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Oral History Interview with Billie Mohair, February 25, 1988
Interview with librarian Billie Mohair from Denton, Texas. In the interview, Mohair discusses her experiences concerning the activities of the Denton Christian Women's Inter-Racial Fellowship during the 1960s and 1970s. She also comments on coping with segregation in Denton, street paving in the African-American section of Denton, the desegregation of North Texas State College, her college experiences, her decision to join the Fellowship, and the demise of the Fellowship.
Oral History Interview with Norvell Reed, March 11, 1988
Interview with community activist Norvell Reed from Denton, Texas. In the interview, Reed discusses her experiences concerning the activities of the Denton Christian Women's Inter-Racial Fellowship during the 1960s and 1970s. She also comments on what life was like living in a segregated community, the desegregation of North Texas State College, the desegregation of public schools, Fred Moore public School, paving of streets in the African-American section of Denton, the group's social activities, the defeat of urban renewal, and the jobs program.
Oral History Interview with Carol Riddlesperger, February 5, 1988
Interview with schoolteacher and community activist Carol Riddlesperger from Denton, Texas. In the interview, Riddlesperger discusses her experiences concerning the activities of the Denton Christian Women's Inter-Racial Fellowship during the 1960s and 1970s. She also comments on segregation in Denton, the desegregation of public schools and public facilities, street paving in the African-American section of Denton, her decision to run for the Denton school Board, tutoring program, and the jobs program.
Oral History Interview with Lyle Specht, May 3, 1993
Interview with Lyle Specht, a Marine Corps veteran, concerning his combat experiences with the 6th Marines at Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Okinawa in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
Oral History Interview with Roy Cudd, March 19, 1997
Interview with Roy Cudd, a Navy WWII veteran of the USS Bougainville (CVE-100, an escort carrier) from Denton, Texas. Cudd discusses his family life, their reaction to the start of war, enlisting in the Navy and boot camp, assignment to the Bougainville, duties aboard ship and daily life, missions in the Pacific, the Okinawa Typhoon, combat, initiation as a "shellback," kamikazes, liberty, ranking up, and the end of the war.
Oral History Interview with Dorothy Still Danner, March 19, 1995
interview with Dorothy Still Danner. Danner graduated from nursing school in Los Angeles in 1935. In 1939, she applied and was accepted as a nurse in the Navy. After a while, she received orders for the Philippines and arrived in early 1940 on a two-year assignment. Danner recalls the idyllic setting prior to the war before describing activities just after the Japanese invasion. She was stationed at a hospital at Sangley Point near Cavite in Luzon, Philippines. She was captured by the Japanese and interned at Santo Tomas starting in March 1942. Sometime in 1943, she was sent to Los Banos.
Oral History Interview with Russell C. Ellis, May 15, 1997
Interview with Russell Ellis, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences aboard the merchant ships USS Santa Leonara, USS Jose Bonaficio, USS Daniel H. Hill, and the repair ship USS Amphion in the European Theater during World War II. North Atlantic convoys; German submarine and aircraft threats; personal observations of civilian conditions in England, Belgium, and France.
Oral History Interview with Margaret Gillooly, March 18, 1995
Interview with Margaret Gillooly, a civilian internee of the Japanese in WWII from San Francisco, California. Gillooly discusses her family's move to the Philippines in 1938, schooling, the start of war and the Japanese invasion, staying in Cebu City, her parents' escape from Manila and surviving a sinking in Manila Bay, Japanese occupation of Cebu, being moved to Manila, various experiences surviving internment at Santo Tomas Prison Camp, bombings, the American invasion and liberation, a Japanese counterattack and siege, emotional and mental impacts, and evacuation.
Oral History Interview with Ernest Gordon, March 19, 1995
Interview with Ernest Gordon. Gordon was born in Scotland and joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1939 at Stirling Castle. He was sent to Singapore in January 1940 before the Japanese invaded. Gordon recalls defending the Malay Peninsula starting in January 1942. Gordon was the last to go over the causeway into Singapore before it was destroyed. As Singapore fell, Gordon escaped to Sumatra. When Sumatra fell, Gordon escaped on a sailboat but was captured asea and sent back to Singapore where he entered Changi. He was sent north to build the Death Railway. He describes the conditions along the railway and the work environment.
