Interviews Archive - Voices of the Golden State — The California Oral History Collection

Jonathan Jiang

Jonathan Jiang, research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and former board member of the Foothill Chinese School, speaks with Virtual History intern Vivien Chen. He describes the La Cañada area in 1999 when he first came to work at JPL, particularly its Chinese community and cultural diversity as a whole. Jiang played an […]

Landscape with creek in foreground — Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program

Wallace Stegner

These interviews cover: Influences on Stegner’s environmental consciousness; involvement in the Sierra Club, 1950s-1960s; special assistant to Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, 1961; National Parks Advisory Board, 1960s; reflections on art and advocacy, on elitism in the wilderness movement, and on current writers with environmental themes. Appended 1960 Wilderness Letter.

John Zierold

These interviews cover: the Planning and Conservation League, founding and lobbying activities, 1965-1970; Sierra Club internal management, Sacramento legislative office, volunteer-staff relations, 1970-1984; lobbying for major environmental legislation, 1965-1984; coastal protection, forest practices, California Environmental Quality Act, energy and water policy, limits on nuclear power, air quality, liquified natural gas terminal; Governors Ronald Reagan, Edmund […]

William E. Siri

Interviews conducted in Richmond, California, 1975-1977, by Ann Lage for the Regional Oral History Office of The Bancroft Library as part of the Sierra Club History Series. Introduction by Phillip Berry; copies of photographs inserted. Comments on scientific studies at Chicago University and the University of California, Berkeley; experiences as a member of the Manhattan […]

A map of the Sacramento Valley, extending from Redding to the north and Lodi to the south. A key interprets the different crops and livestock grown in the area. — Courtesy of the Center for Sacramento History

Paul Westmoreland

The Sacramento Ethnic Communities Survey Collection was created in the 1980s as the basis for a major museum installation at the (then-named) Sacramento History Center. Over 35 advisors, researchers, scholars, and planners spent one year gathering data. Analysis of the federal census records revealed over 150 ethnic groups in the Sacramento region. Based on the […]

Image of people protesting the Rancho Seco Nuclear Power Plant. There is a small black coffin in the foreground, a woman placing a white flower on the coffin, and other protesters sitting on the floor. Security guards and other people can be seen behind a desk in the background. — Courtesy of the Center for Sacramento History

Martha Ann Blackman

The Rancho Seco oral histories document the story of the, now closed, Rancho Seco Nuclear Power Plant located in Ione, California. The oral histories present a broad range of perspectives and attitudes. Issues included plant safety; environmental concerns; down time due to technical problems resulting in increased cost to SMUD users; organizational structure and relationship […]

Black and white image of a building. A sign with text in English and Korean is hanging above windows.

Jay Yu

Elaine Black Yoneda

Sound recording of Lucille Kendall’s 1976-1977 interview with radical activist Elaine Black Yoneda. The interview documents Yoneda’s activism with the International Labor Defense, International Longshoremen’s Association’s Defense Committee, Communist party, and various other labor and civil rights movements in California.

View of the Rancho Seco Nuclear Power Plant cooling towers, seen through tree branches. — Courtesy of the Center for Sacramento History

Wendy B. Reid

Katherine Davalos Ortega

This recording documents the life of Katherine Davalos Ortega of Santa Ana, CA.

Men working on penstocks for Shasta dam; dam under construction at right with crane in place — Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California

Dianne Steinhauser

In the wake of the October 17, 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, Caltrans commissioned an oral history project to document the personal and professional experiences of Caltrans employees who worked to restore the State’s damaged transportation system. Dianne Steinhauser was a Senior Transportation Engineer when the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred. In this interview she discusses her […]

View of Mexican family seated on brick wall; children holding cotton candy; other people in background. — Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California

Ben Alviclar

Oral history interview with Chicano Tustin resident, Ben Alviclar by Viola Valles Beilin.

View of Southern Pacific Railroad yard in Sacramento. Locomotive number 2359 is seen along with freight cars. A water tower is seen in the distance. — Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California

Malcom Gaddis

An interview with Malcom Gaddis, who worked for Southern Pacific in Sacramento, California from 1956-1978. Gaddis worked in the Sacramento Shops as an Electrical Engineer, and achieved the engineering design and conversion of Southern Pacific steam powered rotary snowplows to diesel electric power. He was also involved in several conversions and upgrades of Southern Pacific […]

Aerial view of the Rancho Seco Nuclear Power Plant, with two cooling towers to the left and various small buildings to the right. — Courtesy of the Center for Sacramento History

Deborah Blum

View of Los Angeles facing southeast towards the post office. Various buildings appear in the foreground. — Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California

Jesse T. Morris

This oral history interview describes Jesse T. Morris’s first hand experience of World War I, World War II, the Great Depression, working in the US Postal Service, and the Watts Riots in Los Angeles in 1965.

View of men leaning against food service counter on Broadway in Los Angeles. A food counter's menu signs can be seen behind them. — Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California

Albert Sierra

The recording documents the life of Albert Sierra, a Chicano Assistant Professor of Law at Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California.

