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BAER, W. W. (b. 1923). Caltex Petroleum Corporation Executive
Executive, Caltex Petroleum Corporation. Early training with Texaco; employment with Caltex, 1945; establishment of postwar marketing operations for Caltex (Philippines); assignment to Cebu district; product sales in Philippines; transfer to Davao; competition with Shell and Standard Vacuum in Philippines; marketing strategies; social life of Caltex expatriates in Philippines; comments about Christian Roesholm, Robert Monical; Batangas refinery; transfer to New York, 1957; assignment to Singapore, Malaysia; marketing strategies for Malaysia; establishment of Caltex East, 1957; comments about Ray Johnson; assignment to Thailand as managing director; marketing and refining strategies for Thailand; thoughts on company transfer policies; relations between Texaco and Socal; relations between Caltex (New York) and the subsidiaries; transfer again to New York as deputy regional director, Far East; appointment as managing director, Tanzania. Filed Under: Oil Industry.
Date of Interview: July 8, 1986
BAGSBY, Dionne Phillips (b. 1936). Civil Rights Activist
Former member of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court. Memories of childhood and education in Markham, Illinois; marriage to Jim Bagsby; participation in the Arkansas civil rights movement; move to Fort Worth, Texas; career as an educator in the Fort Worth public schools; Jim Bagsby’s political career; her own decision to enter politics and winning campaign strategies; issues she had to face as a county commissioner; her travels; her family history. Filed Under: Civil Rights Movement.
Date of Interview: August 1, 2019
BAHNSEN, Kenneth (b. 1930). North Texas State College College instructor
College instructor, former assistant football coach at North Texas State University. His recollections concerning the desegregation of athletics at North Texas State College, 1956. Filed Under: History of University of North Texas.
Date of Interview: March 5, 1984
BAILEY, Kay (Hutchison) (b. 1943). Texas House of Representatives Attorney Republican
Attorney, member of the Texas House of Representatives from Houston, Republican. Her experiences and personal views as a member of the Sixty-fourth Legislature. Decision to enter politics; personal political philosophy; House speakership race; committee appointments; budget surplus and appropriations; public school financing; public utilities legislation; constitutional revision; urban mass transit legislation; anti-rape legislation; comments about Governor Dolph Briscoe. Filed Under: Texas Political History.
Date of Interview: January 23, 1976
BAILEY, Seth (b. 1979). U.S. Army OIF Veteran
For the Tarrant County War Veterans Oral History Project. Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Childhood and education in Athens, Tex.; decision to enlist in U.S. Army; family’s tradition of military service; basic training at Ft. Benning, Ga., including experiences in Ranger Indoctrination Program and injuries sustained in “jump school”; assignment to unit in Darmstadt, Germany; 2003 deployment to Iraq and performance of long-range surveillance missions; combat experiences in Karbala, Ramadi, and Al Asad; return to Germany; continuing struggles with injury from basic training, with Army health care system, and with substance abuse; treatment at Walter Reed Army Hospital; discharge from Army and return to Arlington, Tex.; opinions regarding benefits of military service and regarding women in the military. Filed Under: Military Service.
Date of Interview: December 12, 2007
BAIN, Wilfred (b. 1908). North Texas State University, School of Music Former Dean
Former dean of the North Texas State University School of Music, 1938-47. His experiences in the establishment of the NTSU school of music as one of national prominence. Education and musical background; appointment as chairman of the Department of Music; establishment of the NTSU School of Music and his appointment as dean; establishment of the jazz program; appointment as dean of the school of Music at Indiana University; comments about President W. Joseph McConnell, Silvio Scionti, Floyd Graham, Mary McCormic, Helen Hewitt, Walter Robert, Ralph Daniel, “Aces of Collegeland.” Filed Under: History of University of North Texas.
Date of Interview: December 12, 1978
BAIRD, Hoyt (b. 1896) & H. Vernon (b. 1920). Mrs. Baird's Bakeries
History of the Mrs. Baird’s Bakery Co. and history of the Baird family of Fort Worth. Filed Under: .
Date of Interview: February 14, 1980 to February 28, 1980
BAIRD, James (b. 1941). North Texas State University College Professor
College professor. His experiences as faculty advisor to the Students for a Democratic society (SDS) at North Texas State University during the late 1960s. Filed Under: History of University of North Texas.
Date of Interview: April 2, 1984
BAIRD, Melvin R. “Pancho” (b. 1919). U.S. Navy WWII Veteran
A combination of interviewing and reading from his personal correspondence about his pre-World War II experiences with the U.S. Asiatic Fleet (1937-1940) and his later experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. His stationing aboard the destroyer USS Alden as a radioman; his account of the grounding of the SS President Hoover off of Hoishito Island, December 14, 1938; comments about the Sino-Japanese War; various personal experiences during liberty ashore at Manila, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Haiphong, and other Asian port cities; comments about the various Asian peoples; events on the South China Patrol; his civilian activities after his discharge; his being drafted for Navy duty, 1944; brief descriptions of his activities as a radio technician on Blue Beach during the Okinawan Campaign, April, 1945; observations of kamikaze action on Okinawa; descriptions of typical shipboard routine. Filed Under: Military Service.