Oral History Interview with George L. McColm, March 18, 1995
Interview with George McColm, a Navy veteran and an agricultural expert, concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. McColm discusses his education at Kansas State College, his experiences in agricultural marketing research, his employment with the Production Marketing Administration of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, his employment at Topaz Relocation Center for Japanese Americans (1942-1944), his induction into the U.S. Navy (1944), his role in planning for the invasion of the Japanese home islands (1945), and his role in writing Japanese land reform laws during postwar American occupation. Appendix includes photocopies of various biographical documents concerning George McComb and his career in the U.S. Navy and in agriculture.
Oral History Interview with Bunichi Ohtsuka, March 18, 1995
Interview with Bunichi Ohtsuka, a veteran of the Imperial Japanese Air Force, concerning his experiences while training to become a kamikaze pilot in 1945.
Oral History Interview with C. Shephard, July 14, 1988
Interview with May Shephard, a teacher and a member of the Denton Christian Women's Interracial Fellowship from Tyler, Texas. Shephard explains her background and family, integration in schools, the history of race relations in Denton, her involvement with the group, their voting registration projects, demographics in the group, and how they performed outreach.
Oral History Interview with Jay Titus, November 9, 1996
Interview with Jay Titus, an Army Air Forces veteran (457th Squadron, 330th Bomb Group, 20th Air Force), concerning his experiences as a B-29 bombardier in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Bombing missions from Guam to Japan in 1945; Japanese fighter and flak opposition; fire bombing raids. Appendix includes a photocopy of the "350th Bomb Group Digest: a summary of combat activities from April 12 to Sept. 2 1945" [21 leaves]
Oral History Interview with Ken Towery, March 19, 1995
Interview with Ken Towery. Towery joined the Army in early 1941 and was sent to Corregidor to join a coast artillery unit. He recalls several details about life under siege at Corregidor before he was captured by the Japanese and taken to Cabanatuan. He left the Philippines later that year and was taken to China. Towery shares his opinions about being a POW as well as several anecdotes. He also comments on being liberated by Russians and how the Russians and Chinese communists cooperated right after the war. When he was liberated, Towery was put aboard a hospital ship at Port Arthur.
Oral History Interview with R. Kenneth Towery, March 19, 1995
Interview with Ken Towery, journalist, Army veteran (59th Coast Artillery Regiment), and survivor of the siege of Corregidor, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Towery discusses the fall of Corregidor and his capture, Cabanatuan (1942), Mukden, Manchuria (1942-1945), and his liberation by Russian troops.
Oral History Interview with Frank Tremaine, March 18. 1995
Interview with Frank Tremaine, a journalist from Detroit, Michigan, regarding his memories of working as a correspondent for the United Press of the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. Tremaine discusses Pearl Harbor, the political environment of the WWII era, major military figures, and a description of the Japanese surrender and ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri.
Oral History Interview with Zenji Abe, May 1-4, 1993
Interview with Zenji Abe, an Imperial Japanese Navy veteran, concerning his experiences as a dive-bomber pilot during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, his participation in the Aleutians Campaign in June 1942 and the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" in May 1944, and the surrender of Rota Island on September 2, 1945.
Oral History Interview with Richard D. Salter, May 1, 1993
Interview with Lieutenant Colonel Richard Salter, an Army Air Corps veteran, concerning his experiences during internment in the Soviet Union after the downing of his bomber by Japanese planes (1943-1944). Salter also discusses Alaskan operations and his postwar career in the Air Force.
Oral History Interview with Euline Brock, October 27, 1987
Interview with Professor Euline Brock, community activist from Denton, Texas. In the interview, Brock discusses her experiences concerning the activities of the Denton Christian Women's Inter-Racial Fellowship during the 1960s and 1970s. She also comments on the early days of the organization, her personal experiences with discrimination, Denton's white power structure, the desegregation of public schools and facilities, the group's first meeting, political activities, urban renewal, and street paving in the African-American section of Denton.
Oral History Interview with T. W. McKee, November 6, 1993
Interview with Thomas McKee concerning his experiences during his employment in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. McKee worked at a camp in Waxahachie, Texas (Company 878). Includes an appendix.
Oral History Interview with Garfield Thompson, October 11, 1993
Interview with Garfield Thompson, a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps from Fort Worth, Texas. Thompson discusses his family background and education, the effects of the Great Depression, Republicans, the New Deal, joining the CCC and assignment to Company 812 in Cache, Oklahoma, the layout of the camp, projects worked, routine, recreation and leave, discharge, and reflections on the program.
Oral History Interview with Jacobo Kupersztoch, October 12, 2007
Interview with Jacobo Kupersztoch, Mexican-born immigrant to the U.S. of German heritage, and immigrant rights activist. Interview transcript contains Spanish and English translations.