View of cars driving on Interstate 80 to the Bay Bridge. Traffic signs directing vehicles can be seen. — Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California

Harry Yahata

In the wake of the October 17, 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, Caltrans commissioned an oral history project to document the personal and professional experiences of Caltrans employees who worked to restore the State’s damaged transportation system. At the time of the Loma Prieta Earthquake, Harry Yahata was a Deputy District Director based out of the […]

View of the Commercial Hotel building. A sign advertising Italian dinners is seen on building. — Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California

Bob Masullo

Tiger Yang

This oral history is part of the Center for Oral and Public History’s “Martial Arts in Orange County” collection. Interviewer, Sheldon Ogata, conducted five oral histories to complete his master’s degree — discovering an interesting aspect of Orange County history.

Aerial view of the cooling towers of the Rancho Seco Nuclear Power Plant — Courtesy of the Center for Sacramento History

Richard Pierre Oubre

Sandy Hill

Mountain Drive, a residential enclave of free spirits located in the hills above Montecito, California, coalesced in the years following World War II. Friends made in Adult Ed pottery class led Sandy Hill to Mountain Drive in 1960. She describes family and community life from a mother’s perspective.

Kathryn Dole

Mountain Drive, a residential enclave of free spirits located in the hills above Montecito, California, coalesced in the years following World War II. The driving force behind its formation was Robert McKee Hyde, known to all as Bobby. Kathryn Dole and Bobby Hyde were good friends for 20 years. She developed many insights into his […]

Clemmie Shuck Barry

Sound recording of Lucille Kendall’s interviews with Clemmie Shuck Barry documenting Barry’s activities as an organizer for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) in the 1930s, her involvement in the Communist Party in San Francisco in the late 1930s and 1940s, and her efforts to integrate housing in Marin County, Calif., in the 1950s.

Michele Martinez

An oral history of Michele Martinez, current Santa Ana city councilwoman. The interview was conducted for the Women, Politics, and Activism Since Suffrage Oral History Project for California State University, Fullerton’s Center for Oral and Public History. The purpose of this interview was to gather information about Michele’s career on the city council. Specifically this interview […]

Portrait of a woman in a baseball cap, posing with a baseball bat

Roz Wyman

Rosalind Wiener Wyman’s impact on Los Angeles is hard to overstate. “Roz” is the youngest person and the first woman ever elected to the Los Angeles City Council. A passionate Democrat and baseball fan, she played a fundamental role in bringing the Dodgers to Los Angeles and – this may surprise you – in getting […]

A woman plays an upright piano with her back turned away from the camera. The top of the piano is decorated with a trophy and two framed portraits. — Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program.

Margarite Lightner Ashe

Margarite Lightner Ashe discusses the early history of Kern County.

A woman stands barefoot in a field, a hoe resting against her shoulder. She holds a tin pail as one of her children takes a drink, the younger one waits for their turn. — Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program.

Reverend Welford Wilson

Reverend Welford Wilson, who was known as a “social engineer,” played an important role in the history of civil rights in California, specifically in San Francisco. He worked with the union movement, protested African-American involvement in World War II, and worked with the Victory Committee in Los Angeles, which protested against racial discrimination and sought […]

Portrait of a woman, Helen Powell, smiling and sitting at a table with her arms crossed — Courtesy of the California Historical Society

Helene Powell

Sound recording of Lucille Kendall’s 1976-1977 interview with African American labor activist Helene Powell covering her involvement with the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU), Local 6, in San Francisco as a steward and member of the Legislative Committee and Executive Board. The interview also covers Powell’s appointment as the ILWU’s International Representative to Los […]

View of the Bay Bridge, looking from the San Francisco side toward Yerba Buena Island. Both the suspension and truss parts of the bridge are seen. — Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California

Dewitt “Dee” Thompson

In the wake of the October 17, 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, Caltrans commissioned an oral history project to document the personal and professional experiences of Caltrans employees who worked to restore the State’s damaged transportation system. At the time of this recording, Dewitt Thompson was a Materials and Research Engineering Associate for Caltrans Geotechnical Section. […]

A tree is in a grassy field, with a young orchard of trees in the background. — Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program.

Mary Ann Borina Radovich

This oral history, conducted with Mary Ann Borina Radovich on June 7 and June 22, 1977, focuses on Radovich’s extensive experience as an apple farmer in Watsonville, California from the 1930s to the 1970s. It is also a significant contribution to the ethnic history of the Croatian community in the Pajaro Valley of California. In […]

Judge Thelton Henderson

For 37 years, Thelton Henderson sat on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. He presided over numerous high-profile cases, appointed a receiver to oversee the health care services of California’s prison system, and worked to reform the Oakland Police Department through a consent decree. Before his appointment to the bench by […]

William Brown

An interview with William O. Brown, who worked for Southern Pacific in Sacramento, California from 1937-1967. Brown started in the Sacramento Shops as a Draftsman and rose to the position of Assistant Superintendent, Motive Power and later became Superintendent of the Mechanical Department.

