Oral Histories H-O

Hall, Porter - December 7, 1992 - no tape; bibliographic information only; background; procedures of stock broker; Kent business cycles; changes of firm; community interaction; growth of business and trading; family; changes in Kent; particular stocks and changes in the market.

Herrick, Dr. Arthur - November 30, 1989 - background; early life; education; first work as botanist (1936); teaching at Kent State; work at University of Michigan during WWII; changes in Kent; Men's Garden Club; conservation work; Nature Conservancy; Ohio Biological Survey; retirement; publishing of first book; Kent Bog; Jenning's Woods; Randolph Nature Preserve; Frame Farm Bog; conservation work in Garrettsville; Tinker's Creek State Nature Preserve; Triangle Lake; Flat Iron Lake; Crystal Lake; conservation work in Hiram; state parks; Towner's Woods and Pippen Lake; use of natural areas by KSU students; travel.

Hershey, Beth - November 30, 1992 - background; transfer of cemetery; City Council and parking; Women's Club and Federation; safety program; purpose and activities of Women's Club; involvement and views of Women's Club; meeting places; departments and members of Women's Club; Women's movement and Civil Rights Movement; husbands view and involvement; Federation Women's Club seminar at Kent State; Ohio Federation seminars and Methodist Church; visitors of Women's Club; Garden Club; growth of Kent; Loose Dog; today's activities; Women's Club trip to Hudson Bay; Kent city limits expanded; building of new houses; City Council membership; police department; Davey Company horses; change in Davey Tree Company; Kent State riots; Kent during Civil Rights Movement; Kennedy's assassination; Lady Bird Johnson; U-turns and City Council; City Council and money; visit to city jail; move of Methodist Church; changes in Methodist Church; Kent State community.

Hobbs, Clinton - February 13, 1991 - (video) background in Indiana and California; hiring at Kent State; Harry Cunningham; John Reed Spicer; segregation of black students; colleges at KSU; scandals involving college deans; Dean Robert White; President George Bowman; promotions and procedures; changes at KSU after WWII; release of Merrill Waggoner; new personnel; Education department; increase in enrollment; pressure to publish; class break; students after Korean War; transportation in Kent; VJ Day in Kent; housing problems after WWII; students of the 1960s; May 4, 1970; President Olds.

Hungerford, Irene - May 5, 1995 - the Depression; education/training for nursing; husband's teaching career; career choice; Oberlin University; Johns Hopkins Medical School; nursing years in Kent; WWII; daughter of a doctor; changes in Kent; building of Kent State; childhood in Kent; transportation changes; technological changes; life in Kent (early 1900s); family; May 4, 1970; travel; societal changes.

Jackman, Titus - December 5, 1991 - living in Kent; early experiences; family history; choice to become a lawyer; education; law school; bar exam; biggest challenge in law; changes in Kent law cases; Supreme Court cases; work/partners; restrictions on being a lawyer; Kent State University and Kent laws; May 4, 1970; career aspirations; influence on area law; progress of Kent; why Kent is on map; Kent population; importance of Kent; how Kent began; Kent's future; should Kent build up; Pufferbelly station; Kent history; highways.

Jackson, Herston and William Hawkins - December 2, 1992 - no tape; bibliographic information only; introduction; South School; the Depression; railroad and union strikes; layoffs during WWII; shops in Kent during the war; hiring of blacks; black neighborhoods; state marshals and union strikes; other minorities in Kent; Kent State campus; inspectors of the railway; Ms. Holden; First Baptist Church; bars in Kent; Mr. Jackson's bar; Benny Anderson; the Masons in Kent; notable people; Kent businesses; Mr. Jackson's son killed in Vietnam; influence of blacks in the community; families.

Jacobs, Fred - April 21, 1995 - background of the store; start of store; education; years in military; changes in business community after Korean War; make-up of community business; growth of Kent in 1950s and 1960s; takeover and changes of business; causes of prosperity; business community of the 1970s; May 4, 1970; three different locations of business; changes to store after 1971; retirement; effect of Gulf War on store; reflection; children; the store today.

Johnston, Lucille - May 29, 1985 - background; Loudonville; home and family; family car; move to Kent; Central School; overcrowding of Central School; typical school day; favorite teachers; extra curricular activities; entertainment; friends; Roosevelt High School; decision to attend Kent State; student teaching at Central School; education; changes at Central School; teaching in Suffield during Depression; marriage; conservation work; substitute teaching during WWII; teaching full-time in Kent; changes in students and schools; students; changes in teaching.

Kamburoff, Margaret - December 9, 1994 - background in Pennsylvania and Ohio; prosperity in the past; farm market; previous occupations; competition with larger markets; effects of Fairchild Ave.; growth of Stow; produce vs. cash crop; expansion; future of the farm; propane gun; tractor driving.

