Oral history interviews with Crystal Inge, Mikyoko Kanda, and Donna Sasaki by Connor Peterson, Yina Finch, and Megan Packer conducted 04/16/2019, 04/28/2019, 04/30/2019. In April of 2019, a Pacific Lutheran University Religion 393 class set out to interview members of the Tacoma Buddhist Temple with the purpose to study the acculturation of religion and the ways that the role of religion in the Tacoma community has changed overtime. The class was broken down into three groups of 3-4 students each in order to interview Miyoko Kanda, Donna Sasaki and Crystal Inge, who are all members of the Tacoma Buddhist Temple. Each person was interviewed in order to glean more information about the time period they were most active in and specific questions regarding temple culture. This project was initiated with the intent to preserve the different perspectives of the members mentioned above through oral history as an ongoing project to collect and archive oral histories of relevant members of Tacoma from its foundation to present day.

Oral history interview with Roger Coleman by Patricia George conducted April-May 2007. Retired longshoreman Roger Coleman describes the working environment at the Port of Tacoma during the 1960s and 1970s and comments on the racial attitudes and trends among workers. He also discusses the history of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and its local affiliate, Local 23.

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.

Oral history interviews with Nhung Huynh and Thanh Huynh by Jennifer Nguyen conducted 05/12/2015, 05/20/2015. In 1973 the war in Vietnam had ended for the United States and by 1975 the Vietnam War had effectively ended altogether. Following the end Vietnam War, the life of the South Vietnamese people would be disrupted and the new regime in Vietnam would implement harsh new laws and regulations against the South Vietnamese population to stabilize the new government. The chaos towards the end of the Vietnam War led to the United States to accept large numbers of Vietnamese refugees into the country. Did the United States do enough to help the refugees, or did their concerns go unheard? The purpose of this oral history project is to gain thoughtful information about the perspectives of Vietnamese refugees and their trials and tribulations during their voyage to freedom and once they arrived to America. This oral history project includes personal stories of Nhung Huynh and Thanh Huynh's refugees escaping on boat and their lives while waiting to resettle in America.

Oral history interview with Bertil E. Johnson by John Kingery conducted April-May 1994. In this set of interviews, retired Washington State Superior Court judge Bertil Johnson discusses his legal and civic careers, particularly his involvement with the Tacoma Boys Club and his time as presiding judge for the Pierce County juvenile court. He comments on some of the federal and local changes made to the juvenile court system in the 1970s and also touches briefly on some events from Tacoma history, such as the blizzard of 1950 and the adoption of the new city charter.