Oral History Interview with Laura Gonzalez, October 13, 2007
Interview with Laura Gonzalez, Mexican-born immigrant to the U.S., immigrant rights activist, and professor of anthropology with expertise in immigrant communities from Guanajuato, Mexico. She discusses her childhood and education in Mexico city; the decision to pursue a career in the field of political anthropology; decision to open the Oak Cliff Center for Community Studies; work with Camposanto del Cemento Grande and other community organizations in Dallas; work to increase Hispanics’ access to college; and involvement in immigrant rights movements and local Mexican American political groups. This interview has Spanish and English translations.
Oral History Interview with Victor Rodriguez, June 13-18, 2009
Interview with Dr. Victor Rodriguez, educator and author of the memoir "The Bell Ringer," about his life and career. Dr. Rodriguez is a North Texas alumni, member of the UNT Athletic Hall of fame, member of the Geezles Fraternity, and pioneer Mexican American educator. Dr. Victor Rodriguez spotlights significant insights into his storied career through five eras: his early all-Hispanic elementary school training; his continued study and budding athletic prowess in the Edna, TX, school district; his Victoria Junior College athletic achievements and learning; his higher education, Geezle membership, and track accomplishments at North Texas State College; and his 37-year career as a teacher, coach, and superintendent in the San Antonio school district. Inspired by his Anglo third-grade teacher in an all-Hispanic school in Edna, TX, Rodriguez responded to his teacher's challenge to be a civic contributor by becoming a daily bell ringer at the local Catholic church (described in detail in his book, The Bell Ringer), a job requiring him to arise at 4:30 each morning and to run two miles one way amid nipping dogs to ring the bell. This discipline and activity would tap his athletic ability later as he surfaced as a distance district winner despite running barefoot, in blue jeans, and in an oversized t-shirt. From this beginning, he would emerge as a state champion and win a track scholarship to Victoria Junior College where he would win the national junior college title; that accomplishment would earn him track scholarship offers from many top-level four-year college programs of which he selected North Texas State College to continue his running and educational pursuits. While at NTSC, he joined the Geezle Fraternity and captured attributes of group cohesion, solidarity, and mutual benefit/trust. On the cinder track, his talents earned him gold medals in national events such as …
Oral History Interview with Gerard Roland Vela, July 21, 2004
Interview with Dr. Gerard Roland Vela, UNT Professor Emeritus of Microbiology. The interview includes Vela's personal experiences about childhood and education, serving in World War II-era U.S. Navy, having a fellowship at Harvard University, and joining the North Texas faculty in 1965. Additionally, Vela discusses his family history, his love of chemistry, genetics, and microbiology, the growing pains involved with transitioning North Texas into a research university, the construction of a research program, his relationship with students, and his service on the Denton City Council. Photographs are included throughout the interview.
Oral History Interview with A. R. Schwartz, November 27, 1967
Interview with A. R. Schwartz, an attorney and a Democratic member of the Texas Senate from Galveston. He discusses his experiences and personal views as a member of the Sixtieth Legislature.
Oral History Interview with B. B. Gunn, October 5, 1995
Interview with B. B. Gunn, a former member of the Civilian Conservation Corps from Mart, Texas. Gunn discusses growing up in a family of tenant farmers, joining the CCC, assignment to a camp at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, its organization, building a telephone line, daily routine, recreation, religious services, desertion, and dam construction. In appendix are two newspaper clippings mentioning CCC history and a letter to Mr. Gunn.
Oral History Interview with Troy Sloan, October 12, 1995
Interview with Troy Sloan concerning his experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Sloan worked at a camp in Bonham, Texas (Company 894).
Oral History Interview with Olive Stephens, June 12, 2014
Interview with Olive Stephens of Clayton, Texas, mayor of Shady Shores, Texas, accompanied by her daughter Jean McBride. Stephens discusses growing up in Clayton, her family and moving to Shady Shores, making and selling ceramics, being elected to town council and mayor, and her subsequent work in city and county politics. In appendix is a summary of Stephens' career, and a quote of hers provided by her daughter.
Oral History Interview with Foy Taylor, November 18, 2013
Interview with Foy Taylor, a longtime resident of Denton, Texas, and donor of a antique log cabin to the Denton County Historical Commission. Taylor discusses his family background, education and career, his service in the Navy and witnessing atomic bomb tests, his family's farm in Denton, growing up in the area, prohibition and the Depression, and changes in the town over time.
Oral History Interview with R. B. Smithwick, November 17, 1990
Interview with R. B. Smithwick concerning his experiences before, during, and after his employment in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Smithwick worked at camps in Farmersville, Texas (Company 869) and Kaufman, Texas (Company 869).
