An index to the edited transcriptions of oral histories (audio taped) in the Society’s library is HERE.
Click on the underlined links below to see video interviews on the Berkeley Historical Society’s YouTube Channel:
John Aronovici is a fourth generation Berkeleyan. His grandmother, Dr. Ginno, was the first Berkeley woman dentist; his mother, Elizabeth Ginno, was a local artist married to the renowned etcher John Winkler. Among other things, John recounts the stories he heard as a boy about the 1923 Berkeley Fire and his own memories of the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition. John is the longtime manager of the Berkeley Historical Society, with extensive knowledge of Berkeley history.
Ruth Hayashi was born in Berkeley in 1933, living at The Cedars at 1301 Oxford Street until she and her mother were interned at Topaz internment camp in Utah from 1942 – 1945. Ruth and her mother returned to Berkeley at the end of the war, where Ruth graduated from Berkeley High in 1951. In this interview, Ms. Hayashi focuses on the Japanese-American experience in Berkeley before and after the war. The interview was conducted on November 3, 2015 by Berkeley High School seniors Amy Li (interviewer) and Mylena Guzman (videographer).
Minh Le. Interviews with Minh Le, former high-ranking Vietnamese diplomat, from war-time childhood in Vietnam, to refugee, to life in the Bay Area.
- Part I, 1937-1954, WWII, French withdrawal;
- Part II, 1954-1968, joining the diplomatic service, Tet Offensive;
- Part III, 1969-1975, diplomatic service in Saigon, Fall of Saigon;
- Part IV, 1975-2017, making a life in the Bay Area.
Paul Salz: Kindertransport refugee and engineer at Lawrence Berkeley Lab (Interview by Jeanine Castello-Lin and Tonya Staros)
- Part I: Czechoslovakia 1924-1929; Kindertransport; Refugee in England; RAF in Ceylon
- Part II: Arriving in America; International House; Lottie’s story: escape from concentration camp
Peter Dale Scott, Professor Emeritus, English Department, UC Berkeley, faculty supporter of the Free Speech Movement, poet, anti-Vietnam War activist, political writer. Interview September 16, 2014, by Jeanine Castello-Lin; video by Tonya Staros.
Eleanor Walden‘s lullabies were the songs from the Wobblies’ Little Red Songbook. In the late 1940s, she met Pete Seeger and other singers in Washington Square Park. Her first $5 as a singer was earned performing with Seeger’s People’s Songs during the Urban Folk Revival. Born in Greenwich Village, Eleanor received BA and Master’s Degrees in folklore from UC Berkeley, and continued singing. In 1982, she helped organize the Freedom Song Network, singers and songwriters supporting civil rights and social justice. (Interview August 15, 2015, by Berkeley High School seniors Nava Bearson and Haley Gee)
Leon Wofsy, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology/Immunology, UC Berkeley, faculty supporter of the Free Speech Movement and active voice for peace in the Vietnam War era and following.
Reflections on the Free Speech Movement (Interview September 3, 2014 by Jeanine Castello-Lin; video by Lise Aftergut)
Reflections on His Years in the Communist Movement, 1929–1956 (Interview October 2016 by Tonya Staros and Jeanine Castello-Lin, video by Tonya Staros)