Kerwin, Francis J. - May 14, 1986 - early family history; high school education; governmental history of Kent (1920s); first political offices; Homeowner's Load Corporation; appointment to auditor's job; marriage and family; City of Kent and Kent State during the 1940s-present; problems of KSU growth; Mortgage Revenue Bonds; city manager issue; "Strong Mayor" plan; "White Way" system; WPA in Kent; Wheeling-Lake Erie grade elimination; West Main St. curve; Kent City income tax; Paul Yacavona; city functions held by Mr. Kerwin; Registrar for Vital Statistics; birth/death record filing system; vignettes on doctors; City Hall Building; West Side Fire Station; Kent Village; Hollister/Harvey mayor's race; political parties in Kent; 2nd ward; Black population in Kent; railroads; retirement; Kent mayors; E. Clayton Fulmer; unity and trust between political parties; voting procedures; early memories of Kent; "oiling" of streets; growth of Kent; college education; early political career; residences; death of wife; government; precinct committee; St. Patrick's School; family; Wrangler Club; reading from Phil Shriver's book on KSU history.

Kline, Francis J. - April 30, 1986 - earliest recollection of Kent and Kline's Market; customers of Kline's in the 1920s and 1930s; Depression's impact on Kent and Kline's; childhood activities in Kent; St. Patrick's School and University School; childhood friends; school activities; Kent State in the mid-1930s; competitors of Kline's in the 1930s; surviving the Depression; recollections of FDR; WWII; Pearl Harbor Day; recollection of Hitler; personal life during WWII; economic life during WWII; effect of rationing on Kline's; changes in business after WWII; recollection of V-J Day; brother's role in WWII; KSU students after the war; family life during and after the war; economic climate of Kent in the 1950s; demise of railroad in Kent; brother's role at Kline's; 453 West Main Street; 1960 Presidential election; Catholicism and its effect on politics; assassination of JFK; view on Lyndon Johnson's Presidency; recollection of the 1960s; views on KSU students of the 1960s; the university in the 1960s; riots, May 1-4, 1970; career at Kline's Market.

Kline, Maurice & Francis (2 tapes) - date unknown - tapes only; no bibliographic information.

Koerner, Art - December 7, 1992 - no tape; bibliographic information only; background; school attended; military service; jobs held in Kent after WWII; Twin Coach Company baseball team; hitchhiking to California; job availability in Kent; Kent before WWII; effects of loss of Erie Railroad Company; major industries during war; working at Twin Coach and transition to postal carrier; Kent Post Office; changes in Kent's downtown; groceries before WWII vs. now; old postal route; May 4, 1970; poetry by President Bowman; Gretchen the dog; people on Koerner's route; Ravenna Arsenal; hunting; military organizations; big bands at Brady Lake; changes in Kent's downtown architecture; Ellis Hotel; military organization people, meetings, and projects; sports in Kent; schooling; South end of Kent; changes in kids' lifestyles; closeness of community; reaction to WWII; women working in Kent; Kent after WWII; political changes; Kent today; influence of industrial families; large Kent families; movement of town hall; Bissler's; Twin Lakes; Roosevelt High School; Williams Brothers' Granary; overall changes in Kent.

Lilley, Cathy - December 9, 1995 - birth of Welcome Wagon; history of Welcome Wagon; Gillette Company purchases Welcome Wagon; Welcome Wagon becomes part of stock exchange; current worldwide locations of Welcome Wagon; meeting with first Welcome Wagon hostess; Mrs. Hughey, first Kent Welcome Wagon Hostess; Evelyn Platt; Mrs. Lilley becomes a hostess; people she visited; foreign-born Welcome Wagon members; attire for a hostess; Welcome Wagon baskets; rules of Welcome Wagon; returning KSU students; foreigners moving to Kent; people from other parts of U.S.; special experiences; most unusual visit; wives of KSU presidents; professors' wives; change in business hours; businesses involved; types of gifts given; American Field Experience; history of AFE or AFS (American Field Service); Enis Curtain; AFS started as a result of WWI; changes in AFS after WWII; high school students and AFS; overview of AFS; countries involved with AFS; son and AFS experience in Argentina; host family; Eastern Europe and AFS; cultural differences; matching students and host families; AFS program in Kent; Intercultural Exchange Program; evaluations; what happens after students leave host families in Kent.

Longcoy, David B. - February 22, 1985 - background; water fountain at Main and Water Streets; downtown Kent c. 1912; North Water St., east side; North Water St., west side; South Water St., west side; South Water St., east side; East Main St., north side; East Main St., south side; West Main St., north side; West Main St., south side; Franklin Ave., east side; Franklin Ave., west side; France's Dry Goods; Longcoy's Grocery Store; Donaghy's Drug Store.

