Collections: Browse By Last Name. r | Oral History

Collections: Browse By Last Name. r

RAGGIO, Louise (b. 1919)

Interview ID: OH 0527

Attorney. Her role in the writing and passage of the Texas Family Code. Family background; her education; Rockefeller Grant to National Institute of Public Affairs; career with National Youth Administration; participation in League of Women Voters during World War II; law school at Southern Methodist University; early law career; activities with the Junior Bar; appointment as first woman in Dallas County district attorney’s office; activities with Texas Bar (family Law Council); Equal Rights Amendment; recodification of Family Code; civic activities and awards.
Date of Interview: 31/10/1980

More About this Interview

RAGSDALE, Diane (b. 1952)

Interview ID: OH 1828

For the Desegregating DFW Oral History Project. Civil Rights activist and local political figure. Participation with NAACP and SCLC; Juanita Croft; mother’s activism; impact of Civil Rights Act; participation in the South Dallas Information Center; the Black Panther Party; college experience; police brutality and shootings; city political involvement; Innercity Community Development Corp.
Date of Interview: 21/04/2014

More About this Interview

RAINEY, Homer P. (b. 1896)

Interview ID: OH 0011

Former president of the University of Texas, professor of higher education at the University of Colorado. General coverage of his early career; his problems with the Board of Regents at the University of Texas, 1944-45; his unsuccessful race for governor of Texas in 1946.
Date of Interview: 27/08/1967

More About this Interview

RAMIREZ, Joba (b. 1934)

Interview ID: OH 1561

Nurse. Her experiences as a Mexican American and information about the history of the Mexican American community of Denton, Texas. Her parent’s efforts to integrate their family into the Anglo community; her youth in Tioga, Texas; the family’s move to Denton, May, 1957; early work experiences after graduation from high school; employment at the Denton State School; nursing scholarship at Texas Woman’s University; comments about her parent’s backgrounds; her return to the Mexican culture and involvement in Familias Unidas.
Date of Interview: 19/07/2004

More About this Interview

RAMIREZ, Tony (b. 1947)

U.S. Army Vietnam Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 1656

For the Tarrant County War Veterans Oral History Project. Childhood in Chickasha, Oklahoma, and Fort Worth, Texas; enlistment in U.S. Army at age of fourteen; training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Ft. Benning, Georgia; deployment during Cuban Missile Crisis; discharge from Army and enlistment in U.S. Marine Corps; training at Camp Pendleton, California; deployment with 3rd Marines near border with North Vietnam; later experiences with 26th and 9th Marines; combat experiences; “search and destroy” missions; experiences as a “tunnel rat”; drug use among American soldiers; circumstances of three battlefield injuries during two tours of duty; postwar adjustment; civilian career; involvement in various veterans’ groups and volunteer work in Fort Worth.
Date of Interview: 08/12/2007

More About this Interview

RAMSBOTTOM, I. J. (b. 1914)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran. Photographic Reconnaissance Interpretation Section. Intelligence Center.

Interview ID: OH 1520

Landscape architect. His experience as a member of PRISIC in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Educational background including graduation from Kansas State University with a degree in landscape architecture; commissioning as a U.S. Navy ensign, 1941; induction school, Tucson, Arizona, 1941-42; photographic interpretation school, Anacostia Naval Air Station, Washington, DC, 1942; model-making school, Anacostia NAS, 1942; assignment to PRISIC, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1942; work in the Photographic Interpretation Unit; move to Joint Intelligence Center, Pacific Ocean Area (JICPOA), 1943; planning for amphibious invasions; his eye-witness account of General Douglas MacArthur’s filmed rehearsals on New Guinea for his landing during the invasion of the Philippines; assignment to Army Intelligence, Washington, DC, January, 1945.
Date of Interview: 01/07/2003

More About this Interview

RAMSEY, Jack C. (b. 1924)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran. D Company. 393rd Regiment. 99th Infantry Division.

Interview ID: OH 1429

Artist. His experiences as a combat infantryman in the European Theater during World War II. Educational background; ROTC, John Tarleton Agricultural College, Stephenville, Texas, 1941-42; basic training, Camp Wolters, Mineral Wells, Texas, 1942; assignment to the Army Specialized Training Program, East Texas State Teachers College, Commerce, Texas, 1942; termination of the ASTP and his reassignment to the 99th Infantry Division, Camp Maxie, Paris, Texas, 1942-43; assignment to and training in a heavy weapons company as a mortarman; departure for Europe, September, 1944; Battle of the Bulge, December, 1944-January, 1945; his battle wound from mortar fire and evacuation from the battlefield; recuperation in England; his return to his unit, March, 1945; Battle of the Ruhr Pocket and street fighting, March, 1945; his second battle wound from artillery fire and evacuation, March 10, 1945; recuperation in England; return to his unit and service in the Army of Occupation in Germany, 1945; his postwar careers in the New York Theater, television production, and painting.
Date of Interview: 11/06/2001

More About this Interview

RANDALL, Jack (b. 1922)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0189

Watchmaker. His experiences while aboard the destroyer USS Blue during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 13/04/1974

More About this Interview

RANDLE, Ledell Goodson (b. 1922)

Interview ID: OH 1600

For the Eastland County African American Women Oral History Project. Longtime resident of Eastland, Texas. Memories of childhood in Hawkins, Texas, as member of a sharecropping family; education in all-black schools; 1941 decision to move to Dallas following high school graduation; work there as a domestic and factory worker; 1951 marriage to Roston King and move to Eastland; initial perceptions of race relations in Eastland; church life and involvement in Eastern Stars organization; children’s experiences in Eastland schools.
Date of Interview: 07/10/2006

More About this Interview

RASBURY, Lester C. (b. 1917)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran. 2nd Battalion. 131st Field Artillery. Texas National Guard.

