Madison County Oral Histories
These oral history interviews were conducted by interviewers associated with Madison Historical and touch on various topics in Madison County history. These topics vary by interviewee.
Items in the Madison County Oral Histories Collection
| Thumbnail | Title | Description | Date | Date Added |
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Thom Swain Oral History Interview | In this oral history, Thom Swain discusses his ownership of the Fat Cats nightclub and music venue in Edwardsville during the 1980s. He also describes Madison County's music and entertainment scene since the 1980s. Finally, he describes his management of several bands in the area. | October 14, 2016 | Dec 1, 2016 |
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Bryan Mathis Oral History Interview | In this oral history interview, Bryan Mathis describes his childhood in Venice, Illinois, and his experiences as an African-American man growing up in the area during the era of desegregation. He describes the various forms of bigotry and racism he's faced in the communities of Venice, Madison, Granite City, and St. Louis, as well as his feeling about the communities of Venice and Granite City today. He also discusses his work as a paperboy in Venice, what it was like growing up in the Venice housing projects, getting cut from the Venice High School Basketball team the year they won the State Championship (1975), and going to SIUE and the Mississippi River Festival in the late 70s. | October 18, 2016 | Dec 1, 2016 |
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Roland Harris Oral History Interview | In this oral history interview, Roland Harris describes growing up in Alhambra and Highland in the 1930s. He then discusses his service during World War II. Next, Harris describes his funeral home business in Highland. The interview ends with a description of his work with the Highland Historical Society and the Highland News Leader newspaper. | October 15, 2016 | Dec 7, 2016 |
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Rita Bonds Oral History Interview | Rita Bonds describes her experiences living in different states with her husband, who was in the Air Force. She also describes working for Owens-Illinois Glass Company in Alton, Illinois. She briefly discusses her work as secretary for the NAACP in Alton. | October 16, 2016 | Jan 27, 2017 |
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Dave Knoche Oral History Interview | In this oral history interview, Dave Knoche describes growing up in the Alton and Godfrey area in the 1980s and 90s as well as some of his education and experience in Montana and California. He also describes working for ADT Security, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Dow Screw Products in the Metro East. He then discusses joining his father's business, HGH Products, which manufactures steel and graphite parts for the glass bottle industry. | October 17, 2016 | Jan 30, 2017 |
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Phil Smith Oral History Interview | In this oral history interview, Phil Smith describes growing up in Venice, Illinois, in the 1950s-1970s. He discusses organized crime and gambling in the city, the Democratic Party, and the police. He also describes his career as an educator and changes in the schools over time, including changes that accompanied racial integration in Venice and Madison. Finally, Smith describes his work with the Venice Historical Society and efforts to preserve the city's history and traditions. | October 18, 2016 | Feb 3, 2017 |
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Pat Childers Oral History Interview | In this oral history interview, Pat Childers describes her experiences during the Great Flood of 1993 while living in West Alton, Missouri. Following the flood, she and her family moved to Collinsville, Illinois, which she describes. She also discusses growing up on a farm in Southern Missouri. | December 11, 2016 | Feb 7, 2017 |
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Sally Burgess Oral History Interview | In this oral history interview, Sally Burgess discusses her work as director and executive director of the Hope Clinic in Granite City, Illinois, which provides abortion care and counseling to women. She describes the various challenges of her work - both in providing abortion care to patients of the clinic and dealing with anti-abortion activists. | October 13, 2016 | Feb 9, 2017 |
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Danny Gray Oral History Interview | In this oral history interview, Danny Gray describes his experiences working for Granite City Steel from 1978 to the time of the interview. He describes how steel production has changed in his 38 years working for the company, including the rise of automation and, in his view, the weakening of unions. He also discusses growing up in the St. Louis region and living in Madison County. | October 19, 2016 | Feb 9, 2017 |
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Valorie Childers Oral History Interview | Valorie Childers describes her experiences of living in West Alton during the Flood of 1993. She also describes the circumstances surrounding the levee’s break, as well as the hardships faced for those flood survivors and their attempts to rebuild. She briefly discusses the involvement of the Red Cross and the Army Corp of Engineers during the flood. | December 11, 2016 | Feb 14, 2017 |