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Tacoma Community History UWT Student Projects

  • CAC4003

In 1990, the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Program at the University of Washington Tacoma began offering oral history classes at the undergraduate and graduate level. Primarily led by Professor Michael K. Honey, students enrolled in these courses conducted oral histories that document local churches, labor unions, ethnic communities, neighborhoods, businesses, and civic leaders in Tacoma and the South Puget Sound.

Hillside Community Church: A Path to Liberalism

Oral history interview with Milton P. Andrews by Robert Ewing conducted 1/13/1992. Andrews discusses his experiences growing up as the son of a fundamental (Free Methodist Church) preacher in Missouri, his education, religious training, and his own spiritual and philosophical shift to a more progressive brand of religion and into activism for social justice. Andrews details his controversial tenure as the leader of several churches in Ohio, New York and Washington State, including Epworth Lesourd Methodist Church in Tacoma, where his stance against the Vietnam War led to his forced resignation in 1970. The interview only briefly touches on Andrews's involvement with the Hillside Community Church.

A Woman of Firsts: Nelda Jaeger-Kraemer - Her Life as a Citizen of Tacoma for Ninety-two Years

Oral history interviews with Robert Richard Kraemer, Jr; Betty Kraemer; and Renee Kraemer-Rhoads by Kathryn S. Held conducted 11/1998. Robert Richard Kraemer Jr, Betty Dahl Kraemer, and Renee Kraemer-Rhoads present their family history and share stories about the several generations of Kraemers, Jaegers, and Kitchens who have lived in the Tacoma area. Particular focus is given to Nelda Jaeger-Kraemer, one of the first women to graduate from the University of Washington Law School.

Upholding the Hippocratic Oath: A Story of Medicine in Tacoma and its Fight Against AIDS

Oral history interview with Peter Marsh by Joshua Wright conducted 05/28/2015. From the very beginning, Tacoma was met with illness in the form of typhoid. Disease would continue to wage war against the residents of the City of Destiny until the Fannie C. Paddock Memorial Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital were built in 1882 and 1891, respectively. Both organizations developed meaningful relationships with their community and ignited a behind-the-scenes competition which would benefit both patient and physician. Almost 100 years later, Tacoma was cared for predominantly by primary care physicians. It had just started to see an influx of medical specialists via Madigan Army Medical Center when the city was hit by HIV in 1983. With no effective cure at the time, Tacoma did its best to cope with the disease and its associated complications, and the infectious disease specialists were on the forefront. One of these few physicians was Dr. Peter Marsh. Born in Chicago in 1949, he was inspired to become a doctor as a young boy by the Dr. Kildare film series. Arriving in Tacoma in 1981, he would find himself in the middle of handling the AIDS epidemic, supporting patients as best as he could before they succumbed to the disease; that is, until the introduction of antiretroviral medications. Now able to effectively cure patients, Dr. Marsh found new life in his work and continued to serve his community until retirement in 2015. With the epidemic under control, Tacoma still utilizes what it learned from that chaotic era to stand prepared for anything thrown its way.

The Community of Day Island

Oral history interview with Gerry Garrison, Marion Van Winkle, and Marylou Handford by Audie Mangold conducted January-February 1993. They share stories about their unique community and discuss the major social and cultural changes that have taken place on the island.

Telegrapher for the Northern Pacific Railway in Tacoma

Oral history interview with Gary Emmons by Karin Crelling conducted 05/17/2017. Gary Emmons was in a unique position in the 1960s, working for the Northern Pacific Railway as a telegrapher. He was witness to the change from manpower to computers. The telegraph station at McCarver Street in Tacoma, Washington was one of the most important stations in the area. Trains would not leave Tacoma, unless they had received their instructions from this station. This paper will provide a brief history of not just the McCarver Street station, and how it operated, but also other institutions, that were intricately connected to the Northern Pacific Railway here in Tacoma; institutions such as McKinley Hill Hospital, the Great Tacoma Shops, Union Station and, very briefly, the decline and the revival of downtown Tacoma and the restoration of Union Station, as well as the present campus of the University of Washington, Tacoma. This research will cover a span from approximately 1910 to 2000 and follows loosely the interview conducted with Col. Gary Emmons, USAF, Ret.

Women and Tacomas Civil Rights Movement: Mrs. Bil Moss

Oral history interview with Bil Moss by Kristina L. Walker conducted April - May 2009. Community leader Bil Moss looks back at six decades of social activism and discusses her involvement in Tacomas civil rights movement. She describes her early work to secure open housing in Tacoma, which arose from her personal struggles to purchase property outside the Hilltop area, and her work with the Tacoma Chapter of the Links on the Sickle Cell Project. Moss touches on a number of her civic and political activities in these three lengthy interviews and shares some insights into the social barriers she has faced as an African-American woman.

