Oral history interviews with Kosho Yukawa and Yaeko Nakano by Susan Stout conducted February-March 1992. This project includes interviews with the then minister of Tacoma Buddhist Temple, Reverend Kosho Yukawa, and Mrs. Yaeko Nakano, a longtime member of Tacoma Buddhist Temple and its principal organist. Yukawa describes Buddhist religious practices, the activities of the Temple and its various organizations, his family, and Sunya Pratt. Nakano discusses her family life growing up as a Japanese American in Tacoma, Washington during the Depression, her education, internment experiences during the Second World War, her training and work as a musician, and her involvement with the Tacoma Buddhist Temple in many capacities.

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.

Oral history interviews with Leonard W. Holden and Julius Jahn by Juanita Hembrow conducted 02/1992. Leonard Holden, founder of the Tacoma Friends Meeting, and Julius Jahn, a long-time member of the Religious Society of Friends, talk about the history of the Quakers and reflect on the personal experiences and revelations that inspired them to become pacifists and Conscientious Objectors. Holden shares his efforts in establishing a permanent Quaker meeting place in the Tacoma area, and Jahn describes his experiences with various Quaker groups and sects throughout the United States. Both men expound on the various services and humanitarian projects that the Tacoma Friends Meeting has been involved in, from draft counseling services to collaborative efforts with other churches to rehabilitate low-income housing.

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.

Oral history interviews with Tadaye Fujimoto Kawasaki, Yoshiko Fujimoto Sugiyama, Kimi Fujimoto Tanbara, and Sadako Hirose by Brenda Sonnier conducted 02/1993. Sisters Tadaye "Teddy" Kawasaki, Yoshiko Sugiyama, Kimi Tanbara, and friend Sadako Hirose recall their school years at Tacomas Nihon Go Gakko (Japanese Language School) and describe life within the citys Japanese-American community during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. They provide an extensive history of the school building, including its designation as a registration center following Executive Order 9066 and its use as a hostel for Japanese-Americans returning home from internment camps.

Oral history interviews with Grant Larson and Corinne Larson by Donald R. Tjossem conducted 07/18/2011. In this pair of interviews, Grant and Corinne Larson describe life in the Taylor Bay community of Key Peninsula. Grant Larson, a Taylor Bay native whose grandparents immigrated to the area in 1857, shares stories from his childhood, comments on his early fishing and logging careers, and reflects on how the community has changed since his youth. Corinne Larson describes the rural lifestyle of Taylor Bay in the 1950s and also talks about their time as a husband-and-wife fishing team in Alaska.

Oral history interviews with Maria Moore and Barbara Laxson by Tom Wilson conducted 05/11/2015, 05/12/2015. The Burley Utopian Community was part of the growing Social Equity Movement of the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries. The origin of the idea of seeding the United States with Socialist Communities came from an organization led by Eugene V Debs. Debs was a veteran of the labor troubles that gripped the nation beginning in the 1880's and culminated with the deaths of thirteen workers during the Pullman Strike. Debs began to believe that the only hope for the workingman was Socialism. With that in mind the national Socialist organization looked for opportunities to spread the Socialism, Washington State was selected as the site of the colony, chosen because of its history of labor activism and a smaller population that would be sympathetic to the cause. Thus was born the town/colony of Brotherhood, a name that was soon surrendered for the commonly used, Burley. Plagued with troubles from the onset, the colony lasted only 15 years. This is story of a community that has survived, not so much physically, but in spirit, a spirit that still holds this small community together today. That spirit can be seen in the words of Barbara Laxson who is a longtime resident who lives in one of the original homes built by the colony where an oral history was recorded. It can also be heard in the words of Maria Moore, an American citizen born in Mexico who lives now in Burley. Mrs. Moore, is a former member of the Burley Community Association the group that is charged with maintaining the community properties, her interview was conducted in the community park. In their words you can begin to understand why it is so important to try to keep and keep the history and the name Burley alive today.

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.

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.