Date of Interview: August 18, 1998 to August 19, 1998, August 21, 1998
BAKER, Doug B. (b. 1944).
His experiences in the counterculture of Dallas, Texas, in the 1960s and his role in the founding of Notes from the Underground. Undergraduate years at Southern Methodist University; origins of Notes From the Underground; opposition by the SMU administration; clandestine printing of Notes at a Texas Instruments facility; conservatism in Dallas during the 1960s; comments about the co-founder of Notes, Bartee Haile; financing and distributing Notes; role of Brent Stein [a.k.a. “Stoney Burns”] in operations of Notes; decision to leave Notes and later found Iconoclast; harassment by Dallas authorities; attempt by SMU to bribe Baker with a diploma without having met university requirements if he would move Notes off-campus; his relationship with “Stoney Burns”; comments about journalistic ethics and responsibilities; abortion counseling in Notes; relationship with local police; reaction of the local mainstream press to Notes; effect of Notes on SMU; providing a writing outlet through Notes for mainstream reporters; influence of Notes on the mainstream press; relationship of Notes and the Dallas gay community; his falling out with “Stoney Burns”; his leaving Notes and founding the Dallas News, 1970; his activities with the Dallas counter-culture; business and fiscal operations of Notes; Notes’s relationship with the African-American community; changing the name of Dallas News to Iconoclast; operations of Iconoclast; his views on the contributions and influence of Notes and Iconoclast. Filed Under: History of Southern Methodist University.
Date of Interview: October 29, 1998 to October 30, 1998
BAKER, S. L. (b. 1917).
His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood near Jacksboro, Texas; joining the CCC; assignment to a camp near Cleburne, Texas; description of camp; life in camp. Filed Under: The New Deal.
Date of Interview: October 20, 1993
BALCH, Jean (b. 1923). U.S. Navy WWII Veteran, Bombing Squadron 3, USS Yorktown
His experiences in the Pacific Theater; and his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Boot camp at San Diego, California, 1942; radio school, San Diego, California, 1942; radar school, Memphis, Tennessee, 1943; gunnery school, Yellow Water, Florida, 1944; assignment as a radioman-gunner on a SBD with Bombing Squadron 3, USS Yorktown, October, 1944; operations during the Leyte invasion, November, 1944; missions over Luzon, December, 1944; Task Force 38, the Yorktown, and the typhoon off northwest Luzon, December, 1944; raids on Japanese installations on Formosa and Saigon, French Indo-China, January, 1945; his plane shot down on a raid to Hong Kong and his capture on January 16, 1945; interrogations and beatings by the Kempei-tai; trip from Hong Kong to Japan via Formosa; imprisonment at Ofuna, Honshu; solitary confinement for six months and continued interrogation; beatings by Japanese prison guards; starvation diet; end of the war and liberation; his participation in the war crimes trials held by the International Military Tribunal, Far East, in Tokyo, 1947-48. Filed Under: Military Service.
Date of Interview: October 12, 1996
BALENTINE, John Ed (b. 1918).
Longtime resident of Denton County, Texas, and former North Texas State Teachers College student. Memories of life on the Christal Ranch and other Denton Co. farms, including descriptions of ranch work, wheat harvest, and entertainment options in the nearby town of Denton; education in Denton schools, including kindergarten at what is now Texas Woman’s University and high school at the North Texas demonstration school on what is now the UNT campus; family’s economic difficulties during the Great Depression; undergraduate studies at North Texas as an Industrial Arts major; descriptions of student social life; decision to drop out of school to work for magnolia Oil Co. in Kermit, Texas; induction into U.S. Army; World War II service in Pacific in anti-aircraft battalion; return to Kermit and Magnolia Oil Co.; courting of and marriage to Jeanette Smith of Denton; transfers to Chickasha, Oklahoma, and Gainesville, Texas; descriptions of historic Denton County photographs. Filed Under: History of Denton County.
Date of Interview: July 7, 2006
BANE, Robert (b. 1926). U.S. Army Veteran 63rd Infantry Division European Theater
World War II U.S. Army veteran. Childhood and family memories. Experiences during the war including training at Fort Wolters and service in the 63rd Infantry Division in the European Theater. Post-war experiences working in and around Dallas. Filed Under: World War II.
Date of Interview: January 11, 2013
BANKS, Gary T. (b. 1944). U.S. Army Vietnam Veteran, 181st Military Intelligence Detachment Attorney
Attorney. Written letters from the Republic of (South) Vietnam to his wife and son in Denton, Texas. Topics include: troop morale; interrogation of enemy POWs; spot reports concerning information given by POWs and detainees; Tet Offensive, 1968; personal love poetry; miscellaneous personal family matters; future plans in civilian life; queries about his son; future job aspirations. Filed Under: .
Date of Interview: January 1, 1968 to December 31, 1969
BANKS, Gary T. (b. 1944). U.S. Army Vietnam Veteran, 181st Military Intelligence Detachment Attorney
Attorney. Tape-recorded letters from the Republic of (South) Vietnam to his wife and son in Denton, Texas. Topics include: troop morale; interrogation of enemy POWs; spot reports concerning information given by POWs and detainees; personal love poetry; miscellaneous personal family matters; future plans in civilian life; queries about his son; future job aspirations. Filed Under: Military Service.
