Oral History Interviews

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The Oral History Program is committed to the use of recorded interviews as an indispensable modern research tool. Oral histories are used in collaboration with more traditional manuscript resources to paint as accurate an historical picture as possible. Researchers are able to hear first-hand spontaneous accounts in the eyewitness’s own words, complete with inflections and colloquialisms. The Oral History collection at the Southwest Collection is one of the largest in Texas, with more than 6,000 interviews in its holdings.

News

Contact information:

Elissa Stroman, PhD
Oral History Assistant Archivist
Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library
Box 41041
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas 79409-1041
Phone (806) 742-3749

Abstracts of older oral histories in the Southwest Collection's holdings can be found on the Oral History Collection website.

Visit The Southwest Collection's Reference Services website for more information on collections at the archive.

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Browsing Oral History Interviews by Issue Date

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 921
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    William Curry Holden oral history interview reel one
    (1967-11-29)
    This interview features Dr. William Curry Holden. Dr. Holden discusses his family history, upbringing, and moving around Texas during his childhood. Holden talks about his early years as a teacher before attending the University of Texas to study history. Holden eventually obtained his doctorate, after which he taught at San Marcos, then at McMurry before coming to Texas Tech. Holden also discusses his growing interest in archeology and his excavation work.
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    William Curry Holden oral history interview reel three
    (1967-12-15)
    This interview features Dr. William Curry Holden. Holden discusses the founding of the Southwest Collection and the process of gathering and preserving early archival materials. Holden talks about J. Evetts Haley’s role in assisting with the Southwest Collection and the hiring of Seymour V. “Ike” Connor. Holden also discusses his tenure as head of the history department.
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    William Curry Holden oral history interview reel two
    (1967-12-15)
    This interview features Dr. William Curry Holden. Holden talks about his interest in archeology and his excavations in New Mexico and near the Canadian River. Holden also discusses the process of obtaining funding for the Texas Tech Museum. Moreover, Holden talks about the mural at the museum (now Holden Hall) and Peter Hurd’s techniques in creating the fresco.
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    William Curry Holden oral history interview reel four
    (1967-12-18)
    This interview features Dr. William Curry Holden. Holden discusses his administrative roles at Texas Tech and his participation in societies such as the Questers. Holden also talks about helping found the West Texas Historical Association and the Texas Archeological Society. Moreover, Holden discusses his research on the Yaqui and his trip to Mexico.
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    William Curry Holden oral history interview reel five
    (1967-12-18)
    This interview features Dr. William Curry Holden. Dr. Holden discusses his time in Mexico and his anthropological research on the Yaqui. Holden also talks about his various book projects, his articles, and new possibilities for research. Furthermore, Holden discusses building his adobe house, first with Olive, and then with his second wife Fran.
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    William Curry Holden oral history interview reel six
    (1968-01-08)
    This interview features Dr. William Curry Holden. Holden discusses his work in developing the International Center for Arid and Semi-Arid Land Studies (ICASALS). To this end, Holden talks about fundraising, planning exhibits, writing a manuscript on water, and working with Dr. Grover Murray to refine the idea. Holden also discusses challenges with the project regarding funding.
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    William Curry Holden oral history interview reel eight and nine
    (1968-03-06)
    This interview features Dr. William Curry Holden. Holden discusses the presidency of Clifford Jones at Texas Tech University. To this end, Holden talks about Jones’ personality, his interest in athletics, and his political views. Holden also talks about H. Bailey Carroll, Paul W. Horn, and James D. Hamlin.
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    William Curry Holden oral history interview reel seven
    (1968-05-03)
    This interview features Dr. William Curry Holden. Holden primarily discusses J. Evetts Haley in this interview. As such, Holden talks about Haley’s personality, his politics, his writings, and his time at Texas Tech’s Institute for Americanism. Holden also begins discussing Clifford Jones and Jones’ work with the Swensons and the Spur Ranch.
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    William Curry Holden oral history interview reel nine
    (1968-05-13)
    This interview features Dr. William Curry Holden. Holden talks about professors he worked with during his career.