Interview ID: OH 0438

Member of the “Lost Battalion.” His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Fall of Java and capture; Bicycle Prison Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Tamarkan, Thailand, 1944; railroad maintenance in Burma, 1944-45; liberation.
Date of Interview: 10/06/1978, 15/06/1978

More About this Interview

RASCHEN, Gudrun (b. *)

Interview ID: OH 1700

For the DFW Metroplex Immigrants Oral History Project. German-born immigrant to Denton, Texas, and adjunct professor of Music at Texas Woman’s University. Childhood and education in Kiel and Hamburg, Germany; family history; parents’ move to South Africa; own move to South Africa; discovery of the cello and decision to study it seriously; involvement in anti-apartheid movement; decision to move to the U.S. for graduate school; attraction of UNT Doctorate of Musical Arts program; first impressions of the U.S. and of Denton; comparison and contrast of life in Germany, South Africa, and the U.S.; plans for the future.
Date of Interview: 01/11/2009

More About this Interview

RAVINDRANATH, Preetha (b. 1968)

Interview ID: OH 1908

Indian dancer from Gudalur, in the Nilgiris district of India. Recount of her life centered on dancing from a young age, which lead her to study dance at Kalakshetra, dance scene in different districts. How the access to study dance has changed over time, body image in dance.
Date of Interview: 09/05/2017

More About this Interview

RAY, Wilburn (b. 1917)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0323

His experiences while aboard the destroyer USS Wordenduring the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 15/05/1976

More About this Interview

RAYBURN, Eldridge L. (b. 1919)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran. 2nd Battalion. 131st Field Artillery. Texas National Guard.

Interview ID: OH 0499

Member of the “Lost Battalion.” His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Fall of Java and capture; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 1944-45; Saigon and Da Lat, French Indo-China, 1945, and American air raids; liberation.
Date of Interview: 16/01/1980

More About this Interview

REA, M. L. (b. 1917)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran. 2nd Battalion. 131st Field Artillery. Texas National Guard.

Interview ID: OH 0517

Member of the “Lost Battalion.” His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Fall of Java and capture; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 1944; Saigon and Da Lat, French Indo-China, 1944-45, and American air raids; liberation.
Date of Interview: 14/04/1980

More About this Interview

READ, Campbell (b. *)

Interview ID: OH 1807

For the Dallas LGBT Oral History Project. Retired statistics professor, former Dallas Gay Alliance board member, and longtime activist in the Dallas LGBT community. Police harassment of the Dallas gay community; Village Station arrests; coming out in the late 1970s; Dallas Gay Alliance; childhood in the United Kingdom; travels in the Middle East and Asia; moving to the United States; mentoring gay students at SMU; gay rights activism; renaming the Dallas Gay Alliance the Dallas Gay & Lesbian Alliance; creation of the Dallas gay community; philanthropic work; current Dallas LGBT community.
Date of Interview: 01/07/2013

More About this Interview

READ, Louis B. (b. 1920)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0138

Businessman, survivor of the Bataan Death March. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Fall of Bataan and capture; Bataan Death March; Camp O’Donnell, 1942; Cabanatuan, 1942-44; hell ship to Japan, 1944; Shinagawa Prison Camp, Honshu, 1944-45; liberation .
Date of Interview: 03/11/1972

More About this Interview

REAS, John C. (b. 1917)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 1252

Survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Sinking of the Houston,1942; capture and imprisonment in Serang, Java; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Burma- Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Rat Buri Thailand, 1944-45; liberation.
Date of Interview: 23/06/1998

More About this Interview

REAVIS, Dick J. (b. 1945)

Interview ID: OH 1950

Political activist, journalist and author. Former staff writer for Texas Monthly, professor in English department at North Carolina State University, contributing publications for Soldier of Fortune and The Wall Street Journal, and author of The Ashes of Waco: an Investigation. Childhood memories and early experiences of his father’s newspaper publishing career in Oklahoma, Texas, and South Carolina. Experiences in Texas public schools during segregation era. Father’s political views and development of his own political views. Experiences as college student at Texas Tech, Panhandle A&M, and University of Texas. Involvement in the civil rights and antiwar movements with Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and Students for a Democratic Society, and in various other left causes and organizations. Career in journalism. Personal life, political views and travels.
Date of Interview: 11/05/2019 to 22/06/2019

More About this Interview

Reban, Milan (b. 1933)

Interview ID: OH 1997

Professor emeritus of the UNT Political Science department, native of Czechoslovakia and survivor of the Nazi and Soviet invasions of that country, and political activist. Childhood experiences in Prague, Sobotka, and other Czech towns; parents’ political involvements; family’s experiences in World War II and Soviet invasion; perceptions of American soldiers; life under communist rule; defection from Czechoslovakia and travel to the U.S.; experiences and education in Florida and Ohio; undergraduate education at the University of Miami and graduate study at Michigan State University; naturalization; academic career at North Texas State University/UNT; perceptions of American communists, anti-communists, and other factions; involvement in local Democratic Party politics.
Date of Interview: 08/04/2017

More About this Interview

REDDIG, B. S. (b. 1919)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0446

His experiences at Schofield Barracks with the 21st Infantry during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 05/08/1978

More About this Interview

REDIN, Harley (b. 1919)

U.S. Marine Corps WWII Veteran. Marine Bombing Squadron VMB-433.

Interview ID: OH 1422

Educator. His experiences as a PBJ (B-25) pilot n the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II. Graduation from North Texas State Teachers College, Denton, Texas, 192; enlistment in the Navy Aviation Cadet Program, 1942; Civilian Pilot Training, 1942; primary flight training, Grand Prairie Naval Air Station, Grand Prairie, Texas, 1942; establishment of a lifelong friendship with Travis Lattner; basic flight training, Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas, 1942; advanced flight training, Corpus Christi, 1942-43; decision to transfer to the Marine Corps for multi-engine aircraft training in the PBY; American Airlines Flight School, Fort Worth, Texas, 1943; Marine Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina, 1943; training in the PBJ in Operational Training Squadron 8; formation of VMB-433, 1943; further training at Peter Field Point, North Carolina, 1943-44; combat training, El Centro Marine Air Station, El Centro, California, 1944; transfer to Espiritu Santo, 1944; transfer to Green Island, 1944; his duties as squadron operations officer; his first combat mission to Rabaul; transfer to Emirau, September, 1944; daylight missions to Rabaul; low-level strafing missions; missions to Kavieng; rest and recuperation in Sydney, Australia; transfer to Headquarters Squadron, Marine Air Group 1, at Bougainville, 1945; living conditions and airplane maintenance; mustering out of the service and his postwar career as a basketball coach at Wayland Baptist College, Plainview, Texas, 1946-1973.
Date of Interview: 31/08/2001

More About this Interview

REED, Carol (b. 1947)

