Wide-ranging oral histories from Grand Valley, Capital Area District Library, and Michigan State that capture the perspective of citizens and veterans across the state.
Pauline Adams, retired professor of American Thought and Language at Michigan State University and wife of former MSU President Walter Adams, joins John Revitte, retired professor of Human Resources and Labor Relations, to talk about her life and the practice of oral history. Adams talks about living in the Cherry Lane faculty housing on campus, being part of the forty founding families of the Lantern Hill neighborhood in East Lansing and teaching at MSU. She also talks about her efforts, with the help of the Vincent Voice Library, to conduct oral history interviews with retired MSU faculty and describes how she structures the interviews and asks questions which encourage interviewee participation. Revitte also talks about how he approaches collecting oral history interviews, the recording equipment he uses, his question structure, and saving the interviews for posterity. Revitte and Adams answer questions from the audience and Adams relates a story about her husband and Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight. Held at the monthly meeting of the MSU Retiree Association and convened by Etta Abraham.
An oral history from Walter Graff, longtime Eastern High School coach, member of the Knights Templar, the Lansing parks board, and an inductee in the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame. He was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near Iron Mountain, and was also a veteran of World War I. Walter Graff was interviewed by James Walkinshaw and Graff's son-in-law Duane Vernon at the Burcham Hills retirement center on November 8, 1988. A transcript for this recording has not been completed.
Data Provider:
Capital Area District Library (Lansing, MI). Forest Parke Library and Archives
In the summer of 2015, the Capital Area District Libraries Stockbridge branch and Forest Parke Library and Archives partnered with the Stockbridge Area Genealogical and Historical Society on an oral history project to document the history of the Stockbridge community. The project is open ended with new interviews added periodically.
Data Provider:
Capital Area District Library (Lansing, MI). Forest Parke Library and Archives
An interview of Betty Price, conducted by Bill Dansby in the Forest Parke Library and Archives, Capital Area District Libraries, in 2009. Mrs. Price and her husband owned the Liebermann's store in downtown Lansing, and she traveled the world buying goods for the store. No transcript has been produced. A summary appears on page 29-30 of the <a href="http://www.cadl.org/lhonline/Lansing 150 OH Booklet.pdf">Lansing 150 Sesquicentennial Oral Histories Booklet</a> booklet.
Data Provider:
Capital Area District Library (Lansing, MI). Forest Parke Library and Archives
An oral history interview of Tony Benavides. Mr. Benavides moved to Lansing from Mexico at the age of 15 to work in migrant camps with his family. As an adult he served as director of the Cristo Rey Community Center, and worked for 33 years at Schmidt's (then L&L) grocery store. He was elected mayor of Lansing in 2003 and held the position for two years. The interview with Mr. Benavides was conducted by David Votta at an unknown location sometime in 2009. For this interview, no rights release form is on file and no transcript has been produced. To access the audio recording, please contact the library. A summary of the interview appears on pages 9-11 of the <a href="http://www.cadl.org/lhonline/Lansing 150 OH Booklet.pdf">Lansing 150 Sesquicentennial Oral Histories Booklet</a> booklet.
Date Created:
2009-01-01T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Capital Area District Library (Lansing, MI). Forest Parke Library and Archives
Charlie Spagnuolo and Julane Quick talk about the Italian families who immigrated and settled in Lansing, at the Turner-Dodge House and Heritage Center.
Data Provider:
Capital Area District Library (Lansing, MI). Forest Parke Library and Archives
An oral history from Ralph Crego, a former mayor of Lansing. The interview was recorded on July 18, 1988, as part of the "Voices of Lansing" oral history project. Ralph Crego was interviewed by Joanne Jager of the Lansing Public Library. Rights release forms for this interview were never completed. A previous interview, also with no release form, was made on June 20, 1988 (see 1991-05-001.004). For this interview, a transcript is on file. The oral history recordings and transcript may be accessed within the library only at this time.
Data Provider:
Capital Area District Library (Lansing, MI). Forest Parke Library and Archives
June Johnston, a former personnel director at the J. W. Knapp department store in Lansing, was interviewed by Marilyn Culpepper ..... This is the second of two interviews conducted for the Lansing 150 Oral History project. For this interview, no rights release form is on file and no transcript has been produced. To access the audio recording, please contact the library. A summary appears on page 20 of the <a href="http://www.cadl.org/lhonline/Lansing 150 OH Booklet.pdf">Lansing 150 Sesquicentennial Oral Histories Booklet</a> booklet.
Data Provider:
Capital Area District Library (Lansing, MI). Forest Parke Library and Archives
An interview of David O'Leary, conducted by Marilyn Culpepper in the Forest Parke Library and Archives, Capital Area District Libraries, in 2009. Mr. O'Leary is part of a multi-generation family that has manufactured and sold paint for over 100 years, and he was also involved in setting up community banks. No transcript has been produced. A summary appears on page 27-28 of the <a href="http://www.cadl.org/lhonline/Lansing 150 OH Booklet.pdf">Lansing 150 Sesquicentennial Oral Histories Booklet</a> booklet.
Data Provider:
Capital Area District Library (Lansing, MI). Forest Parke Library and Archives
An interview with Arylie Campbell, conducted by Bill Dansby on April 8, 2009, as part of the "Lansing 150" Sesquicentennial project. Mrs. Campbell was a real estate agent in the Lansing area. Her father John H. Dietrich, with partners, ran the Schaberg-Dietrich Hardware Company in Lansing for many years. He also built the Logan Square Shopping Center with Dorr Granger. No transcript has been produced, and no summary appears in the <a href="http://www.cadl.org/lhonline/Lansing 150 OH Booklet.pdf">Lansing 150 Sesquicentennial Oral Histories Booklet</a> booklet.
Data Provider:
Capital Area District Library (Lansing, MI). Forest Parke Library and Archives