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    Kurt Frederick oral history interview
    (1968-09-16)
    This interview features Kurt Frederick, a European refugee and conductor of the Albuquerque Civic Symphony Orchestra. Frederick talks about hearing Arnold Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw and then corresponding with the composer in order to perform the work in New Mexico. Furthermore, this interview discusses his introduction to the piece, his correspondences with Schoenberg, the premiere of the work, and also background information on Frederick’s life.
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    Rex Preis oral history interview 1970-02-25
    (1970-02-25)
    This interview features Rex Preis as he discusses playing in a big band orchestra during the early 1900s. In this interview, Preis describes how he started playing cornet and attending the University of Texas and his first experience with a big band orchestra. He then moves on to recall touring with the orchestra and the places he has visited. He ends the interview by reflecting on his friendship with Herman “Hymie” Waldman.
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    William Curry Holden oral history interview 1970
    (1970-06-23)
    This interview features Dr. William Curry Holden. Holden discusses his first experience teaching anthropology and the conflicts that ensued over teaching evolution. Holden also talks about J. Frank Norris.
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    Rex Preis oral history interview 1971-01-13
    (1971-01-13)
    This interview features Rex Preis as he describes big band orchestras in the 1920s and 1930s. In this interview, Preis and Fred Carpenter listen to four big band orchestra pieces that Preis played in during the early 1900s. They then move on to discuss big band orchestra and Preis’s job as band director for KTSA in San Antonio.
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    Walter Potter oral history interview
    (1972-05-05)
    This oral history interview features Walter Potter of Roscoe, Texas. Potter talks about his experience with George Parks and the Boys’ Club.
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    Phillip Haynes oral history interview
    (1972-05-05)
    This oral history interview features Philip Haynes. Haynes talks about his experience in the Roscoe Boys’ Club and his interactions with George Parks. Haynes discusses the benefits of the club and its impact on the community.
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    Juanita Craft oral history interview 1974-06-26
    (1974-06-26)
    Juanita Craft, black civic leader in Dallas, discusses the problem of racial and social discrimination and segregation in Dallas.
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    Warren Hasse oral history interview
    (1976-07-13)
    This interview features Pampa sports journalist Warren Hasse. Hasse discusses sports in Pampa and in West Texas more broadly. Hasse talks about the West Texas-New Mexico Baseball League and its memorable players and games. Hassee also discusses football and basketball in the Pampa area.
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    William Ducker oral history interview
    (1980-07-27)
    William Ducker was one of the Texas Tech professors who originally saw the famed Lubbock Lights in 1951. Two years before his death, he spoke to fellow Texas Tech professor, Meredith McClain, about the original sighting and subsequent extensive research Ducker conducted. In this interview, Ducker reveals his research concluded without question that the lights they witnessed were migratory geese illuminated by street lights. Ducker also shared his research findings with Edward J. Ruppelt to be included anonymously in The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects (published 1956).
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    John Segulia oral history interview 1984-07-10
    (1984-07-10)
    This interview features John Seguila as he discusses being a cotton farmer in the El Paso Valley region. Seguila describes how his father decided on what land to farm on and the lessons Seguila has learned while farming.
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    Carolyn Jordan oral history interview 1986-04-26
    (1986-04-26)
    Carolyn Jordan discusses her tenure on the Lubbock City Council from 1972-1980.

The images in this collection are for study purposes, teaching, classroom projection and research only. To use these digital files in any form, an attribution of "Courtesy of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library" must accompany the image.

Note: The transcribers and editors of these documents strove to create as accurate and faithful a transcription of the oral history interview as possible. However, these documents may still contain mistakes. Spellings of proper nouns and places were researched thoroughly, but readers may still find inaccuracies, inaudible passages, homophones, and possible malapropisms. Any words followed by “[?]” notate our staff’s best faith efforts. We encourage researchers to compare the transcript to the original recording if there are any questions. Please contact the SWC/SCL Reference department for access information. Any corrections or further clarifications may be sent to the Oral History Archivist.