Interview ID: OH 0920

Political consultant. Her role in the development of the Republican Party in Texas, 1967-93. Volunteer campaign work; political director of John Tower’s senatorial campaign, 1978; activities with Texas Federation of Republican Women’s Clubs; evolving role of women in political campaigns; decision to become a political consultant; her conservative philosophy; her opinions about the Eagle Forum, radical feminism, abortion, and women’s issues in general.
Date of Interview: 27/07/1993

More About this Interview

REED, James V. (b. 1924)

U.S. Marine Corps WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0812

His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in Minnesota; joining the CCC; assignment to a camp in Big Fork, Minnesota; description of camp; life in camp; joining the Marine Corps; 4th Marine Division in the Pacific Theater.
Date of Interview: 28/09/1990

More About this Interview

REED, Norvell Hill Williams (b. ca. 1921)

Interview ID: OH 0720

Community activist. Her experiences concerning the activities of the Denton Christian Women’s Inter-Racial Fellowship during the 1960s and 1970s. Life in a segregated community; desegregation of North Texas State College; desegregation of public schools and the tutoring program; Fred Moore School; typical meeting of the group; paving of streets in the African-American section of Denton; group’s social activities; defeat of urban renewal; jobs program.
Date of Interview: 11/03/1988

More About this Interview

Interview ID: OH 1638

For the Quakertown Oral History Project. Former resident of Denton’s historic all-black Quakertown neighborhood and long-time Denton resident. Childhood in Quakertown; family history; family’s forced move out of Quakertown to Solomon Hill neighborhood of Denton; race relations in Denton; participation in Denton Christian Women’s Fellowship; family’s historical memories of Quakertown.
Date of Interview: 14/09/2006

More About this Interview

REESE, Dr. Maxine Thornton (b. 1938)

Interview ID: OH 1850

For the Desegregating DFW Oral History Project. Civil rights activist, former Dallas City Councilmember, and longtime Dallas ISD employee. Childhood in Dallas, Texas; involvement in Dallas NAACP’s Youth Council with Juanita Craft; civil rights activism; life during segregation; desegregation in Texas schools and at the University of North Texas; treatment at UNT; desegregation versus integration; Dallas City Council.
Date of Interview: 24/03/2014

More About this Interview

REESE, Seldon D. (b. 1922)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0426

Survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Sinking of Houston, 1942; capture and imprisonment at Serang, Java; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 1944, and American air raids; Saigon and Da Lat, French Indo-China, 1944-45; liberation.
Date of Interview: 21/06/1978

More About this Interview

REICHLE, Grover (b. 1920)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran. 2nd Battalion. 131st Field Artillery. Texas National Guard.

Interview ID: OH 0495

Member of the “Lost Battalion.” His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Fall of Java and capture; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 1944-45; Bangkok, 1945; liberation.
Date of Interview: 22/01/1979

More About this Interview

REID, David (b. 1961)

U.S. Navy OIF Verteran.

Interview ID: OH 1673

For the Tarrant County War Veterans Oral History Project. Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Childhood in Savannah, Georgia; education at Valdosta State College; acceptance to U.S. Navy aviation officer candidate school; training at Pensacola, Florida; missions in North Atlantic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean regions; assignment to Beeville Naval Air Station during Operation Desert Storm; monitoring missions during Bosnian conflict; deployments to Japan and to Turkey for Operation Northern Watch; decision to retire from active duty; civilian career with American Airlines and Lockheed Martin; work as a Navy reservist with a joint forces air component commander unit; deployment to Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, for Operation Iraqi Freedom; opinions regarding September 11 attacks and occupation and rebuilding of Iraq.
Date of Interview: 10/12/2007

More About this Interview

REISINGER, Edward L. (b. 1919)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran. 4th Signal Company. 4th Infantry Division.

Interview ID: OH 1312

His experiences in the European Theater during World War II. Depression era odd jobs; decision to join the Army, July, 1940; Fort Benning, Georgia, 1940-41, and assignment to the 4th Signal Company; Camp Gordon, Georgia, 1941-1943; Camp Gordon Johnson, Florida, 1943, for amphibious training; his marriage to Margaret Lilly, Christmas Eve, 1942; his duties as a communications sergeant; his training as a high-speed radio operator at Keystone Radio Schools, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1942; voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, early 1944; amphibious training for D-Day at Tiverton and Slapton Sands, England, 1944; security precautions prior to D-Day; the landing on Utah Beach at Normandy, June 6, 1944; descriptions of General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.; the breakout at Normandy and the bombing of Saint Lô; Falaise Gap; liberation of Paris; Rhineland Campaign, 1944; combat living conditions; Huertgen Forest, 1944; Ardennes Offensive and the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945; drive through Central Europe and the German surrender, 1945; effects of and thoughts about his combat experience; postwar Army career as a communications specialist for President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Date of Interview: 05/08/1999

More About this Interview

RENFRO, Nell (b. 1914)

Interview ID: OH 1454

For the Ray Roberts Lake Oral History Project. Realtor. Her reminiscences concerning rural life in the area of Tioga,Texas, 1917-1987. Changing demographics of the area; rising land values; comments about long-time residents of the area; a description of life on her family home place; revivals; medicine shows; home remedies; virtues of small-town life.
Date of Interview: 25/08/1987

More About this Interview

RETZLOFF, Henry (b. 1922)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0452

His experiences at Kaneohe Naval Air Station withthe Base Transportation Department during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7,1941.
Date of Interview: 04/08/1978

More About this Interview

REYNOLDS, Mac (b. 1935)

Interview ID: OH 0604

Businessman. His experiences as a member of the football teamduring the desegregation of athletics at North Texas State College, 1956.
Date of Interview: 18/07/1983

More About this Interview

RICCI, Elizabeth “Ivy” Feiga Ross (b. 1974) and Joel Anthony (b. 1976)

Interview ID: OH 1792

For the American History: Voluntary Simplicity Oral History Project. Musicians, artists, and simple life advocates. Childhoods; influences on life philosophies; discovery of the Nearings and the Simple Life; interest in homesteading; residency at the Good Life Center.
Date of Interview: 01/08/2014

More About this Interview

RICH, John (b. 1917)

U.S. Marine Corps WWII Veteran. 4th Marine Division.