Ludick, Helen - December 9, 1991 - background; early school days in Brimfield; move to Edinburg; Edinburg school transportation; return to Kent; South School; Central School; family moves; Kent State High School students; Roosevelt tuition; purchase new car for school transportation; elementary school memories; type of clothes worn; domestic classes taken; Central School grade divisions; Roosevelt High School; dishwasher job; transportation to and from high school; school activities and organizations; friends at school; family activities; KSU student lives in home; physical description of schools; lunch time at Roosevelt; girls in high school; 8th grade graduation photo; class sizes; WWI; roaring twenties memories; post-graduation; courtship in the 1920s; having a high school diploma; blacks attending school; Roosevelt staff 1926; discipline in school; chemistry trouble; students' behavior; social problems; most memorable experience.

Lyman, Lu - November 6, 1991 - businesses in Kent; personal background; father's background and business origins; impression of FDR; wife's early career; role in WWII; business in Kent during Depression; bill collector; today's dealership; competition in sales; relationship with competition; increased role in father's business; business people in Kent; change in automobiles; change in sale of automobiles; foreign competition; Kent's economy; Kent's change following suburbanization; KSU; May 4, 1970; politics in Kent; Martin L. Davey; KSU presidents; closing remarks.

Mccoombs, Eleanore - April 2, 1992 - childhood homes in Kent; businesses on Water St.; St. Patrick's School; merchants in Kent; Kent in the 1970s (riots); downtown restaurants; job at dime store during Depression; job at Davey Tree; rationing during WWII; problems with Kent today; description of Kent; family life; fire on Main St.; The Style Center; decline of Kent; childhood activities; current life in Kent; Kent butcher shops; Kent drug stores; Kent grocery stores; hotel and theatre in Kent; changes in downtown stores; historical West Main St.; responsibilities at Davey Tree; antique store with Mrs. Kline; Brub Davey; Francis Kline; Josephine Woodard; involvement in Kent; downtown fire; changes needed in Kent; alumni house at KSU; landscape before University Plaza; downtown celebration at end of WWII; shopping centers in Kent today; causes of decline of Kent.

Mccoombs, Eleanore - December 6, 1995 - tape only; no bibliographic information.

McGeorge, R. T. - no tape; 1978-1982 history only. Includes: changes in Kent since the 1930s; specific neighborhoods; Kent State University; Kent industry; Kent businesses; Kent schools; city building; Brady Lake Park; Kent Railroad Depot; Stow; population of Kent.

McGrew, Geneva - December 14, 1992 - no tape; bibliographic information only; background and early life at Kent State; job at president's office at Kent State; presidents and vice presidents she worked with; President Bowman, policy and ideology; education for Bowman; growth of Kent State; memorable things about Bowman; Bowman's personality; Bowman's retirement; biggest issue confronting Bowman; President White, ideology; years when White started; job description for President White; White's personality; May 4, 1970 shootings; President White and May 4th shootings; campus and students during May 4th shootings; protest on campus before shootings; staff's feelings about Vietnam; White's role after the shootings; university after the shootings; President White and students after the shootings; community reaction to shootings; start of university in Kent; celebration of Kent State's 50th birthday; Glen Olds; working for the vice president; Olds' resignation; Kent State in the years after May 4th incident; conflict over canceling classes in memory of May 4th; change in students from 1960s to present; changes in university over time; School of Nursing; changes in community of Kent.

McNeil, Dick - November 29, 1995 - background of family and employment; Kent's dances; social function of dances; Kent Opera House and Odd Fellow's Hall; father's employment; percussion instruments played; Kent after WWII; jazz, past and present.

McSherry, Gaylord & Connie - April 24, 1996 - inter-urban lines in Kent; major industries in Kent; beginning of Twin Coach; downtown Kent; Kent rail yard and hump; The Kent family and the downtown bank; fires in downtown Kent; Kent jails; stores downtown; the constable; Kent's early buildings; Alex Whyte and front campus; personal memories; Twin Coach during Depression; Mason Tire and Rubber; the flour mill; train trip to Cleveland; milk train trip in early 1920s; commuter trains; impressions of downtown and rail yards; railroad yard and roundhouse; noise and smell from train; Kent as train hub; Roadway trucking (Akron); downtown businesses; Gibson girls; Central High School.

