Growing Committee Continues Work to Document Oral Histories
Eight new members of AHCA’s Oral History Committee have added their talents to the committee’s mission of capturing Austin history through one-on-one interviews. Steve Mobley, Lowell Keig, Cheryl Kempf, Joe Bryson, Cheri Lomonte, Reenie Collins, Rosemary Morrow and Alyssa Walker came aboard in June and quickly learned the ropes from the talented and dedicated returning committee members. By fall, several of the new members had completed interviews with some amazing Austinites.
Steve Mobley conducted an interview with Admiral Bobby Ray Inman about his fascinating life and career and followed that up with an interview with the famous Texas author, Stephen Harrigan.
Lowell Keig sat down with Austin American Statesman journalist and author, Michael Barnes to capture his memories and insights on Austin.
Cheryl Kempf interviewed longtime Austin resident Jane Banks and also interviewed Alex Porter about his perspective on East Austin history.
New member Joe Bryson has stepped up to add his substantial videography skills to the oral history effort. He is taping the majority of the interviews this year, thus substantially improving the quality of the videos.
Returning committee members have been busy this fall also, preserving the stories of these remarkable Austin history makers: Ronny Reynolds, Jan Patterson, Ora Houston, Ken Ashworth, Carolyn Osborn, Binnie & David Hoffman, Charles Peveto, Candace & John Volz, Wayne Bell and John-Michael Cortez. Committee Chair Cynthia O’Keeffe praised the volunteers, saying “The combination of the enthusiasm of the new committee members and the experience of the returning members has made for a very exciting and productive start to this year’s oral history effort.”
If you have an interest in helping capture Austin’s history one interview at a time, or if you want to nominate someone for an oral history interview, visit the Oral History page of the AHCA website.