Interview ID: OH 1363

Journalist. His experiences as a Japanese language interpreter/interrogator in the Pacific Theater during World War II; and his observations as a journalist while covering the proceedings of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Pre-war career in journalism; U.S. Navy Japanese Language School, University of Colorado, 1942-43; assignment to the 4th Marine Division, 1943; Roi-Namur and Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, 1944; interrogation of Japanese prisoners-of-war; Saipan and Tinian, Mariana Islands, 1944; Iwo Jima, 1945; coverage of the Tokyo war crimes trials for International News Service, 1946; reminiscences about covering Franklin D. Roosevelt’s meeting with the press after the Atlantic Conference with Winston Churchill off Argentia, Newfoundland, August 10-15, 1941.
Date of Interview: 12/10/1996

More About this Interview

RICHARDSON, Iliff D. (b. 1919)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 1284

His experiences as a guerrilla fighter in the Philippine Islands during World War II. Assignment to patrol-torpedo boats in the Philippines,1941; orders from General Douglas A. MacArthur to establish a clandestine radio network to maintain communications with Commander Southwest Pacific after his evacuation from Corregidor; his role in plotting Japanese minefields in Leyte Gulf prior to MacArthur's return in 1944; pre-invasion weather reporting from Leyte to MacArthur's headquarters; dealings with Filipino guerrillas; transfer to stateside duty and his work with the Industrial Incentives Division of the Navy Department; sale of rights to the book about his adventures, American Guerrilla in the Philippines.
Date of Interview: 22/02/1997

More About this Interview

RICHARDSON, James Robert "Bob" (b. 1938)

Interview ID: OH 2017

For the Geezle Oral History Project. NTSC alumnus, football player, and member of the Geezles Fraternity. Childhood and public-school education in Dallas and Garland, TX; experiences as a high school football player and recruitment to North Texas in 1956; experiences with the North Texas freshman and varsity football teams; decision to join Geezles Fraternity, experiences with and lessons learned from fraternity members; experiences in North Texas business school; career as an insurance company executive, in the Marine Corps, and volunteer work as a Stephen Minister.
Date of Interview: 05/12/2019

More About this Interview

RICHARDSON, Milroy B. (b. 1922)

U.S. Army Air Forces WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 1463

His experiences at Wheeler Field with the 6th Pursuit Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 05/06/2002

More About this Interview

Interview ID: OH 1470

His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression.
Date of Interview: 14/06/2002

More About this Interview

RIDDLESPERGER, Carol J. (b. ca. 1923)

Interview ID: OH 0712

Schoolteacher, community activist. Her experiences concerning the activities of the Denton Christian Women’s Inter-Racial Fellowship during the 1960s and 1970s. Segregation in Denton; desegregation of the schools and public facilities in Denton; early meetings of the Fellowship; social activities; programs; street paving in the African American section of Denton; her decision to run for the Denton school Board; tutoring program; jobs program; evolving nature of membership.
Date of Interview: 05/02/1988

More About this Interview

Interview ID: OH 1906

For the Denton Women’s Interracial Fellowship Oral History Project. Childhood; memories of the Great Depression and World War II; educational and professional background; ethnicities in Texas in the 1950s and 1960s; Denton Women’s Interracial Fellowship; segregation; Denton civil rights activism; Denton desegregation; contemporary race relations; continued community involvement.
Date of Interview: 28/02/2017

More About this Interview

RIGGLEMAN, Thomas D. (b. 1926)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 1065

Engineer. His experiences aboard the destroyer USS McGowan in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Everyday life aboard ship; Iwo Jima; Okinawa and kamikazes; operations off northern Japan, 1945.
Date of Interview: 08/06/1995

More About this Interview

RILEY, George V. (b. 1922)

Interview ID: OH 0982

His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in North Texas; joining the CCC; assignment to Company 1814 at Camp G-136-A in Duncan, Arizona; company move to Camp G-173-A in Fredonia, Arizona; Company 3892 at Camp NP-8-C in Grand Junction, Colorado; description of camps; life in camps.
Date of Interview: 03/02/1994

More About this Interview

RILEY, Howard (b. 1914)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0454

His experiences at Fort Shafter with the 64th Coast Artillery during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 06/08/1978

More About this Interview

RIPP, William (b. 1934)

Braniff International Airways.

Interview ID: OH 1965

Dispatch Clerk to Assistant Manager to Shift Manager for Dispatch. The in-flight and ground experiences of Braniff International Airways by Abra Schnur through a collection of former Braniff employee interviews. Interviewees include flight attendants, pilots, ticket agents, ground crew, executives and family members. Content includes personal reflections of Braniff’s impact on the DFW area and the airline industry as a whole with the “End of the Plain Plane” campaign brought in by Harding Lawrence. Discussions on being a part of the Braniff family and Braniff’s rise to the top of preferred airlines to its bankruptcy on May 12, 1982.
Date of Interview: 17/11/2013

More About this Interview

RIZK, Claude (b. 1957)

Interview ID: OH 1749

For the DFW Metroplex Immigrants Oral History Project. Lebanese-born immigrant to Lewisville, Texas. Life in pre-Civil War Lebanon; life during the Lebanese Civil War; preconceptions of America; move to Oxford, England, en route to College Station, Texas; attending Texas A&M University; citizenship process; difficulty with American expressions and slang; prejudice experienced as a foreigner; move to the DFW area; comparison of Lebanese and American educations; Lebanese traditions maintained; changes in Lebanon since emigration; changed perceptions of the U.S.; advice for future immigrants.
Date of Interview: 04/05/2011

More About this Interview

ROBERSON, James (b. 1926)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 1169

His experiences while aboard the submarine USS Sailfish in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Submarine School, New London, Connecticut, 1942; his responsibilities as a motor machinist’s mate; qualification examinations; various patrols off the Aleutian Islands and in the South China Sea; lifeguard duty off the Mariana Islands for downed airmen.
Date of Interview: 08/03/1997

More About this Interview

ROBERTS, Charles H. (b. 1914)

U.S. Marine Corps WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0384

His experiences at Kaneohe Naval Air Station during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 13/10/1977

More About this Interview

ROBERTS, Charles H. (b. ca. 1918)

U.S. Marine Corps WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 1201

His experiences with the Marine Guard Detachment at Kaneohe Naval Air Station during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 06/11/1994

More About this Interview

ROBERTS, Charles Stanly, Jr. (b. 1911)

Roberts. Sanford. and Taylor Hardware.