Meeker, Robert & Barbara - May 5, 1997 - background in Kent; Kent University High School; Kent after Depression; A&P Store; Kent State College; real estate beginnings; W.W. Reed; Kent property and taxes; early Twin Lakes; Davey Tree; advertising strategy; street name origins; septic/sewer system; boom years; Twin Lakes development; Beachwood Island; first home; growth of KSU; begins real estate career; post WWII life; "Bed for a Vet" campaign; Meekers' home life; Meeker Realty; Triangle Cleaners; Kent Travel; retirement; Meeker family in Kent; May 4, 1970; Kent today; Kent State football; transportation and Kent; 1950s Las Vegas trip; trains; trolleys; drug stores; downtown businesses of the past; closing thoughts.

Metcalf, Avele - April 24, 1996 - birth place, Warsaw, Illinois; lifestyle in Illinois; first move to Kent; move back to Warsaw; move back to Kent as a new bride; first job at Kent State; Daniel Guy; Dr. Atkison and getting job at Registrar's Office; William Stevens; duties at Registrar's Office; opening of Information Center, May 4, 1970; moving of Information Center; burning of ROTC building; Roy Metcalf; creation of first "Twin Band"; the Metcalf family; Colonial Machine.

Miller, Roy & Hulda - May 4, 1993 - Mr. Miller's father and his land; Mason Tire and Rubber; plans Mr. Miller had for land; Millers' houses; twin brother, Ray Miller; early development of allotment; street naming; boundaries of allotment and Dan Younkman; houses built; residents of allotment; three houses which were moved as a result of businesses moving in; growth of Kent in 1920s and 1930s; Mrs. Miller's background; development process; other jobs; life during the Depression; final lot sold; the Millers today; location of original houses; houses today; style of houses; Millers' residence.

Morris, Mary Ruth - March 27, 1991 - background and family information; earliest memories of school and Kent State High School; WWII and decision to become a teacher; Kent State University Cadet Program; campus and student life; first teaching position in Paris Township; Brimfield Elementary School position; family; getting bachelor's degree; temporary education degree; student teaching at University School; Highland Elementary School, 1960; Master's degree in reading specialization; development of Reabus; Title I Program in 1966; remedial reading program; move "Reabus" into school buildings; role as operator of Reabus; educational honors; hobbies and retirement; Kent High School classmates; children and grandchildren; changes in field of education; temporary degree with further coursework; working with children today.

Myers, Jim - May 2, 1995 - passage of school levy May 5, 1970; history of Thompson's Drug Store; brief description of Kent after WWII; the old Kent hotel.

O'Conke, Russell - April 2, 1992 - background and childhood years in Norfolk, Virginia; move to Cleveland in 1930s; changes in Kent; high school education; marriage; interest in Kent Hotel; child labor laws in Kent; job as pageboy in hotel; Kent Hotel as first class commercial hotel; Thank God It's Friday Club originates at Kent Hotel in 1940; famous guests at hotel; Great Depression, New Deal, welfare effects on Kent society; Kent's view on WWII; Kent war industry; May 4, 1970; homosexuality in Kent; Kent attitude toward Vietnam protests; Japan vs. U.S.; Kent and Civil Rights Movement; segregation in Kent; abortion; Kent changes since 1960s; U.S. involvement in Persian Gulf; Kent's future.

Osborne, Jane - February 5, 1985 - move from Burton to Kent; Akron Water Works; family buys its first house in Kent; education and Kent Training School; Kent State professors and other neighbors; appearance of Kent in the 1930s; clothing and entertainment during the Depression; musical education; food during the Depression; food storage; first jobs; cost of college tuition; father's jobs; work for the Welfare Department; boarders during the Depression; mother's jobs; early work experiences and decision to become a teacher; payment in script; musical entertainment; the Kent Hotel; normal school classes; Campus Day; social life at Kent Normal School; housing situation for college students; changes due to WWII; Kent State after WWII; rationing of books during WWII; other items rationed; air raid drills; father's work on B-17 bombers; church involvement; music; travel during WWII; shopping and movies in Akron; entertainment in Cleveland.

Osborne, Mary - May 5, 1985 - early family life; daily life in the 1930s; ice delivery; household chores; common foods of the 1930s; house at 305 North Willow and the Stock Market Crash of 1929; household gadgets; boarders; parents' garden; life of women in the 1930s; life as a child in the 1930s; gypsies; Ned Kellog murders; overall lack of crime; changes that came in 1960s; childhood "gangs"; games played; movies; pets; family reunions and outings; parks and picnics; fashions of the 20s, 30s and 40s; formality in inter-personal relationships; childbirth and doctors of the 20s, 30s, and 40s; diseases; beauty care; part-time jobs and bartering; father's work as civil engineer; loss of house; transportation; schools and education; college years; church; teaching career; retirement and new home; the Depression and hard times; Kent's reaction to WWII; war shortages; attitude toward FDR; sister's work for WPA; changes in students after WWII.