Dawn Lucien: Civic Pride and the Ebb and Flow of Tacomas Development

Oral history interview with Dawn Lucien by Andrew Fry conducted April-May 2009. Dawn Lucien, a lifelong civic activist and former Tacoma City Council member, examines some of the major political and economic decisions that have affected Tacomas development, particularly that of the downtown core. Areas of focus include the downtown decline following the construction of the Tacoma Mall; Luciens efforts to restore the Pantages Theater and revitalize the Broadway District; and her involvement with the South Puget Sound Education Council, which helped to establish the Tacoma branch of the University of Washington.

Covid 19- The resilience of everyday People

Oral history interviews with Zakariyya Alim and Mary Thompson by Gudrun Krause conducted 05/04/2020. Polio, Scarlet fever, Spanish fly, H1N1, Whooping cough, HIV, and now Covid-19 to name just a few pandemics that haunted the USA. All of them spread death and misery throughout the population. This essay takes a look at ordinary people and how they dealt with natural and man- made crises during their lifetime and how they are coping now with the threat of Covid-19. Two people are interviewed for this project, an African American man from Baltimore MD and a White American woman with Scottish heritage from a rural area in WA State. Due to a historic turn of the event, the conclusion is looking into the equal rights protests that are going on all over the country and the world.

Civil Rights and Civic Pride: The Story of Harold G. Moss and the City of Tacoma

Oral history interview with Harold G. Moss by Alison H. Sonntag conducted January-February 1993. Harold Moss reflects on his forty years of social activism in the Tacoma community and shares stories about the citys gradual shift toward racial integration and equality during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. He also discusses his childhood in Detroit, his early campaigns for public office, and his eventual appointment to the city council in 1970, earning him the distinction of being the first African-American to hold a public office in Pierce County. An addendum includes quotations from Mosss inaugural speech after being appointed Mayor of Tacoma in 1994, the first African-American to serve in that capacity.

Philip H. Red Eagle

Oral history interview with Philip H. Red Eagle by Jordan Woolston conducted 05/02/2017. Philip H. Red Eagle was born in 1945 in Tacoma, Washington. His mother, Marian Steilacoom, of Salish decent, was born near Port Angeles, Washington. Philip's father, Philip Red Eagle, a member of the Dakota Tribe, was born near the Missouri River on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana. Phillip spent the first fourteen years of his life in Tacoma, attending Stanley and McCarver schools before moving to Sitka, Alaska with his family in 1959. Philip joined the Navy shortly after graduating from high school, serving in Vietnam for five years from 1969-1973. After Vietnam, Philip returned to Washington and began undergraduate studies at the University of Washington where he earned two bachelor's degrees. The return to civilian life after the war affected Philip and he struggled with PTSD and related issues like depression and insomnia. Philip found that art, writing, and taking part in the revival of his culture helped him confront his PTSD and over the last 30 years Philip has contributed greatly to the revival and expansion of Indigenous culture in the Pacific Northwest.

The Greek Community in Tacoma, Washington

Oral history interview with JoAnn Tryfon by Mark Kilner conducted between 05/12/2014 and 05/20/2014. JoAnn Tryfon discusses her mother's unbringing in Idaho, father's imigration to the United states and his hat shop in downtown Tacoma. She also discusses her own upbringing, her community involvment and relationship with the Greek Orthodox Church in Tacoma as well as her general experience of being a Greek-American.

The Timber Challenge

Oral history interview with Eudoro Estrada by Deborah D. Boyd conducted 05/03/1991. The interview discusses Eudoro Estrada's life in Mexico, his struggles when he first arrived in the United States, and his efforts to start and maintain what became a successful reforestation business. Estrada also describes his family life and briefly touches upon the discrimination he encountered as a Mexican American businessman in Washington State.

Serving on the USS Mason: Breaking Racial Barriers in the U.S. Navy

Oral history interview with Merwin Peters by Shawn Boyd conducted 05/06/2011. World War II veteran Merwin Peters shares the history of the USS Mason and describes his experiences as an African-American sailor serving just prior to military desegregation. Frequent references are made to Mary Pat Kelly, whose 1995 book ""Proudly We Served: The Men of the USS Mason"" brought the story of the Mason and her crew to public attention.

Tacoma Judaism: One Hundred Years

Oral history interviews with members of the Jewish community, Rabbi Richard Rosenthal, Steph Farber, and Lucille Hurst by Nardah L. Fox conducted February-May 1992. The interviews with three members of Tacoma's Jewish community, Richard Rosenthal, Steph Farber, and Ruth Hurst, to some degree all touch upon the exodus of businesses (many of them Jewish-owned) from the downtown Tacoma business district. In two interview segments, Rabbi Rosenthal discusses early Jewish settlement in Tacoma, the 1960 merger of existing Conservative and Reform congregations to form Temple Beth El, and adds some details about his early life and training. Farber recounts his beliefs about misguided urban renewal practices of the 1960s and 1970s and reminisces about the many businesses that once flourished in downtown Tacoma. The transcript of the interview with Hurst appears to provide only an excerpt; she discusses her family business, Feist & Bachrach, as well as other downtown Tacoma stores operating prior to 1965.

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