Oral History Interviews

Junior League Oral History Project

This project was a cooperative endeavor by the Junior League of Cedar Rapids and the Cedar Rapids Public Library. The first interview was done on July 27, 1984. The interview was of Julia Robbins Allen and the interviewer was Inez Lyon. The last (90th) interview was of Tom Armitage and was done by Mary R. Curran on October 29, 1984.

The project was called “Cedar Rapids: The Early Community”. It focused on interviews of community members with varied backgrounds who remembered early 20th century (1900-1940) life in Cedar Rapids. The Chairperson was Laura M. Derr with training led by Harold Ewoldt of the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce and Loren Horton of the Iowa State Historical Society.

We have a voice cassette and a transcription of all 90 interviews. They were gifted to us by the Cedar Rapids Public Library and accessioned as of January 25, 2005.

*This page is being updated on a regular basis. Please check back regularly.

Interview Transcripts

Interview Subject/Profession and/or Topics Discussed/Date of Interview.

7/27/1984

6/23/1985

6/23/1985

7/9/1985

1/25/1985 & 3/26/1985

Literary history.

Prominent people in Linn County.

Director of Cedar Rapids Public Library; Vietnam.

Distinguished Coe College alum; married Robert Armstrong; influential figure in CR community.

Coe College alum; grandfather was William Cooper (helped create Coe College); family part of Coe’s Board of Trustees.

7/2/1985

11/17/1984

2/26/1985

9/8/1984

7/22/1984

Singer; Black history.

Red Cross; St. Lukes; Worth Averill.

Raising family in Time Check neighborhood.

Family celebrations; traditions; national & local events.

Baumhoefer-Nursery Landscaping & Gardening.

Interviews on DVD & YouTube

Thanks to volunteers Jerry Ferrie and Allan Eggers, The History Center has a large number of videos available for viewing. These videos, made over a period of several years, feature both famous local residents and those who just enjoyed living in the Linn County area over the years. They tell interesting stories of past events in their lives, people they have known and the places they fondly remember.

Following is an alphabetical list of those who have been interviewed thus far. If you wish to view any of these videos, and link is not available below, please contact our museum curator at 319-362-1501 ext. 110 or email: curator@historycenter.org.

Interview Subject	Date of Interview	Profession and/or Topics Discussed	Length of Interview
Nejdl, Marjorie Kopecek	4/17/03	Marj’s part-2 interview, Egg Art demo	37 min
Nejdl, Marjorie Kopecek	8/20/03	Telling about rich Czech heritage	53 min.
Newport, Dale	3/31/04	Early City Market & Newport Florist	47 Min.
Novotny, Frank	4/29/04	His life & Czech egg art	55 min.
Nyquist, John D.	11/29/01	Collins Radio, management	70 min.
Oxley, Helen	08/07/02	Lifelong resident Linn county/Marion	68 min.
Pennington, Art	04/04/02	Major League & M&J baseball player	75 min.
Pinney Assemblage	8/26/03	Assemblage in Hist. Center Gallery	29 min.
Pisarik, Raphael	4/25/02	Life long Mt. Vernon/Ivanhoe farmer	107 min.
Polehna, Milton	04/06/04	Early Andrew Polehna meat market bus.	50 min.
Politis, George	7/17/03	Wilson Meat Packing plant Supervisor	43 min.
Politis, Wilma “Cookie”	7/24/03	Wilson Meat Packing plant employee	63 min.