Date of Interview: January 1, 1968 to December 31, 1969
BANKS, John T. (b. 1916). Welder
Welder. His experiences while employed by of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in the Dallas-Fort Worth area; joining the CCC; assignment to camps near Laramie, Wyoming (Camp 3876); Santa Paula, California; Coquille, Oregon; and Lake Worth, Texas (Camp 1816); description of camps; life in camps; post-CCC work. Filed Under: The New Deal.
Date of Interview: March 12, 1991
BARBER, Herman (b. 1920). U.S. Navy WWII Veteran
His experiences at Kaneohe Naval Air Station during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Filed Under: Military Service.
Date of Interview: October 14, 1977
BARCLAY, James (b. 1923). U.S. Navy WWII Veteran
His experiences while aboard the target battleship USS Utah during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Filed Under: Military Service.
Date of Interview: August 21, 1974
BARCLAY, James (b. 1923). U.S. Navy WWII Veteran
His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Filed Under: The New Deal.
Date of Interview: February 12, 1976
BARKER, Billie Simpson (b. 1917). Homemaker
For the Ray Roberts Lake Oral History Project. Homemaker. Her personal reminiscences about rural life in Denton County, Texas, 1925-1985. Her father’s sawmill operation; creek flooding; threshing operations; changes in land ownership; her husband’s death; effects of the Great Depression; social life; comments about the county’s longtime residents; recreational activities; epidemics; wildlife problems; the tornado of June 8, 1937; comments about her childhood; homemade clothing Filed Under: History of Denton County.
Date of Interview: September 3, 1987
BARKER, John P. (b. 1926). U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force Vietnam Veteran, 1964th Communications Squadron, 620th Tactical Control Group, 7th Air Force
His experiences in Vietnam during 1967·-68, as related in tape-recorded letters sent to various family members. Tour at Dong Ha Air Base, 1967; comments about fighting along the DMZ; shortage of equipment; ongoing base construction; inter-service cooperation; his divorce appeal; health and sanitation conditions; contacts with friends from previous duty stations; searching for radar parts in Saigon, Da Nang, Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines; relationships with Vietnamese civilians; comments about ARVN forces; comments about mortar attack at the Marine base at Con Thien; base security precautions; command conference, Bangkok, Thailand, and shopping; comments about French occupation of Indo-China; comments on AID; decision to extend tour of duty; reassignment to Tan Son Nuht Air Base, Saigon, 1968; ongoing base construction; parts mission to Tachikawa, Japan, and shopping; Chinese/Vietnamese Tet Lunar New Year celebration; Presidential Unit Citation; off-base housing conditions; Tet Offensive; comments about 1968 presidential campaign; comments about communism; Battle of Saigon; base security and defenses at Tan Son Nuht; Tet kill ratios; sappers; Bronze Star awards and medal inflation; TARF and aid to Vietnamese civilians during Tet; comments on guerrilla warfare; comments about General William C. Westmoreland; comments about Southeast Asian history and the Domino Theory; comments about NBC correspondent Frank McGee and general news coverage of the war; economic effects of the Tet Offensive on Vietnamese civilians; inter-agency and inter-service security cooperation; comments on VC and NVA wartime atrocities; “R & R” in Australia; reassignment to the States. Filed Under: Military Service.
Date of Interview: January 1, 1967 to December 31, 1968
BARNES, Ben (b. 1937). Texas House of Representatives Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, 1964-68, Lieutenant Governor, 1968-72 Democrat
His experiences and personal views as a member of the Sixtieth Legislature. Reapportionment and the “one-man, one vote” decision of U.S. Supreme Court; state employee pay raise; state water planning; federal-state relations; revision of Code of Criminal Procedures; comments about Governor John Connally; changes in House rules; industrial safety law; voter registration; reform of liquor laws and pari-mutuel betting; revenue legislation; one-year versus two-year budget. Filed Under: Texas Political History.
Date of Interview: August 14, 1967 to August 5, 1968
BARNES, Ben (b. 1937). Texas House of Representatives Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, 1964-68, Lieutenant Governor, 1968-72 Democrat
His experiences and personal views as a member of the Sixty-first Legislature. One-year versus two-year budget; creation of new four-year colleges; influence of beer and liquor lobby; sales tax exemptions; comments about Speaker Gus Mutscher; revenue legislation; annual legislative sessions; future political ambitions. Filed Under: Texas Political History.
Date of Interview: January 5, 1970
BARNES, Diana Lynn (b. 1950).
For the Postpartum Depression and Maternal Mental Health Oral History Project. Dr. Diana Lynn Barnes, PsyD. is a psychotherapist specialized in women’s reproductive health, especially postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. She discusses her own postpartum depression, motherhood, her work starting a specialized practice, her time as president of Postpartum Support International (2002-2004), and her work in forensics and postpartum legal defenses. Filed Under: .
Date of Interview: July 25, 2023