UW Tacoma Community History Projects
The Community History Project Oral History Collection in the UW Tacoma Library has been compiled by students enrolled in Professor Michael Honey's "Doing Community History" class, offered periodically since 1991. Students research local history and interview people in the community about their lives, their knowledge of Tacoma and its environs, and their opinions about a wide range of issues, both local and global. The interviews are then transcribed and edited to make them as assessible as possible to readers. Since the class was first convened, students have developed oral histories with scores of residents of the area, from union members to business people, to Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos and Japanese Americans. As professor Honey writes, "oftentimes some of the most important information about the history of a community is lost because the people in it were not consulted or questioned by researchers. We would like to help preserve the history of this area, as told by the people themselves."
The titles of projects are listed alphabetically by year and in a master list of authors. Please note that the name of the interviewee doesn't always appear in the title. Projects may also be accessed through a list of 14 broad subject areas covered by the collection. Those projects that cover mulitiple subject areas are listed on all applicable subject pages.
Digitized Excerpts from Selected Interviews
- Joseph Kosai - A Japanese Internment Experience
- Thomas Dixon and the Tacoma Urban League
- Winning the Hearts and Minds of Fort Lewis and McChord GIs