Interview ID: OHB 0105

Chairman, acting president, and chief executive officer, Roberts, Sanford, and Taylor Hardware, Sherman, Texas. Family background; establishment of hardware business in Sherman, 1881; incorporation of business, 1897; employment as warehouser and truck driver for hardware wholesale company; description of store inventory; father’s appointment as co-manager of business, 1915; comments on “Texoma” trademark and sporting goods products; appointment as vice- president and sales manager, 1939; description of personnel; comments on reasons for liquidating company and problems of wholesale hardware and sporting goods businesses; description of expansion into Dallas/Fort Worth market; views on company liquidation, 1986; comments on sales volume and distribution area; financing of business; comments on employee relations; dealings with Labor department and OSHA; civic and trade association activities; comments on business competitors.
Date of Interview: 16/06/1986

More About this Interview

ROBERTS, Jefferson D. (b. 1911)

U.S. Army Air Forces WWII Veteran. 339th Bomb Squadron. 96th Bomb Group. 8th Air Force.

Interview ID: OH 0147

Businessman. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Germans after being shot down over Nazi Germany during World War II. Shooting down of bomber, 1944; capture and interrogation near Frankfurt; Heidekruge, East Prussia, 1944; prison camp near Berlin, 1944; forced march from Nurnberg to Moosberg, 1945; prison camps at Nurnberg and Barth; liberation.
Date of Interview: 14/03/1973

More About this Interview

ROBERTS, John (b. 1917)

U.S. Army Air Forces WWII Veteran; U.S. Air Force Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 1293

His experiences concerning his association with General Roger Ramey, 1937-57. Operations against Rabaul in the Pacific Theater during World War II; atomic bomb tests at Kwajalein and Eniwetok, 1946 (Project CROSSROADS); relationship between Ramey and Fort Worth, Texas, promoter Amon Carter; his personal and professional relations with Ramey; Ramey’s relationship with General Douglas A. MacArthur; Ramey’s relationship with President Harry S Truman; establishment of a separate, independent Air Force.
Date of Interview: 27/04/1999

More About this Interview

ROBERTS, John (b. 1932)

Interview ID: OH 0716

Public school administrator. His experiences concerning the desegregation of the Hamilton Park, Texas, school and the establishment of the Pacesetter program. Educational background and administrative positions held; federal desegregation guidelines; establishment of attendance zones; role of H.E.W.; closing of Hamilton Park High School; decision of Fifth Circuit Court; controversy over busing; decision to establish Pacesetter at Hamilton Park.
Date of Interview: 15/12/1987

More About this Interview

ROBERTS, Raymond E. “Tex” (b. 1916)

Interview ID: OH 1809

For Richard Rafes’s dissertation, “The Historical Development of Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine as a State Medical School, 1960-1975.” Former Executive Director of the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association. Professional background; creation of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Date of Interview: 20/06/1990

More About this Interview

ROBERTSON, Doris (b. 1926)

Interview ID: OH 0697

Teacher, community leader. Her experiences concerning the desegregation of the Hamilton Park, Texas, schools and integration with the Richardson Independent School District.
Date of Interview: 07/06/1987

More About this Interview

ROBERTSON, Doris (b. 1928) and Lincoln (b. 1926)

Interview ID: OH 0817

Community leaders. Their experiences as residents of Hamilton Park, Texas, 1956-90. Desegregation of the Hamilton Park School; decision to purchase a home in Hamilton Park; transportation problems; work experiences and racism; Band Parents Club; church activities; PTA activities; Hamilton Park Civic League; interorganizational council and political activities; social clubs; the “Buy-Out.”
Date of Interview: 07/01/1990, 21/01/1990

More About this Interview

ROBERTSON, Naipo (b. 1922)

U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps WWII Veteran. 28th Infantry.

Interview ID: OH 0220

His experiences while home on pass in Honolulu during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 06/07/1974

More About this Interview

ROBINSON, Anna (b. 1922)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran. WAC.

Interview ID: OH 1676

For the Tarrant County War Veterans Oral History Project. World War II veteran. Childhood and education in Fort Worth; decision to drop out of high school to play professional softball; decision to enlist in Women’s Army Corps in 1944; basic training at Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia; clerical training at Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, and Ft. Meade, Maryland; deployment as supply sergeant to Bremerhaven, Germany; impressions of wartime destruction of German cities, suffering of civilians, and conditions of Holocaust sites; injuries sustained in a truck accident; Germans’ attitudes toward American occupation force; presence of gay officers and enlisted personnel in WAC unit and nearby male units; decision not to accept officer training and to leave service; return home; “coming out” experience after the war; opinions regarding “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy; education at Texas Wesleyan College; civilian career as an artist/graphics specialist with Continental Oil Co. and City of Fort Worth; involvement in Agape Metropolitan Community Church and Women in Military Service for America organization; experiences as a tourist in Germany.
Date of Interview: 27/11/2007

More About this Interview

ROBINSON, Gregory (b. 1966)

Braniff International Airways.

Interview ID: OH 1966

Son of former Braniff CFO, Neal Robinson. The in-flight and ground experiences of Braniff International Airways by Abra Schnur through a collection of former Braniff employee interviews. Interviewees include flight attendants, pilots, ticket agents, ground crew, executives and family members. Content includes personal reflections of Braniff’s impact on the DFW area and the airline industry as a whole with the “End of the Plain Plane” campaign brought in by Harding Lawrence. Discussions on being a part of the Braniff family and Braniff’s rise to the top of preferred airlines to its bankruptcy on May 12, 1982.
Date of Interview: 09/06/2013

More About this Interview

ROBINSON, Horace (b. 1939)

Interview ID: OH 2070

For World War II Home Front Oral History Project. English and Humanities lecturer. Childhood in wartime Durant, Oklahoma; education at Robert E. Lee Elementary; sense of community; poor economy; wartime vitamin deficiencies; polio; reflecting on the war through a child’s eyes; post-war struggles; PTSD; role of religion in wartime Durant; gold star families; reflections on the Korean and Vietnam wars; experience in the Oklahoma Army National Guard; graduate school at the University of Oklahoma; hippies and the counterculture movement.
Date of Interview: 11/02/2023

More About this Interview

ROBINSON, Hugh M. (b. 1916)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran. Patrol Torpedo Boat Squadron 3.

