oral history
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Michael Swett – Just One Thing at a Time
This is an excerpt of my interview with Michael Swett. Michael talked to us about the homeless encampment along the banks of the river.
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Vrinda Quintero – To Me the River Is
Excerpt of interview with Vrinda Quintero about growing up in Venezuela and living along the banks of the San Lorenzo River.
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Gene Davidson owner of the Clifton Marina
We talked to Gene Davidson who owns the Clifton Marina. He’s lived either in Clifton or nearby Waynesboro all of his 80 years. A pharmacist for most of his career, Gene created the marina in the early 2000s after he retired.
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Glen Lineberry worked on towboats for 50 years
He worked for 40 years on line towboats that would travel from the big river ports hauling stuff upriver. He started as deckhand, and worked as mate, assistant engineer, and finally chief engineer for decades.
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Sonnie Hereford, Civil Rights Pioneer
We were fortunate to be able to talk to Sonnie Hereford IV, who at the age of 5 was the first child to integrate public schools not just in Huntsville, but in Alabama.
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An Interview with the Arsenal Archaeologist
I had the opportunity to interview Ben Hoksbergen, archaeologist for the Redstone Arsenal. He took us upriver in his boat to several artifact sites and up to Paint Rock near the Guntersville Dam to see prehistoric paintings on the rock.
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Doris Turner – What does the river mean to you?
Excerpt from interview with Dorris Turner in Guntersville, Alabama along the banks of the Tennessee River.
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Beautiful People I’ve Interviewed
With help from numerous people who work and live on the Mississippi River, I am creating an ongoing digital archive of personal histories. These are just some of the people I interviewed as part of A Secret History of American River People.
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Peter Rachleff on the Creativity of Poor People
Peter Rachleff, Professor of History, talks about how poor people in the Twin Cities have historically used the sawn ends and off cuts from the sawmills to build shanties.