Madison County Oral Histories (63 total)

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.

Thumbnail	Title	Description	Date	Date Added
	Kathy Piercy Oral History Interview	In this interview, Kathy Piercy discusses her work with the Curtain's Up Theater Company, a community theater company in Madison County. She also discusses her job doing corporate productions for an accounting firm.	October 8, 2016	March 10, 2017
	Lisa Peck Oral History Interview	In this interview, Lisa Peck discusses working for both the Madison County government and the Highland government as a community planner. She discusses various changes to Highland in recent years.	October 30, 2016	March 10, 2017
	Derek Mathis Oral History Interview	In this interview, Derek Mathis describes his youth in Venice, Illinois, including his experiences with racism in the era of desegregation. He also discusses changes to Venice and the town of Madison in his adulthood.	October 26, 2016	March 10, 2017
	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	February 14, 2017
	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	February 9, 2017
	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	February 9, 2017
	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	February 7, 2017
	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	February 3, 2017
	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	January 30, 2017
	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	January 27, 2017