Interview ID: OH 1368

His experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. U. S. Naval Academy, 1934-38; assignment to the carrier USS Yorktown, 1938-39; assignment to the destroyer USS Bainbridge, 1939-41; assignment to Motor Boat Submarine Chaser Squadron 1, 1941; assignment to Patrol Torpedo Squadron 2, 1941; operations around the Panama Canal, 1942; reorganization of PT Squadron 2 and his transfer to Patrol Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 for duty in the Pacific; operations around the Solomon Islands, 1942-43; his promotion to commander of PT Squadron 3, 1942; engagements against the “Tokyo Express,” 1942-43; his transfer to the staff of Patrol Torpedo Boat Flotilla 1, 1943; transfer to the States, 1943, to the Motor Torpedo Boats Squadron Training Center, Newport, Rhode Island; assignment as air defense officer aboard the battleship USS Wisconsin, 1944; his description of being caught with the 3rd Fleet in a massive typhoon in the Philippine Sea, December 18, 1944; offshore bombardment for the Iwo Jima and Okinawa Campaigns, 1945; offshore bombardment of Honshu and Hokkaido; his postwar naval career.
Date of Interview: 21/02/1997

More About this Interview

ROBINSON, Jack W. (b. 1917)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0421

His experiences while aboard the battleship USS Maryland during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 23/04/1978

More About this Interview

ROBINSON, Lester E. (b. 1920)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0743

His experiences at Ford Island Naval Air Station with VP-23 during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 23/04/1988

More About this Interview

ROBINSON, Marvin E. (b. 1918)

U.S. Marine Corps WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0580

Survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Sinking of Houston, 1942; capture and imprisonment at Serang, Java; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 1944; Changi Jail, 1944-45.
Date of Interview: 25/05/1982

More About this Interview

ROBINSON, Ralph (b. 1919)

Interview ID: OH 1166

Scientist, engineer, physicist. His role in the development of the proximity fuze in World War II. Education and technical training; employment with the Office of Scientific Research and Development, 1942; technical aspects of developing the proximity fuze; practical applications of the proximity fuze in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Mediterranean Theaters; comments about the roles of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Hopkins, and Vannevar Bush.
Date of Interview: 17/01/1997

More About this Interview

ROBINSON, Ray F. (b. 1919)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran. 2nd Battalion. 131st Field Artillery. Texas National Guard.

Interview ID: OH 0503

Member of the “Lost Battalion.” His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Fall of Java and capture; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 1944; Changi Jail, 1944-45; liberation.
Date of Interview: 25/06/1979, 28/06/1979

More About this Interview

ROCH, Herbert (b. 1911)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0357

His experiences at Schofield Barracks with the MP detachment during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 25/01/1977

More About this Interview

RODGERS, Charline Scripture (b. 1929) and John (b. *)

Interview ID: OH 1725

For the Denton County Historical Commission. Members of longtime Denton, Texas, family. History of Scripture family’s migration to Texas after the Civil War and eventual settlement in Denton, including great uncle’s grocery store on Denton Square and grandfather’s lumber yard. Construction of family’s landmark home on Scripture Hill. Reminiscences of childhood in Denton and education at the Demonstration School. Marriage to James S. Rodgers, U.S. Air Force officer. Experiences during various military base assignments and family’s relocation to Denton. Current history of Forrester and Rodgers families.
Date of Interview: 14/10/2010

More About this Interview

RODGERS, Jo Cyel (b. 1940)

Interview ID: OH 1582

African-American alumna of North Texas State University. Remembrances about childhood and early education in Fort Worth, Texas, including experiences at I.M. Terrell High School; decision to enroll at North Texas as a sixteen-year-old high school graduate in 1957; off-campus life in “Shack Town” and support from black citizens of Denton; social life among African-American students and relations with white students and faculty; experiences with President J.C. Matthews; graduation with major in physical education in 1962; teaching career in Fort Worth ISD during era of desegregation and later; experiences with “Trailblazers” organization.
Date of Interview: 16/03/2006

More About this Interview

RODGERS, Martin J. (b. 1922)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0752

His experiences at Fort Shafter with Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, Coast Artillery, during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 22/06/1988

More About this Interview

RODMAN, Barbara (b. 1948)

Interview ID: OH 1151

College professor. Her experiences concerning the development of the Women's Studies Program at the University of North Texas, 1992-96; educational background; participation in student protests against the Vietnam War; activities with the National Organization of Women (NOW); origins of her interest in women writers; her role in the Women's Studies Program at UNT; her teaching philosophy and thoughts about “engaged feminism.”
Date of Interview: 24/10/1996

More About this Interview

RODRIGUEZ, Charlie (b. 1951)

Interview ID: OH 1500

Businessman, musician. His recollections concerning the development of the Northside (Fort Worth, Texas) Hispanic community, his music career, and the evolution of his family’s Mexican foods business. Immigration of his parents and grandparents from Mexico, 1919; employment of his father with Swift & Co., Fort Worth; opening of the family grocery store, 1941; economic importance of Swift & Co. and Armour to the Northside; his youth and growing up on the Northside; maintenance of Mexican customs; his family’s rapid assimilation, patriotism, and pursuit of the American Dream; founding of the family’s tortilla factory, 1965, and creation of Rodriguez Festive Foods, Inc., the Northside’s largest employer; evolution and growth of the family business; sale of the business to Harvest States Foods, 2000; his career as a musician; comments about various Hispanic musicians and musical groups; comments about the state of the Hispanic music business; graduation from the University of Texas, Arlington with a degree in music education, 1976; his marriage and family
Date of Interview: 05/03/2003

More About this Interview

RODRIGUEZ, Stephanie (b. 1993)

Interview ID: OH 1862

For the Dallas DREAMers Oral History Project. DREAM Team activist. Childhood in Mexico and Dallas, Texas; family’s immigration to the United States; difficulty travelling while undocumented or on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA); connection to Mexican heritage; American identity; becoming American; activism and North Texas DREAM Team; DACA; Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA).
Date of Interview: 17/10/2015

More About this Interview

RODRIGUEZ, Victor (b. 1932)

Interview ID: OH 2015

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 the Kansas and Drake Relays. After college and military service, Victor joined the San Antonio ISD to begin a 37-year career journey, first as a classroom teacher for bilingual children, then to increasing levels of responsibility as coach, teacher, principal, area coordinator, climaxing at the pinnacle of leadership as superintendent for the district. Along the way, he earned a PhD from the University of Texas-Austin and a year-long fellowship at Yale.
Date of Interview: 13/06/2009

