit, Michigan but moved to New Orleans, Louisiana where she and her family survived the "Great Flood" of 1927.
Ranger Betty Reid Soskin sits in front of the Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center. RELATED: At age 98, oldest living national park ranger isn't slowing down After the flood, Soskin and her family moved to Oakland, California where she remains to this day.
Soskin opened one of the first Black-owned record stores in the Berkley area called Reid’s Records, which she co-ran with her first husband, Mel Reid. "Reid’s Records had a humble beginning, with Soskin selling records through a garage door window, but it transformed into a Bay Area institution run by her children until.