Oral history interview of Anna Howerton and Poulsen Vanya conducted on February 25th, 2023, as part of the Archiving South Tacoma Communities event located at the South Tacoma Branch

Oral history interview with Tacoma resident Chace Hunter conducted by dindria barrow on August 25, 2022. In this interview, Chace talks about his family immigrating to Hilltop, Tacoma in 1993, then moving to South Tacoma in 1998, graduating from Western Washington University as well as University of Washington-Tacoma and then buying a home in Hilltop as an adult. Chace’s family fled Cambodia to escape the Khmer Rouge and were refugees in Thailand before coming to Tacoma. He is bilingual and has been married to his husband for six years. Chace has a passion for poetry, psychology, non-profits and nursing. Chace fell in love with his HIV Prevention work and is now the executive director of the AIDS Housing Association of Tacoma (AHAT Homecare). AHAT Homecare provides 24-hour home care, affordable housing/case management, and rental vouchers to the local HIV+ community. To paraphrase Chace: “I love giving back to the community, especially during a time of houselessness, and helping to provide homes to people in need.”

A recent IPCC report sets out the current facts about climate change and what we must do to avoid the worst.

Centell T. Jackson is an active poet and songwriter and has works publish in the 2015 Pierce College Slam Magazine, Five Willows online poetry publication, and currently has submissions with the African American Writers Alliance.

Oral history interview with Dr. Thelma Jackson conducted by dindria barrow on May 11, 2023. In this interview, Thelma shares about her childhood, her education, her move to Washington and her work in many different academic areas and social arenas. Thelma discusses how we need to be present about the past and future. To paraphrase, staying present will help us realize what work needs to be done in our community and society. Thelma shares her new book and how oral histories were a key component of telling the Black community’s story in Lacey and Thurston County.

FPHS student Jesse Domínguez interviews Felipa Membrilla in Spanish.

Oral history interview with Tacoma resident Kyle Jolibois conducted by dindria barrow on August 17, 2022. In this interview, Kyle tells us about his birth and how he is connected to the grittiness of Tacoma. To paraphrase him, "Tacomans are fighters and survivalists no matter who is in control of the city." Kyle’s story is about resilience and speaking truth to power. He leads his life with a direct and realistic view about our environment and our social/political issues. Kyle is open about his views, his sobriety goals, and his physical disability. His strength is his voice and his desire to stand up for what is right.

Oral history interview with Tacoma resident Janice Kampbell conducted by dindria barrow on August 25, 2022. In this interview, Janice tells the story of how her parents met each other after World War II in rural Michigan on a blind date. Farming and the military were a part of her parents’ lives and Janice grew up a child of a military pilot and a nurse. Her family moved to a variety of locations in the United States. Janice became a nurse like her mother and retired after 43 years. Janice is a Pierce County Master Gardener and shares her first encounter with planting seeds into frozen dirt with a spoon. Janice concludes her oral history by sharing the history of the Tacoma Urban Land Trust (2010) also previously known as the Guadalupe Land Trust located on Hilltop, Tacoma. The Tacoma Urban Land Trust's website is https://www.tult.org