More About this Interview

Interview ID: OH 2001

For the Geezle Oral History Project; Dr. Victor Rodriguez spotlights significant insights into his storied and sterling career through five time dimensions: (1) his early all-Hispanic elementary school training; (2) his continued study and budding athletic prowess in the Edna, TX, school district; (3) his Victoria Junior College athletic achievements and learning; (4) his higher education art training, Geezle membership, and track accomplishments at North Texas State College; and (5) his 37-year career as a teacher, coach, and superintendent in the San Antonio (TX) school district. Inspired by his Anglo third-grade teacher in an all-Hispanic school in Edna, TX, Victor 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 the Kansas and Drake Relays. After college and military service, Victor joined the San Antonio (TX) ISD to begin a 37-year career journey, first as a classroom teacher for bilingual children, then to increasing levels of responsibility as coach, teacher, principal, area coordinator, climaxing at the pinnacle of leadership as superintendent for the district. Along the way, he earned a PhD from the University of Texas--Austin and a year-long fellowship at Yale. Astute investigators will note a number of "first-time achievements" in this interview of Dr. Victor Rodriguez. Undergirding it throughout, however, is the pervasive theme of the "bell ringer," heeding his civic responsibility with loyal commitments to his race, family, and institutional affiliations.
Date of Interview: 21/11/2019

More About this Interview

ROFFMAN, Louis (b. 1922)

U.S. Army Air Corps WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0536

His experiences at Hickam Field with the 31st Bombardment Squadron during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 08/12/1980

More About this Interview

ROGERS, Bob (b. 1921) and Daisy (b. 1922)

Interview ID: OH 1622

Longtime North Texas music professor and wife. Bob Rogers’ childhood in Bartlesville and Tulsa, Oklahoma; education at Julliard School of Music and Columbia Teachers College; service in World War II-era Army; and career as faculty member in North Texas School of Music (piano) from 1948 to 1984, including experience with State Senator Lyndon B. Johnson and memories of “’Fess” Graham. Daisy Rogers’ childhood in Red Eagle and Tulsa, Oklahoma, and education at Oklahoma A&M.
Date of Interview: 03/09/2007

More About this Interview

ROGERS, James L. (b. 1926)

Interview ID: OH 0519

College professor, former director of the North Texas State University News Service, former university administrator. His recollections concerning the desegregation of North Texas State College, 1954-56. Admission of A. Tennyson Miller, 1954; Adkins case, 1955-56; admission of Mrs. Irma E. L. Sephas, 1956; role of President J. C. Matthews in the desegregation of NTSC; press and television coverage; community attitudes and response; student and faculty reactions; Abner Haynes as the first African-American athlete at NTSC, 1956.
Date of Interview: 23/10/1980

More About this Interview

ROGERS, Richard (b. 1943)

Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Interview ID: OHB 0004

President, Mary Kay Cosmetics. Recollections of his mother’s (Mary Kay. selling career and its impact on her own company; relations with sales personnel; their decision to form own company; marketing and sales motivation; wig business; pricing; dual management system; legal aspects and government regulations; views on government regulation, self-regulation, consumerism, product quality; reasons for going public with stock; financing methods; contract and private labeling; budgeting; Australian experiences; expansion; reasons for success of Mary Kay Cosmetics; specialization vs. diversification; building management team; views on motivational differences between men and women.
Date of Interview: 11/11/1974, 25/11/1974

More About this Interview

ROHLOFF, Vincent L. (b. 1914)

Interview ID: OH 0808

Businessman, contractor. His role in the development of Hamilton Park, Texas, during the 1950s. Efforts of Dallas Home Builders Association to establish residential neighborhoods for African Americans; role of Karl Hoblitzelle and Hoblitzelle Foundation; Dallas Citizens Interracial Association; selection of Hamilton Park site; role of Jerome Crossman; T. J. Hayman and Associated Construction Company; role of Carr P. Collins and Fidelity Union Life Insurance Company in furnishing mortgage money.
Date of Interview: 31/10/1989

More About this Interview

ROHRE, Walter (b. 1921)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 1029

His experiences at Mobile hospital Number 2 during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 23/09/1994

More About this Interview

ROJAS, Andres (b.1976)

Interview ID: OH 1733

For the DFW Metroplex Immigrants Oral History Project. Mexicanborn immigrant to North Texas, restaurateur in Krum, Texas. Childhood in a mountainous village in the state of Puebla, Mexico, and how he fulfilled his dream of coming to the U.S. to become a successful businessman/entrepreneur.
Date of Interview: 26/04/2011

More About this Interview

ROLLINS, J Frank (b. 1913)

Interview ID: OH 1135

Oilman, geophysicist. His work experience with Petty Geophysical Engineering Company doing refraction seismic work; employment with Geophysical Service, Inc., doing reflection and refraction work, 1936; oil exploration in South America; work in oilfield instrumentation equipment; work as a “computer” interpreting geological data; founding of Rayflex Exploration Company, 1948; technological developments for oil field exploration; geochemical surveying; sale of Rayflex to Phillips- Eckhart, 1962; work as a geophysical consultant; application of oil field technology to national defense; German espionage activity in South America during World War II; pro-German activity in South Louisiana during World War II.
Date of Interview: 20/07/1996

More About this Interview

ROMAGOSA, Garland (b. 1922)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0721

His experiences while aboard the battleship USS California during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 15/11/1987

More About this Interview

ROSE, Pam (b. 1955)

Interview ID: OH 1598

For the Eastland County African American Women Oral History Project. Longtime resident of Cisco and Eastland, Texas. Memories of education in Cisco’s all-black, one-room Smithville Elementary School that included grades 1-6; negative experiences in newly desegregated schools; perceptions of different treatment accorded to young black men and young black women by whites; decision to attend Texas Woman’s University and earn degree in nursing; decision to return to Cisco; career as nurse in various hospitals throughout region; social life among African Americans in Eastland County
Date of Interview: 01/12/2006

More About this Interview

ROSEN, Frederick W. (b. 1917)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 1288

Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 15, USS Randolph, USS Noble. His experiences as a PT boat skipper in the North African and European Theaters and various other duties in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Early naval career, 1941-42; assignment to the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Center, Melville, Rhode Island, October, 1942; association with future President John F. Kennedy at Melville; assignment to PT Squadron 15, 1942; appointment as skipper of PT-207; combined operations with British patrol-torpedo boats out of Bône, Algeria, 1943; move to Bizerte, Tunisia, and operations around Sicily and screening the landing force, 1943; move to Palermo, Sicily, and operations off the west coast of Italy, 1943; invasion of Italy at Salerno and screening the landing force, 1943; operations out of La Maddalena, 1943; operations from Bastia, Corsica, 1943; operations with OSS operatives in southern France and northwestern Italy, 1944; return to the U.S., 1944; assignment to the aircraft carrier USS Randolph as assistant gunnery officer, 1944; assignment to the APA USS Noble, 1945; operations off Okinawa, 1945; liberation of American and Allied POWs in Korea, 1945.
Date of Interview: 20/02/1997

More About this Interview

ROSENZWEIG, Bertha (b. 1911)

Tex Glass.