Oral History Interviews with Herman W. Lay, 1974-1975
Interview with Herman W. Lay, executive committee chairman of Pepsi Co., Inc., from Greensville, South Carolina. Lay discusses his childhood and education, his earlier jobs, working in distribution during the Depression, buying the Barrett Food Company and founding H. W. Lay & Co., Inc., the company's growth and expansion, merger with the Frito Co. and gaining nationwide distribution, buying the Red Dot Co., merger with Pepsi, continued expansion, work with Eastern Bloc countries, establishment in the Arab world, the Japanese market, involvement in the Dallas economy, and words on successful entrepreneurship.
Oral History Interviews with Mary Kay Ash, November 1974
Interview with cosmetics entrepreneur Mary Kay Ash. The interview includes Ash's personal experiences about her early sales career and its impact upon her future business philosophy, methods, and the success of Mary Kay Cosmetics. Ash talks about planning prior to launching the company, problems and solutions in the beginning, early legal problems with competitors, her concern for women's opportunities, development and growth of sales, the role of her children in the company, methods of recruiting, training, and attitude building, marketing and sales techniques, incentive plans, sales territories, pricing, the party plan, employee promotion, her views on successful managerial traits and on the motivational differences between men and women, applying the Golden Rule toward employees and customers, her attitudes and philosophy toward employee relations, using her intuition in decision making, and reasons for the growth of Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Oral History Interviews with Richard Rogers, November 1974
Interview with Richard Rogers, president of Mary Kay Cosmetics. The interview includes Rogers' personal experiences about forming a company. Rogers talks about his mother's (Mary Kay) selling career and its impact on her own company, relations with sales personnel, marketing and sales motivation, the wig business, pricing, the dual management system, legal aspects and government regulations, his views on government regulation, self-regulation, consumerism, product quality, reasons for going public with stock, financing methods, contract and private labeling, budgeting, expansion, reasons for the success of Mary Kay Cosmetics, specialization vs. diversification, building a management team, and his views on motivational differences between men and women.
Oral History Interview with Angela Bynum, November 16, 2007
Interview with Angela Bynum, veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, as part of the Tarrant County War Veterans Oral History Project. The interview includes Bynum's personal experiences of childhood and education in California and Texas, enlisting in the U.S. Army, basic and advanced training as a motor transport operator, training in avoidance of improvised explosive devices, and transport missions between Iraq and Kuwait. Bynum also discusses her inability to withstand Airborne training, the decision to leave active duty in 2002, her use of the GI Bill benefits to attend Tarrant Community College, the 2004 call-up from reserve duty and deployment to Iraq, her family's concerns regarding deployment, and aspects of daily life for American soldiers stationed in Iraq.
Oral History Interview with Howard Okon, November 7, 2013
Interview with Howard Okon, a businessman and LGBT community activist from Dallas, Texas. Okon discusses founding the Dallas Tavern Guild, running gay bars in the 1970s, coming out, drug use, political allies, vandalism and raids, changes in patronage, the current state of Texas gay bars, the AIDS epidemic, the impact of social media on the scene, the Dallas dance hall ordinance, activism, and generational differences.
Oral History Interview with Mary Franklin, October 18, 2013
Interview with Mary Franklin, an activist in the Dallas LGBT community from Riverhead, New York. Franklin discusses her family background, the neighborhood she grew up in in, dyslexia and struggles in school, her sexuality and coming out, the LGBT scene on Long Island, "gay" as a term, her first girlfriend, Anita Bryant, applying for a marriage license on National Coming Out Day, feminism and activism, moving to Dallas, the decriminalization of homosexuality in Texas, the HIV-AIDS epidemic, threats, involvement with the Unitarian Church, working at the Food Pantry, and changes in societal attitudes towards LGBT.
Oral History Interview with Dorothy Adkins, March 3, 2017
Audio log of an interview with Dorothy Adkins, schoolteacher and community activist for the Denton Women’s Interracial Fellowship Oral History Project. The audio log includes timestamps for Adkins' discussions of her childhood; Denton Women’s Interracial Fellowship; activism; teaching career; contemporary times; white privilege and power.
Oral History Interview with Alma Clark, April 2017
Audio log for a recording of an interview with Alma Clark regarding her experiences with the Denton Women's Interracial Fellowship. She discusses her childhood and background, living in a segregated neighborhood in Austin, interracial relationships, moving to Denton and Quakertown history, and her involvement with the Denton Women's Interracial Fellowship.
