For the Skylab Oral History Project. NASA communications engineer and assistant flight director. Memories of childhood in New Britain, Conn.; service in Korean War-era Air Force; 1963 decision to join NASA; communications work for Apollo, Skylab, International Space Station, and Space Shuttle program missions; trouble-shooting for Skylab missions…
His experiences while aboard the battleship USS Pennsylvania during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Educator, farmer-rancher. His experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Early family history in Montague County, Texas; his pre-war education; his enlistment in the Navy in December, 1942; his acceptance in the V-7 Program, 1943; Midshipman School, Columbia University, 1943; his failing out of Midshipman School and transfer to the U.…
General and regional manager, Haverty’s Furniture Company, Houston, Texas. Family Family background; Fenoglio settlement in Montague County, Texas; farming in Montague; comments on grape production and effects of Prohibition on business; education in Montague; effects of Depression in Montague; employment with Haverty’s Furniture, 1928; history of…
Executive. Educational background; employment with Texaco; transfer to Caltex; Australian experience; origins of Caltex; Caltex (Australia); activities during World War II; expatriates in Caltex; Ampol, Alba, H. C. Sleigh; Kurnell refinery; navy fuel oil contracts; president, Caltex East; Caltex in Japan; nationalization; president, Caltex West;…
Farmwoman, homemaker. Her observations on land speculation, settlement, and development in the Coastal Bend area of South Texas, 1910-70. Small town social life; agrarian life; Mexican-Anglo relations; King Ranch.
Musician, vocalist. His experiences as a musician/vocalist with Bob Wills’s”Texas Playboys” and the “Light Crust Doughboys” western swing bands, 1936-42; comments about Bob Wills and band members Marvin Montgomery, Kenneth Pitts, AL Stricklin, “Smoky” Dacus, “Knocky” Parker, Leon McAuliffe, Eldon Shamblin; forming his own groups and playing the…
Roman Catholic priest. His recollections of customs, folklore, and superstitions in the Basque country of Spain; experiences as a Capuchin seminarian; reminiscences about the Spanish Civil War; recent social changes in the Basque country.
Don Ferrier, CGB (Certified Green Builder), is the Owner and CEO of Ferrier Companies. As the third generation of Scottish immigrants who were stone masons and builders, he founded his business in 1984 in response to an increased need for high-performance construction methods addressing energy efficiency. Ferrier was one of the first builders in…
College instructor, former assistant football coach at North Texas State College. His experiences concerning the desegregation of athletics at North Texas State College, 1956.
His experiences while aboard the battleship USS Pennsylvania during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Businessman, 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; liberation.
For the Desegregating DFW Oral History Project. Texas Civil Rights activist and NAACP youth council member. Childhood in Dallas; desegregation protests of the State Fair of Texas, Picadilly’s, H. L. Green, and the Majestic; memories of Juanita Craft and NAACP youth movement; Civil Rights movement; Dallas Independent School District desegregation…
Community leader. Her experiences as a resident of Hamilton Park, Texas, 1959-90. Youth in segregated East Texas; lack of housing for African Americans; decision to buy a home in Hamilton Park; home improvements; flooding problems; employment; entertainment and social activities; church activities; desegregation of the Hamilton Park School;…
His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Capture on Wake Island; Wusong Prison Camp, Shanghai, 1942-44; Pusan, Korea, 1945; Hakodate, Hokkaido, 1945; liberation.
His experiences while attending the Texas International Pop Festival, Lewisville, Texas, August 30-September 1, 1969. His early youth in rural Texas (Jack County); his mother’s interest in music and honkytonks; attendance at the “Big D Jamboree” at the Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas, during the Sixties; effects of his parents' divorce; influence of…
Horticulturalist, 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; Tamarkan, Thailand, 1944; liberation.
His experiences as a member of the 7th and 15th Defense Battalions during World War II.
Finley, Dean: Ticket Agent. 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…
In this oral history interview, retired educator Mary Ann Finley recounts her decades-long career teaching in public and private schools across Texas from the early 1970s to her retirement in 1992. Motivated by a desire to help her children avoid college debt, Finley returned to school at Stephen F. Austin State University to earn her teaching…
For the Dallas LGBT Oral History Project. Administrator and co-founder of the UNT Ally program. Building LGBT resources at the UNT library and Ally program; Safe Zone programs; faculty training to support LGBT students in the DFW Metroplex; education and work experiences; influence to become an Ally; support of the gay community.
Executive. Educational background; U.S. Army in World War II; employment with Shell; Area Petroleum Office; employment with Caltex; China experience; Japan, 1949-1955; Nippon Oil Company and Koa Oil Company; supervisor, West Mediterranean Area, 1955; regional director, Inner Europe Division; refinery expansion; French experience; Socal’s and…
Founder of Fischer’s Meat Market, Muenster, Texas. [Note: Name changed to Fisher. Original family name, Fischer, maintained only to identify business.] Family background; farming and public education in Muenster; establishment of meat market, 1927; business expansion to include groceries, 1933; effects of Depression in Muenster; production and…
His experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Assignment to the crew of a PB4Y2; his unauthorized participation in a combat mission out of Okinawa over the Sea of Japan; battle damage to his plane; description of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from aerial observations after the dropping of the atomic bombs.
His experiences in the Pacific Theater as a combat pilot in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War II. Fall of Singapore; Guadalcanal operations; air combat against Japanese Zeros; release from duty, December 1943.