Interview ID: OHB 0034

Co-founder (with husband Herman, deceased) of Tex Glass, Inc., Decatur, Texas. Family background; education in Brooklyn, N. Y.; teaching career; her knowledge of husband’s family background and his life in Europe during Hitler era; his technical training, work in glass factories; starting his own glass factory in Vienna; fleeing Nazis and migrating to Greece; Jewish underground in Central Europe; fleeing to Egypt, Palestine; migration to U.S.; their meeting and marriage; work in Canada and Mexico; opening glass factory in Athens, Texas; move to Decatur; employee relations; products and production process; distribution system; financing methods; her managing the business; sale of business; reparations from Austrian government.
Date of Interview: 15/11/1979

More About this Interview

ROSER, Robert (b. 1920)

U.S. Army WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 1067

His experiences with the 29th Division during the invasion of Normandy in World War II.
Date of Interview: 06/01/1995

More About this Interview

ROSS, Paul (b. 1917)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0450

His experiences while aboard the battleship USS West Virginia during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 04/08/1978

More About this Interview

ROTH, Theodore (b. 1923)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0242

His experiences while aboard the destroyer USS Hull during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 25/08/1974

More About this Interview

ROTH, Thomas (b. 1924)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0400

His experiences at Kaneohe Naval Air Station with VP-11 during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 15/10/1977

More About this Interview

ROUSSEAU, Fred (b. 1921)

U.S. Army Air Corps WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0347

His experiences at Hickam Field with the Base Fire Department during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 22/11/1976

More About this Interview

ROWAN, Dolphus Edward, Jr. (b. 1919)

U.S. Army Air Forces WWII Veteran. 534th Squadron. 381st Bombardment Group. 8th Air Force.

Interview ID: OH 1805

For the Tarrant County War Veterans Oral History Project. Airline pilot. His experiences as a B-17 pilot in the European Theater in World War II. Childhood in Alabama, learning to fly; enlistment in the Air National Guard; Army Air Forces flight training; bombing missions over Germany; career as an American Airlines pilot; 381st Bombardment Group Memorial and Dedication Ceremony.
Date of Interview: 17/07/2007

More About this Interview

RUCKER, David (b. 1921)

U.S. Army Air Forces WWII Veteran. 346th Bomb Squadron. 384th Bomb Group. 8th Air Force.

Interview ID: OH 1413

His experiences as a B-17 pilot in the European Theater during World War II. His enrollment in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, 1940; enlistment in the Aviation Cadet Program, 1942; Aviation Cadet Classification Center, San Antonio, Texas, 1942; pre-flight training, San Antonio, 1942-43; primary flight training, Cimarron Field, Oklahoma City, 1943; basic flight training, Strother Army Air Base, Winfield, Kansas, 1943; advanced flight training, Altus, Oklahoma, 1943; bomber transition training, Sebring, Florida, 1943; crew formation at Dalhart, Texas, 1944; troopship to England, 1944; assignment to the 384th Bomb Group, Station 106, Grafton Underwood, England; bombing missions over France in preparation for the D-Day landings; his observations from the air of the D-Day landings; mission to Stettin, Germany, May 13, 1944; rotation back to the States after his thirty-first mission on July 6, 1944; postwar career in business.
Date of Interview: 16/07/2000

More About this Interview

RUDDICK, John L. (b. 1923)

U.S. Navy WWII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0897

His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in Westbrook and Dublin, Texas; joining the CCC; assignment to Company 849 at SP-36 at Lake Brownwood, Texas; description of camp; life in camp.
Date of Interview: 24/02/1993

More About this Interview

Interview ID: OH 1058

His experiences while aboard the destroyer USS Melvin during World War II in the Pacific Theater. Marianas invasion; Carolines invasion; Battle of Leyte Gulf; Battle of Surigao Strait; Iwo Jima; Okinawa; Kurile operations and occupation of Japan.
Date of Interview: 09/09/1994

More About this Interview

RUDELSON, Naomie (b. 1934)

Interview ID: OH 2041

Naomie Rudelson shares experiences as a retailing executive whose career grew in the Dallas fashion scene. While her first fashion experiences were working at Gus Mayer in New Orleans and then working at Dalton’s while attending Louisiana State University, shortly after graduation she moved to Dallas to complete a junior executive training program through the department store Sanger Brothers in 1956. She worked at the Highland Park and Preston Center branches of the store, rising to the level of buyer before becoming the first female vice president of a Federated Department Store in 1974. After hitting her “glass ceiling” there in 1978, Rudelson left what was then Sanger-Harris in 1978, transitioning to executive positions around the country. Rudelson describes the Dallas fashion industry – retailers, manufacturers, the Dallas Apparel Mart – as well as her work with Fashion Group International in the early 1970s to move a collection of historic and designer clothing to North Texas State University (later the University of North Texas, Texas Fashion Collection).
Date of Interview: 13/07/2020

More About this Interview

RUGG, Alma (b. 1916)

Interview ID: OH 0224

Her experiences as a Navy wife at Hickam Field during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 07/07/1974

More About this Interview

RUGG, James E. (b. 1918)

U.S. Navy WII Veteran.

Interview ID: OH 0338

His experiences while aboard the minelayer USS Breese during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Date of Interview: 13/06/1976

More About this Interview

The new UNT Oral History Collection database is a work in progress. You can search the database by Interviewee Name or Keyword. Please help us by reporting bugs to the Oral History Program."