Oral History Interview with James Gayle, July 15, 2006
Interview with African American North Texas State University alumnus James Gayle. The interview included Gayle's personal experiences of childhood, playing basketball at Fort Worth's all-black Terrell High School, attending North Texas and enrolling in the ROTC program, and his experience as a boarder in "Shack Town" neighborhood of Denton. Gayle talks about the comparison of race relations in Artesia, New Mexico, and Waco and Forth Worth, Texas, the "neutral" stance of NT administration toward black students and the "self-support" system among students, as well as his relationships with professors and white students, and his perception of what he gained from his NT experience.
Oral History Interview with John W. Evans, February 25, 1998
Transcript of an interview with John W. Evans, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences while aboard the battleship USS Arizona during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Autobiographical Narrative of Leonard A. Charpentier, June 18, 1999
Narrative of Dr. Leonard A. Charpentier. The narrative includes a monologue of Charpentier's experiences as a P-47 fighter pilot in the European Theater during World War II. Charpentier talks about basic training, flight training, fighter pilot training, his assignment to the 86th Fighter Squadron on Corsica, the P-47 Thunderbolt, various missions, his being shot down on a mission over southern France and being captured, the treatment of his wounds at a German field hospital, and his postwar medical career.
Oral History Interview with Bill King, April 26, 2018
Interview with Dr. Bill King, a radiologist from Denton, Texas. King discusses his family background and upbringing, working for the Denton County Chronicle as a teenager, grade school, attending North Texas State College and becoming a doctor, the history of the Rotary Club, and his involvement in it.
Oral History Interview with Erma Thomson, January 22, 2019
Interview with Erma Thomson, longtime employee of Mary Kay Inc. as personal assistant to Mary Kay Ash. She discusses her employment history before interviewing with Mary Kay Inc.; personal relationship with Mary Kay Ash; memories of annual conventions; Ash’s personal working style and business philosophy; changes in the company’s structure and culture; and feelings about the job opportunities Ash provided for women.
Oral History Interview with Herbert Hughes, October 11, 1990
Interview with Herbert Hughes concerning his experiences before, during, and after his employment in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Hughes worked at camps in Tucson, Arizona (Company 2852); Dublin, Texas (Company 3810); and Monument, Colorado (Company 3810).
Oral History Interview with Carl Gorman, October 9, 1994
Interview with Marine Corps veteran Carl Gorman. The interview includes Gorman's personal experiences as a Navajo code talker with the 2nd Marines on Guadacanal, Tarawa, and Saipan.
Oral History Interview with Hal Lamar, October 9, 1994
Interview with Commander Hal Lamar, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences while serving as flag lieutenant and aide to Admiral Chester W. Nimitz during World War II. Lamar discusses Nimitz's personal and professional routines; comments about Admirals William ("Bull") Halsey and Raymond Spruance; the Roosevelt-Nimitz-MacArthur conference at Pearl Harbor from July to August of 1944; and the transfer of CINCPAC from Pearl Harbor to Guam.
Oral History Interview with George Duncan, October 9, 1994
Interview with Captain George Duncan, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Duncan discusses his pilot training at Pensacola Naval Air Station in 1941, his assignment to Air Group 9 on the carrier Essex, the Hellcat fighter, the sinking of Fubuki-class destroyer in June of 1944 off of Pagan Island, the Marianas Campaign in 1944, the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot," the Philippines Campaign and the attack on the Japanese battleship Musashi, and his postwar naval career.
Oral History Interview with Shazia Ali, October 15, 2012
Interview with Dr. Shazia Ali, a professor from Dallas, Texas. Ali discusses her life and career as a Pakistani-American, including her family origins, growing up in Karachi and Dubai, her education, her work for a newspaper, the slums of Karachi, meeting her husband, being married over the phone, emigrating to Dallas, employment at UT-Dallas, having children, attending Richland College, cultural effects of September 11th, getting a PhD, parenting, and navigating cultures.
Oral History Interview with Pierina E. Mercado Beckman, April 19, 2011
Interview with University of North Texas Professor Dr. Pierina E. Mercado Beckman, Mexican-born immigrant to Denton, Texas, for the DFW Metroplex Immigrants Oral History Project. The interview includes Beckman's personal experiences about childhood in Mexico City, relocating to the U.S., her decision to attend Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, her culture shock and homesickness, marriage to Curt Beckman, the decision to earn a Ph.D. in Spanish Literature from the University of Iowa, being hired at UNT, and her efforts to remain in touch with family members in Mexico.
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