Sources of Inquiry

Case 10: Oral Histories

Oral histories are recorded interviews that contain an individual's recollections of past events. Some oral histories are conducted independently, and others as part of projects focused on a particular theme or subject. Oral histories ideally capture information that has not been written down, providing critical information otherwise absent from the permanent record, and enhancing our understanding of the past.

Featured in the case are recorded interviews with seven individuals who related personal experiences of larger events, movements, and trends that have shaped modern sociocultural perspectives. Samuel Oliner is the only person in his family to have survived the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II. As an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, Dr. Mary Oda was interned at Manzanar following Executive Order 9066. Blenda Wilson, CSUN President from 1992 to 1999, is credited with bringing the university back from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, one of the costliest natural disasters in US history.

Agness Underwood, one of Los Angeles' best-known crime reporters during the 1930s and 1940s, later became the first female city editor of a major American metropolitan newspaper. Rev. Hillery Broadus organized the San Fernando Valley Branch of the NAACP, and worked tirelessly to advocate for fair housing and racial equality in the 1950s and 60s. Luis Valdez worked with Cesar Chavez to organize the United Farm Workers union, founded El Teatro Campesino, and is considered a pioneer in the Chicano movement. Bobbi Fiedler, former US Representative from California, is known for founding a grassroots organization called "Bustop," which fiercely opposed Los Angeles Unified's school busing programs in the late 1970s.

Case 11, Organizational Records, is to your right.

• 1

  Analog and digital recording formats, including a Sony Hi8MP 8mm video cassette, Sony digital Betacam cassette, VHS tape, BCS20 Compact Umatic Video Cassette Tape, Maxell UDS-II 60 minute audio cassette, Archival Gold 100 year DVD-R, and reel-to-reel audio tape

• 2

  Bobbi Fiedler Oral History Interview transcription excerpt, November 17, 1988Urban Archives General Oral Histories Collection

• 3

  Samuel Oliner, interviewed circa 1984Child Survivors of the Holocaust Oral History Collection

• 4

  CSUN President Blenda Wilson, interviewed 2013CSUN Leaders Oral History Project Collection

• 5

  Bobbi Fiedler, interviewed circa 1976Urban Archives General Oral Histories Collection

• 6

  Agness Underwood, interviewed 1984Southern California Journalism Oral History Project Collection

• 7

  Dr. Mary Oda, interviewed 2004Japanese Americans in the San Fernando Valley Oral History Project Collection

• 8

  Luis Valdez, interviewed circa 2000California Farm Workers Oral History Project Collection

• 9

  Reverend Hillery T. Broadous, interviewed 1988San Fernando Valley Oral History Project Collection