Oral history interview with Tacoma resident Karen Saxon conducted by dindria barrow on April 12, 2023. In this interview, Karen shares her story about the historic 1963 March on Washington where she heard Martin Luther King, Jr. speak and Mahalia Jackson sing. Karen shares her 60 year-old scrapbook of the event and shared the documents that prepared her for nonviolent demonstrations. Karen tells us that “your peace walk begins in your kitchen.” In other words, we must all start from ourselves and our homes before we can inspire change in others and in our society.

Photo description from Fredrick Mullan

When taken: 1930s and Later
Where taken: Puget sound, Alaska

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.

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.

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.