María Inés Catalán

María Inés Catalán was born in Santa Teresa, Guerrero, Mexico, in 1962. She immigrated to the United States in 1986 and picked broccoli and carrots in the Salinas Valley of California. Her father was also a migrant farm worker, but her grandfather had owned land that the family farmed in Mexico. Catalán’s life took a […]

Man at podium giving a speech — Photo Credit: Irene Reti

John Laird

John Laird came to UCSC in 1968, and graduated in 1972. In 1983, Laird was elected mayor of Santa Cruz, and became the first openly gay mayor in the United States. He was also a founding member of the Santa Cruz AIDS Project (SCAP). In 2002, Laird was elected to the California State Legislature as […]

A black and white photo of grapevines — Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program.

Leon Santoro

Leon Santoro (died 2009) began his career in the Napa Valley in the late 1970s, first at the Louis M. Martini and then Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars before joining Quail Ridge as co-owner and winemaker in 1981. In 1991, Santoro relocated to San Diego County to become winemaker at what was then Thomas Jaeger winery. […]

Phil Isenberg

In five decades of public service Phil Isenberg has served as mayor of Sacramento, a member of the Assembly, a lobbyist, chairs of the Marine Life Protection Blue Ribbon Task Force, the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, and, until 2016, the Delta Stewardship Council. He earned a reputation as an independent and courageous thinker and a […]

A dirt road runs through an orchard of trees — Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California

Russel and Karen Wolter

Born in Pacific Grove, the descendent of pioneers who came to California with the De Anza party in 1774, Russel Wolter has been farming “organically” since he was fourteen, when his mother forbade him to use chemical fertilizers and sprays on their ranch in the Carmel Valley. That was in 1947, decades before organic certification, […]

Woman holding a goat — Photo Credit: Irene Reti

Gail Harlamoff

Gail Harlamoff is Executive Director of the Life Lab Science Program, a nationally recognized, award-winning nonprofit science and environmental organization located on the UC Santa Cruz campus. Founded in 1979, Life Lab helps schools develop gardens and implement curricula to enhance students’ learning about science, math, and the natural world. The program has trained tens […]

Group of male and female singers stand in front of microphones with woman playing the harp — Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California

Bernice Futterer

Abby Abinanti, Chief Judge of the Yurok Tribe

Abby Abinanti, the first native woman member of the California State Bar, recounts her life, from her youth in Humboldt County, her career as a lawyer and court commissioner in San Francisco and her role as chief judge for the Yurok Tribe. She was interviewed on February 21, 2019, in Klamath by Mary Louise Frampton, […]

Geraldyne Washington

Geraldyne Washington discusses growing up in Oakland in the 1940s, dance, the housing crisis in West Oakland during World War II, tensions between Californians and emigrants from the South, Slim Jenkins and the music scene in Oakland.

Brian K. Landsberg

As a young staff attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Brian Landsberg, an emeritus professor at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, was a witness to some of the most pivotal events of the civil rights movement in Alabama in the 1960s. For more than two decades, Landsberg worked in the Civil Rights Division, […]

A man standing in front of a large group of workers gestures with his hands as he speaks. — Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program.

Porter Chaffee

Porter Chaffee’s oral history offers valuable primary source documentation on the labor struggles of the 1930s, particularly from the point of view of a Communist labor activist and WPA writer. This interview is part of the Regional History Project’s Agricultural History Series conducted in 1977. Porter Myron Chaffee was born on November 26, 1900 in […]

Pamela Richards

Richard Ratcliff

Richard Ratcliff was fresh out of law school in 1960 when he was hired as a lobbyist in Sacramento for an association of irrigation districts. By his own admission, he had no idea what a lobbyist did. His knowledge of the Legislature was minimal. In his career, Ratcliff saw legislative staff grow, tight restrictions imposed […]

Collage of man taking photographs — Photo Credit: Shmuel Thaler

Shmuel Thaler

For over thirty years, Santa Cruz County residents have opened up their copy of the Santa Cruz Sentinel each morning and seen their lives reflected in Shmuel Thaler’s photographs. From triathlons to earthquakes, from clam chowder cook-offs to murder trials, from burning brush to breaching humpback whales—Thaler’s images record the dynamic nature of this unique […]

Diana Dooley

Diana Dooley began work with Jerry Brown as a specialist in state worker salaries. In her time working during all four of Brown’s terms as governor, she was his lobbyist, a cabinet secretary and chief of staff. Something of a pioneer, she was often the first woman to hold her positions in the then-male dominated […]

Grace Arceneaux

Grace Palacio Arceneaux, a Mexican-American resident of Watsonville, California, was interviewed in 1977 by Meri Knaster, an editor at the Regional History Project, as part of a series of oral histories documenting local agricultural and ethnic history. Arceneaux was born in San Martin de Bolaños, Jalisco, Mexico, in March 1920. She came with her family […]